Question

All of the following are found in left ventricular failure (LVF) EXCEPT:

• A. Lung oligemia
• B. Kerley B lines
• C. Rales
• D. Pedal edema

Hint:

A failing left heart floods the lungs; which option means the lungs have too little blood instead?

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Start from the pathophysiology and the answer falls out. When the left ventricle fails, it cannot empty the blood arriving from the lungs, so pressure rises behind it in the pulmonary veins and capillaries. The lungs therefore become congested and waterlogged, the exact opposite of empty. That single idea lets you keep three options and reject one. Kerley B lines are short horizontal septal lines from interstitial fluid, rales are the crackles of fluid filled alveoli, and pedal edema appears as the failure becomes biventricular, all consistent with a congested, fluid overloaded state. Lung oligemia, in contrast, means too little blood in the pulmonary vasculature, the radiological hallmark of pulmonary embolism, not heart failure. Since LVF produces pulmonary plethora rather than oligemia, the exception is lung oligemia.