Congestive heart failure edema often flares at what time of day?

• A. Morning
• B. Night
• C. Evening
• D. Midday

Answer: (C)

In congestive heart failure, edema often shows a daily pattern because gravity and fluid shifts drive where fluid collects. When you’re upright during the day, the hydrostatic pressure in the leg veins is higher, pushing fluid out of the vessels into the surrounding tissue. This dependent accumulation builds up as the day goes on, so swelling is most noticeable in the evening. At night, when you lie down, the gravitational pull on the legs decreases and some of that fluid shifts back toward the central circulation, which can ease leg swelling but may worsen heart‑related symptoms like orthopnea. So the edema tends to flare in the evening.