My 93 year old grandmother has CHF and has a pacemaker. She has been spitting up frothy white sputum for years. She is currently in a nursing facility recovering from weakness related to an intestinal bleeding issue. While in the nursing facility she has developed a cough (unrelated to an upper respiratory infection). They are giving her Albuterol treatments every 4 hours. The past 2 days she has been hallucinating off an on. Is it possible that her CHF is causing her oxygen saturation to drop such that it is causing her mental status to change?

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Question asked by Cindy from Marysville, WA

My 93 year old grandmother has CHF and has a pacemaker. She has been spitting up frothy white sputum for years. She is currently in a nursing facility recovering from weakness related to an intestinal bleeding issue. While in the nursing facility she has developed a cough (unrelated to an upper respiratory infection). They are giving her Albuterol treatments every 4 hours. The past 2 days she has been hallucinating off an on. Is it possible that her CHF is causing her oxygen saturation to drop such that it is causing her mental status to change?

Answered by Dr. Brian Jaski

Your grandmother could experience symptoms of dizziness if her heart failure led to a frequently low blood pressure or oxygen saturation in her blood. With advanced heart failure, memory or analytical thinking may be impaired. In general, when elderly individuals have hallucinations, causes besides heart failure that could affect brain function should be considered.

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