Right-sided infarction signs include?

Prepare for the Emergency Nursing Orientation 3.0 Cardiovascular Emergencies Test. Use interactive flashcards and detailed explanations with multiple choice questions. Enhance your understanding of cardiovascular emergencies and succeed on your exam!

Multiple Choice

Right-sided infarction signs include?

Right ventricular infarction presents with signs of the RV failing to pump enough blood into the pulmonary circulation. When the right ventricle can’t fill and eject effectively, preload to the left side drops, causing low blood pressure. Because the left heart isn’t backing up, the lungs aren’t congested, so lung exam remains clear. The backup shows up as elevated venous pressures, evidenced by a high central venous pressure and distended neck veins. So the combination of hypotension with clear lungs and elevated venous pressure is the classic pattern. Other options don’t fit this pattern: isolated left-arm pain is not specific to right-sided involvement and doesn’t describe the distinctive hemodynamics; hypertension with crackles points to pulmonary edema from left-sided failure; orthopnea is a symptom of left-sided congestion and not typical of a predominantly right-sided infarct.

Right ventricular infarction presents with signs of the RV failing to pump enough blood into the pulmonary circulation. When the right ventricle can’t fill and eject effectively, preload to the left side drops, causing low blood pressure. Because the left heart isn’t backing up, the lungs aren’t congested, so lung exam remains clear. The backup shows up as elevated venous pressures, evidenced by a high central venous pressure and distended neck veins. So the combination of hypotension with clear lungs and elevated venous pressure is the classic pattern.

Other options don’t fit this pattern: isolated left-arm pain is not specific to right-sided involvement and doesn’t describe the distinctive hemodynamics; hypertension with crackles points to pulmonary edema from left-sided failure; orthopnea is a symptom of left-sided congestion and not typical of a predominantly right-sided infarct.

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