Final Flashcards
(65 cards)
Name some anticoagulant substances:
- Aspirin, ASA: Acetylsalicylic acid.
- Heparin
- Warfarin
What are some common signs/symptoms of Hodgkin’s disease?
First indicator: painless, enlarged cervical lymph node.
Later: Splenomegaly and/or a mediastinal mass as well as enlarged lymph nodes at other locations.
General signs of cancer: weight loss, anemia, low grade fever, night sweats
Maybe some general puritis and recurrent infections.
What actions cause the atrioventricular valves to close?
As the ventricles start to contract, the ventricular pressure soon exceeds the atrial pressure, causing the AV valves to close. As the ventricles continue to contract, the ventricular pressure exceeds the arterial pressures causing the semilunar valves open.
What is the QRS wave on an ECG?
The QRS complex corresponds to the depolarization of the left and right ventricles.
What does cardiac reserve refer to?
Refers to the difference between the rate at which the heart pumps blood and its maximum capacity for pumping blood at any given time. A measurement of the cardiac reserve may be a health indicator for some medical condition.
What does the term “preload” refer to?
Preload is the end diastolic volume that stretches the right or left ventricle of the heart to its greatest dimensions under variable physiologic demand.
What effects does smoking have on CAD?
Coronary Artery Disease: Smoking increases blood pressure, decreases exercise tolerance and increases the tendency for blood to clot.
What are some predisposing factors to thrombus formation in the circulation?
1) Hypercoagulable state: malignancy, pregnancy and peri-partum period, nephrotic syndrome, and sepsis…
2) Circulatory stasis: atrial fibrillation, left ventricular dysfunction, immobility/paralysis, or venous insufficiency.
3) Vascular wall injury: Trauma, heart valve injury/surgery, chemical injury, indwelling catheters, or atherosclerosis.
What is arteriosclerosis?
The build-up of fats, cholesterol, and other substances in and on the artery walls.
What does an atheroma develop from?
Development of deposits of fibrous tissue and lipids on arterial walls.
LDLs
Low Density Lipoprotein
Promote atheroma development.
Comparison between MI and angina:
MI: Angina does not usually cause lasting damage to the heart. Heart attacks can happen if the flow of oxygen-rich blood to heart muscle suddenly becomes blocked. Chest pain is usually more severe, lasts longer and does not go away with rest or nitroglycerin.
Angina: Angina is chest pain, tightness, or discomfort that comes and goes. It gets worse with activity or stress. It gets better with rest, medicine called nitroglycerin, or both. Angina does not damage the heart muscle, like an MI does.
Basic pathophysiology of MI:
A heart attack occurs when the flow of blood to the heart is blocked, most often by a build-up of fat, cholesterol and other substances, which form a plaque in the arteries that feed the heart (coronary arteries). The interrupted blood flow can damage or destroy part of the heart muscle
Early signs of MI include:
- Pressure, tightness, pain, or a squeezing or aching sensation in your chest or arms that may spread to your neck, jaw or back.
- Nausea, indigestion, heartburn or abdominal pain.
- Shortness of breath.
- Cold sweat.
- Fatigue.
- Lightheadedness or sudden dizziness.
Calcium channel blocking drugs are effective in:
Calcium channel blockers prevent calcium from entering cells of the heart and blood vessel walls, resulting in lower blood pressure. Calcium channel blockers, also called calcium antagonists, relax and widen blood vessels by affecting the muscle cells in the arterial walls.
How is a MI best confirmed?
The diagnosis of myocardial infarction requires two out of three components (history, ECG, and enzymes). When damage to the heart occurs, levels of cardiac markers rise over time, which is why blood tests for them are taken over a 24-hour period.
What is the most common cause of death immediately following a MI?
Cardiac rupture. After arrhythmias and cardiogenic shock, the commonest cause of death after acute MI is rupture. Cardiac rupture complicates 10 per cent of acute MIs and occurs in the healing stages at around five to nine days.
Ventricular fibrillation will result in cardiac arrest because:
The lower chambers quiver and the heart can’t pump any blood, causing cardiac arrest. The heart’s electrical activity becomes disordered.
What is the most likely cause of left-sided heart failure?
Insufficient left ventricular contraction caused by:
- Left ventricular MI
- HTN
- Aortic or mitral valve stenosis
Which drug improves cardiac efficiency by slowing the heart rate and increasing the force of cardiac contractions?
Digoxin, a cardiac glycoside, from the foxglove flower.
What effect may be expected from a “beta-blocking” drug?
Decreased SNS stimulation of heart.
Beta-adrenergic blockers:
- Reduce myocardial oxygen demand ( by slowing the heart rate and increasing the force of myocardial contractions)
- Antiarrythmic.
Ex: atenolol (Tenormin), metoprolol (Lopressor), nadolol (Corgard), propranolol (Inderal).
What would an incompetent mitral valve cause?
Left sided HF, Pulmonary edema
Why does pericarditis cause a reduction in cardiac output?
Cardiac tamponade can develop if the effusion builds too rapidly.
This constricts the normal size of the heart and its movements leading to reduced stroke volume and output.
What could be the source of an embolus causing an obstruction in the brain?
An embolism is usually a pathological event, i.e., accompanying illness or injury.
The heart (atherosclerosis is common cause).
