A nurse cares for a client with a 40-year smoking history who is experiencing distended neck veins and dependent edema.Which physiologic process should the nurse correlate with this client's history and clinical manifestations?

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Smoking increases pulmonary hypertension,resulting in cor pulmonale,or right-sided heart failure.Increased pressures in the lungs make it more difficult for blood to flow through the lungs.Blood backs up into the right side of the heart and then into the peripheral venous system,creating distended neck veins and dependent edema.Inflammation in bronchi and bronchioles creates an airway obstruction which manifests as wheezes.Thick mucus in the lungs has no impact on distended neck veins and edema.Left ventricular hypertrophy is associated with left heart failure and is not caused by a 40-year smoking history.

A Nurse Cares for a Client with a 40-Year Smoking