Case Study Analysis: Heart Failure in a 76-year-old Female Patient, Thesis of Business Accounting

Download Case Study Analysis: Heart Failure in a 76-year-old Female Patient and more Thesis Business Accounting in PDF only on Docsity! NURS-6501 Module 2 Case Study Analysis Walden University NURS-6501N-40, Advanced Pathophysiology Module 2 Case Study Analysis The case study given is a 76-year-old female patient complaining of weight gain, shortness of breath, peripheral edema, and abdominal swelling. She has a history of congestive heart failure and admits to not taking her diuretic. In order to get enough air while sleeping, she has to sleep on two pillows. The purpose of this case study analysis is to explain the cardiovascular/cardiopulmonary pathophysiologic processes that result in the patient presenting these symptoms and how the processes interact to affect the patient. According to McCance and Huether (2019), heart failure is the pathophysiologic condition in which the heart is unable to produce an adequate cardiac output such that inadequate perfusion of tissues or increased diastolic filling pressure of the left ventricle, or both occurs. As a result, pulmonary capillary pressures increase. Some of the major pathogenic mechanisms leading to heart failure are ventricular remodeling, abnormal myocyte calcium cycling, increased hemodynamic overload, excessive neuro-humoral stimulation, ischemia- related dysfunction, accelerated apoptosis and genetic mutations, and excessive/inadequate proliferation of the extracellular matrix (Inamdar & Inamdar, 2016). The presentation of heart failure includes shortness of breath, orthopnea, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, fatigue/weakness, edema, abdominal distention, and right hypochondrial pain (Inamdar & Inamdar, 2016). The patient presents with most of these symptoms. It is likely she does not want to keep getting up to use the bathroom because of fatigue. Fatigue is due to heart failure induced circulation-related abnormalities in skeletal muscles. The abdominal distention can be caused by right-sided heart failure.