Which condition involves fluid backup due to ventricular failure and enlargement of the left ventricle?

• A. CHF
• B. COPD
• C. TB
• D. RSV

Answer: (A)

Fluid backup due to ventricular failure points to congestive heart failure. When the left ventricle isn’t pumping effectively, blood backs up into the left atrium and pulmonary veins, raising pressure in the lungs and causing fluid to accumulate there (pulmonary edema). The heart often undergoes remodeling and dilates the left ventricle in response to chronic overload, so you see enlargement of that chamber as part of the disease process. The term CHF encompasses this pattern of backward fluid congestion and ventricular remodeling, especially in the left ventricle.

The other conditions are primarily lung or infectious diseases and don’t describe the heart’s failure pattern: COPD is a chronic airway disease, TB is an infectious lung disease, and RSV is a viral respiratory infection.