Cardio Notes Flashcards
(37 cards)
Kawasaki disease
A rare serious inflammatory condition, characterized by prolonged fevers, redness of the eyes, swollen lymph nodes and inflammation of the blood vessels. Can lead to life threatening complications such as coronary artery aneurysms.
Pulmonary embolism
Occurs when a blood clot (thrombus) becomes lodged in an artery in the lung and blocks blood flow to the lung.
Myocardial infarction
Commonly known as a heart attack, is the irreversible necrosis of heart muscles secondary to prolonged ischemia (irregular amount of blood flow to certain areas of the body). Usually results from an in balance in oxygen supply and demand, commonly caused by plaque rupture with thrombus formation in a coronary vessel, resulting in reduction of blood supply to portion of the myocardium.
Cardiac catheterization
An invasive procedure that involves the insertion of a flexible catheter into the heart via vein or artery. It serves diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, often combined with angiography to visualize blood vessels and the blood flow. Allows for measurement of blood gases, pressures and cardiac output.
Hypovolemic shock
Reduced blood volume within blood vessels causes circulatory dysfunction and inadequate tissue perfusion. Vascular fluid volume loss causes extreme tissue hypo perfusion (reduced blood flow to tissues and organs leading to decrease in oxygen.
Endocarditis
A rare potentially fatal infection of the inner lining of the heart (endocardium). Most commonly caused by bacteria entering the blood and travelling to the heart.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
A disease of the heart’s muscles where the muscle wall of your heart becomes thickened, making it harder for the heart to pump blood out of the heart and around the body.
Angina (chest pain)
Stable angina occurs predictably associated with stable plaque build up in the coronary arteries, variant angina is episodes of chest pain at rest, caused by coronary artery vasospasms (arteries narrow due to prolonged constriction, reducing blood flow) requiring myocardial oxygen demands and elevation, unstable angina is pain that occurs more often and in unpredictable patterns.
ECG
Monitors the hearts electrical activity, rhythm and rate.
ECHO
An ultrasound looking at the structures of the heart, blood flow through the arteries and veins.
Left sided heart failure
Pulmonarycongestionoccurs when theleft ventriclecannot effectively pump blood out of the ventricle into theaortaand the systemic circulation. Pulmonary venous blood volume and pressure increase, forcing fluid from the pulmonary capillaries into the pulmonary tissues and alveoli, causingpulmonary interstitial edemaand impairedgas exchange.
Right sided heart failure
When the right ventricle fails,congestionin the peripheral tissues and the viscera predominates.The right side of the heart cannot eject blood and cannot accommodate all the blood that normally returns to it from the venous circulation. Increased venous pressure leads toJVDand increased capillary hydrostatic pressure throughout the venous system.
Cardiac Arrhythmia
An abnormal electrical conduction or automatic changes in heart rate and rhythm. Multiple types such as atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, bradycardia, premature contraction, tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation.
Atrial fibrillation
Atria beat chaotically and irregularly, often rapidly. They beat out of sync with the ventricles. Can lead to blood clots.
Atrial flutter
Similar to atrial fibrillation but the heart rhythm is more organised and less chaotic.
Premature contraction
Extra heartbeats that begin in one of the ventricles, disrupting the regular heart rhythm, sometimes causing a sensation of fluttering or a skipped beat in the chest.
Ventricular fibrillation
The ventricles contract in a very rapid and uncoordinated manner, resulting in the heart not pumping blood to the rest of the body.
Bradycardia and Tachycardia
Slow heart rate and high heart rate.
Heart murmur
An extra, unusual sound in your heartbeat, can be systolic (heart pumping to the rest of the body) diastolic (heart relaxes between beats to fill up with blood) or continuous (throughout the heartbeat).
Supra-ventricular Tachycardia (SVT)
A very fast heart rhythm that does not follow a regular pathway from the atria to the ventricles. Can cause beats of 180-220 in children and up to 300 in infants, if not treated the hearts ability to pump normally is affected.
Atrioventricular block
Different levels of slower communication between the SA and AV node, causing the heart to beat more slowly.
Control of the heart
SAN releases a wave of depolarization across the atria causing contraction. The AVN releases another wave when the first reaches it, a non conductive layer stops the wave from travelling down to the ventricles. Bundle of His through the septum can conduct and pass the wave down the septum and the Purkyne fibers in the walls of the ventricles. The apex and the ventricle walls contract, short delay for the AVN to release the second wave. Allowing the atria to pump all the blood into the ventricles. Cells repolarise and cardiac muscles relax.
Ventricular Septal Defect
Hole in the ventricular septum allowing flow between ventricles, most common, may be asymptomatic according to the size. If symptomatic tachycardia, tachypnea, poor feeding or growth and pale.
Atrial septal defect
Hole in atrial septum allowing flow between atria, more common in females. Small holes often asymptomatic but can be dyspnea, arryhthmias, hypertension. Larger ones can be FTT, heart failure or recurrent infections.
