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Left-sided heart failure is a disorder in which the left side of the heart loses its ability to pump blood efficiently, thereby failing to meet the demands of the body.

Causes and Risks

Heart failure may affect the right side, left side, or both sides of the heart. The left side of the heart receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumps it to the body. As pumping effectiveness decreases in the left side of the heart, blood may back up into the lungs and blood flow to the body may be insufficient. Eventually right sided heart failure may develop.

Structural or functional causes of heart failure include high blood pressure (hypertension), coronary artery disease, heart valve disease, congenital heart diseases, cardiomyopathy, heart tumor, and other heart diseases. When a person is predisposed to heart failure, then anything that increases stress to the heart may result in acute symptoms.

In children, congenital malformation of the heart or its valves (congenital heart disease) is the most common cause of left-sided heart failure. Vascular malformations (abnormalities of the blood vessels) are also common causes of heart failure in children.

Precipitating factors include: elevation of blood pressure; increased activity; increased fluids; increased salt intake; high fever or complicated infections; anemia; irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias); hyperthyroidism; kidney disease; medications that affect contraction of the heart muscle (such as beta blockers or calcium channel blockers); and stopping "treatment" medications (such as ACE inhibitors, digoxin, diuretics).

Other risk factors include obesity, excess alcohol consumption, and eating a diet high in salt.

Left-sided heart failure occurs in approximately 1-3 out of 100 people and becomes more prevalent with advancing age.