Re: CODE question Originally Posted by JMDRN09 
This is my theroy...I understand when a pt goes into heart failure their ventricles, for whatever reason, do not pump effectively and blood may pool or get backed up into the lungs. This causes congestion in the alveoli which then causes further congestion in the capilaries filling the alveoli with more fluid and congestion.
Remember your left sided vs. right sided heart failure. The left ventricle pumps blood to the systemic circulation, so when pumping is impaired, pressure builds up in the left ventricle, and the backward effect is increased pulmonary congestion. "Blood" does not back up into the lungs, so to speak. The increased vascular pressure pushes fluid, not RBCs (too big) through the capillary pores and into the alveoli. With right sided failure, the backward effects include portal hypertension and peripheral edema. Again, the increased venous pressures related to the right ventricle's impaired pumping causes intravascular fluid to be pushed into the extravascular space. RBCs are too big to fit through the capillary pores.
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