6th March 2024

A 78-year-old woman presents to the emergency department with a two week history of worsening shortness of breath, lethargy, bilateral leg swelling and frothy sputum production.

A 78-year-old woman presents to the emergency department with a two week history of worsening shortness of breath, lethargy, bilateral leg swelling and frothy sputum production. On examination, she is dyspnoeic with a raised JVP, bibasal crackles at the lung bases and bipedal oedema to the knee level. She is treated for decompensated cardiac failure with a furosemide infusion and metolazone. What is the cause of her decompensated cardiac failure? 

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