5: Cardiology Flashcards
(40 cards)
Divisions of the mediastinum
- Superior mediastinum
2. Inferior mediastinum -> anterior, middle, and posterior mediastina
What forms the superior and inferior mediastinum
Sternal angle
What is in the middle mediastinum
Heart
What is the start of the systemic circulation? Start of the pulmonary?
Systemic: LA
Pulmonary: SVC and IVC
What typically causes MI’s
Lack of blood flow to a specific area of myocardium, usually due to coronary A blockage
Coronary atherosclerosis
Buildup of lipids on internal walls of coronary A’s -> decreases sizes of lumens, increasing likelihood of an embolus
Angina pectoris
Pain that originates in heart -> strangling pain in chest in a distinct pattern
What usually causes angina pectoris
Narrow/obstructed coronary A’s -> ischemia of myocardium
What is the ligamentum arteriosum
Adult remnant of the ductus arteriosus (shunts blood from pulmonary trunk to aorta)
Where does ligamentum arteriosum span?
Superior pulmonary trunk -> inferior border of aortic arch
What nerve loops around the aortic arch and ligamentum arteriosus?
Left recurrent laryngeal N (of the vagus)
Common atrial septal defect
PFO: patent foramen ovale
Cardiac catheterization
Inserting a catheter into the femoral vein -> IVC to allow radiographic visualization of the RA, RV, pulmonary trunk, and pulmonary arteries
Ventricular septal defects
Particularly susceptible to defects bc of embryo logically divergent tissues; all defects are clinically relevant bc they allow mixture of O2 rich and depleted blood
Artificial cardiac pacemaker
Produces regular electrical impulses to the ventricles via electrodes
Where are electrodes inserted with artificial pacemakers?
Through a large vein to the SVC, into the RA -> into endocardium of trabeculae carnae of RV
How does cardiac referred pain work?
Ischemia stimulates visceral pain sensory fibers that share a spinal ganglion with somatic sensory fibers in areas of the upper limb/superolateral chest wall
Where does anginal pain typically refer?
Area innervated by left medial brachial cutaneous N, left sub sternal area, left pectoral area, medial left UE
Transverse pericardial sinus in surgery
Space that allows surgeons to access the area posterior to the aorta and pulmonary trunk to clamp/insert tubes of a bypass into these large vessels
Pericarditis
Inflammation of pericardium - > can roughen pericardium and cause friction -> pericardial friction rub that can be heard on auscultation
What happens if pericarditis is left untreated?
Pericardium can calcify
Pericardial effusion
Pericarditis can result in accumulation of fluid/pus in pericardial sac -> compresses heart -> cardiac tamponade
Pericardiocentesis
Drainage of fluid/blood/pus from pericardial sac to relieve cardiac tamponade
Three layers of the heart
- Epicardium: outermost of visceral serous pericardium
- Myocardium: thick muscular layer of spiraling, overlapping layers of muscle
- Endocardium: thin internal endothelium lining chambers
