Cor pulmonale refers to which condition?

Cor pulmonale refers to which condition?

• A. Right-sided heart failure due to chronic lung disease
• B. Left-sided heart failure due to hypertension
• C. Myocardial infarction
• D. Pericardial effusion

Answer: (A)

Cor pulmonale is right-sided heart failure caused by chronic lung disease. Long-standing lung pathology leads to low oxygen levels that trigger constriction of the pulmonary arteries, increasing the afterload on the right ventricle. Over time the right ventricle hypertrophies and then fails, producing the congestive signs you see with right-sided heart failure—peripheral edema, liver enlargement, and raised jugular venous pressure—alongside symptoms from the underlying lung disease like dyspnea. The other scenarios involve problems on the left side of the heart or external cardiac conditions, not the lung-driven pressure increase that defines cor pulmonale, so they don’t describe this condition.

Cor pulmonale is right-sided heart failure caused by chronic lung disease. Long-standing lung pathology leads to low oxygen levels that trigger constriction of the pulmonary arteries, increasing the afterload on the right ventricle. Over time the right ventricle hypertrophies and then fails, producing the congestive signs you see with right-sided heart failure—peripheral edema, liver enlargement, and raised jugular venous pressure—alongside symptoms from the underlying lung disease like dyspnea. The other scenarios involve problems on the left side of the heart or external cardiac conditions, not the lung-driven pressure increase that defines cor pulmonale, so they don’t describe this condition.