Helpful Tips

Question 1

Less cardiac output basically means that the body will receive… (general)

Answer 1

Less O2 to the body

Question 2

Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Answer 2

D for distended and thin heart muscles, kinda like a balloon

like a big saggy sock.

Question 3

Restrictive Cardiomyopathy

Answer 3

R for “Rock Hard” and “Rigid”

Question 4

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Answer 4

H is for “Huge trophy-like” big and thick heart muscles

Question 5

In cardiomyopathies, what is primary and secondary

Answer 5

primary means it develops by itself
secondary means it is usu caused by HTN or some kind of valve dz

Question 6

what is preload?

Answer 6

filling and stretching (diastole)

Question 7

what is after load?

Answer 7

pressure to pump against (systole)

Question 8

less cardiac OUTput equals

Answer 8

less oxygen OUT to the body

Question 9

in heart failure, there is left sided and right sided heart failure. “L” for left heart, just remember it affects the __________. “R” for Right heart, remember it ___________.

Answer 9

“L” lungs filled with fluid and crackles and pulmonary edema

“R” rocks the body with fluid = edema, ascites, JVD

Question 10

In Dilated Cardiomyopathy what are some tell tale signs?

Answer 10

Regurgitation (MV and TV valves)
Narrow pulse pressure (when systolic and diastolic pressures are closer together 110 over 90 for example)
S3 murmur

*wanna see how thin the heart muscles are on echo, get their ejection fraction…. 40% or less is bad!

Question 11

in terms of pharmacology for the heart, “ace inhibitor” drugs end in what letters… and what do they do for heart (generally)

Answer 11

end in “-pril” like lisinoPRIL
its like a chillPRIL fro the heart
“calms heart”
drop the BP and take pressure off heart

Question 12

in terms of pharmacology for the heart, “beta blockers” do what and how can you remember the drugs

Answer 12

beta blockers “block the beats” on the heart
like pumping the brakes on the heart
slow the heart rate down
drugs end in -LOL like “atenoLOL”

Question 13

in terms of pharmacology for the heart, “calcium channel blockers” do what and how can you remember the drugs

Answer 13

C for “calms the heart”
-DIPINE (think decline like BP declines… NifeDIPINE
-ZEM (think “Zen” because its so calming to BP and heart, lowers BP)… DiltiaZEM
-AMIL… VerapAMIL

Question 14

in terms of pharmacology for the heart, “digoxin” does what and how can you remember the drugs

Answer 14

gives a deep contraction.. or increased contractility
slows heart rate aka negative chronotropic… “chrono” means time so negative time means less beats per minute

So “D” for “deep contraction” or “DIG” because it “digs for that deeper contraction

Digoxin toxicity is a thing though. Check patient first (if nurse)

Question 15

In REstrictive cardiomyopathy the heart is having these “RE” problems

Answer 15

“Refill” problems
the heart is having “REfill problems” that’s how u can remember
heart muscles are thick and stiff, like a brick wall. ventricles can’t stretch and get blood in…. they can’t refill. can be due to genetics or scar tissue buildup

Question 16

In terms of Restrictive cardiomyopathy and its origins, it all comes down to the 2 “D’s”

Answer 16

1. Darn genetics lol
   - particles that deposit into heart muscle itself, proteins… aka amyloidosis or small areas of inflamed tissue aka sarcoidosis… or iron particles are deposited called Hemochromatosis
   and
2. Damage to heart (radiation)
   lots of chest X-rays and CT scans can cause scar tissue to heart from radiation

normal EF usu though, echo can look normal

Question 17

In Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.. very deadly.. due to

Answer 17

big thick cardiac muscle starts to grow… grows enough to cause obstruction to the AoV… so NO oxygenated blood can get out to the body!!!!! Brain death, heart death, sudden death.

Exercise can cause more bulging out of heart muscle so kids and people can suddenly die if they have this condition

Question 18

Diagnostic clues for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Answer 18

systolic ejection murmur, caused when “bearing down”
CXR looks normal
Echo - septal wall thickening… a big trophy in the middle of the heart…

kids are screened for this at a very young age