…infarction related to restenosis following PCI. Both type 4b and 4c MIs meet the clinical criteria for a type 1 MI. Type 5 MI: Represents…

…fibrous cap measuring less than 65 micrometers in thickness. Macrophage derived matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) degrade the interstitial collagen of the cap, leading to structural failure…

Cardiology Clinical medicine Definition and Pathophysiology An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is diagnosed when the abdominal aortic diameter exceeds 3 cm. Most AAAs are located…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and Pathophysiology Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are foundational therapies in cardiovascular medicine, widely utilized for the management of hypertension, chronic…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and Pathophysiology Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) constitute a cornerstone in the management of cardiovascular disease, heart failure, and chronic…

Cardiology Emergency medicine Definition and Pathophysiology Acute aortic syndromes comprise classic aortic dissection, intramural haematoma (IMH), and penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer (PAU). Aortic dissection accounts for…

Cardiology Emergency medicine Definition and pathophysiology Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is classified according to haemodynamic status, clinical severity, evidence of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction, and…

Cardiology Clinical medicine Definition and scope Alcohol has dose , pattern , duration , sex , and genetically influenced effects on the cardiovascular system. Acute exposure produces transient haemodynamic…

Cardiology Clinical chemistry & laboratory medicine Definition and Pathophysiology Apolipoprotein B (apoB) and non high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non HDL C) are complementary measures of atherogenic…

Cardiology Definition and pathophysiology Blood pressure is a continuous cardiovascular exposure rather than a binary distinction between normotension and hypertension. Its long term relationship with…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and therapeutic rationale Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid, is an antiplatelet drug that irreversibly inhibits cyclooxygenase and thereby suppresses thromboxane A2 synthesis…

Cardiology Myocardial ischemia and infarction Definition and pathophysiology Atherosclerosis is a chronic, inflammatory disease of the arterial wall in which lipid accumulation, vascular cell dysfunction…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and pharmacological rationale Bempedoic acid is an oral, small molecule lipid lowering agent used to reduce low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL…

Cardiology Clinical medicine Definition and Clinical Context Blood pressure management in older adults must account for chronological age, biological age, frailty, multimorbidity, cognitive status, functional…

Cardiology Genetic and miscellaneous conditions Clinical Red Flags Raising Suspicion of Cardiac Amyloidosis Demographic and Clinical Context Cardiac amyloidosis should be suspected in patients older…

Cardiology Myocardial ischemia and infarction Definition and Purpose Cardiac rehabilitation is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary secondary prevention intervention for patients with cardiovascular disease, including those recovering…

Cardiology Emergency medicine Procedurer Definition and Pathophysiology Cardiac tamponade is a life threatening clinical syndrome in which increased intrapericardial pressure compresses the heart and impairs…

Cardiology Continous medical discussion: the ECG blog Infectious diseases Cardiovascular effects of COVID 19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) has caused a global public health…

Cardiology Clinical medicine Introduction Cardiovascular disease becomes increasingly prevalent with advancing age, while its clinical expression and management become progressively more complex. Older adults, often…

Cardiology Definition and purpose Cardiovascular risk assessment estimates an individual’s probability of experiencing cardiovascular disease (CVD) over a defined period. SCORE2 and SCORE2 Older…

Cardiology Clinical medicine Definition and scope Inflammatory and autoimmune diseases are immune mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) that include rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis, spondyloarthropathies, systemic…

Cardiology Clinical medicine Definition and pathophysiology Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among women worldwide and in the United States. In the…

Cardiology Neurology Definition and Pathophysiology Carotid artery stenosis is an atherosclerotic narrowing of the carotid arteries. It forms part of multisite artery disease, defined as…

Cardiology Myocardial ischemia and infarction Definition and Pathophysiology Chronic coronary syndromes (CCS) comprise the clinical manifestations of chronic structural and/or functional disease involving the…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and pathophysiology Heart failure is a clinical syndrome in which the heart cannot provide blood flow commensurate with the body’s…

Cardiology Nephrology Definition and pathophysiology Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is defined by abnormalities of renal structure or function that persist for more than 3 months…

Cardiology Continous medical discussion: the ECG blog Coronary artery disease: On LDL cholesterol, dietary fat & statins You are probably aware that ischemic heart disease, also…

Cardiology Nephrology Definition and terminology Contrast associated acute kidney injury is an acute deterioration in renal function occurring after exposure to iodinated contrast media, particularly…

Cardiology Myocardial ischemia and infarction Introduction Clinical assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD) requires integration of symptoms, cardiovascular risk, coronary anatomy, myocardial ischaemia, ventricular function…

Cardiology Genetic and miscellaneous conditions Definition and classification Coronary anomalies are congenital abnormalities involving the origin, course, distribution, or termination of the coronary arteries. They…

Cardiology Myocardial ischemia and infarction Definition and Pathophysiology Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring is a non invasive method for detecting and quantifying calcified coronary atherosclerotic…

Cardiology Myocardial ischemia and infarction Definition and Clinical Role Coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) is a non invasive anatomical examination that depicts the coronary arterial…

Cardiology Clinical medicine Definition and Pathophysiology Dietary patterns are the overall combinations of foods habitually consumed rather than isolated nutrients considered independently. For cardiometabolic health…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and Pathophysiology Digoxin, a cardiac glycoside first described by William Withering in 1775, is the oldest pharmacologic agent in the heart…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and pathophysiology Congestion is a central expression of the heart failure syndrome and reflects excessive retention of sodium and water, with…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and pharmacological basis Ezetimibe is a non statin lipid lowering agent that inhibits the Niemann–Pick C1 like 1 (NPC1L1) transporter…

Cardiology Genetic and miscellaneous conditions Definition and scope Familial and genetic screening in cardiovascular medicine is the systematic assessment of relatives and other individuals who…

Cardiology Genetic and miscellaneous conditions Definition and pathophysiology Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is an inherited disorder characterized by persistently elevated plasma low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL…

Cardiology Myocardial ischemia and infarction Definition and pathophysiology Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is an invasive, lesion specific physiological index used to estimate the functional significance…

Cardiology Definition and classification Heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF) is a clinical syndrome defined by the combination of symptoms and/or signs…

Cardiology Definition and classification Heart failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome in which the heart cannot deliver blood at a rate appropriate to tissue requirements…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and Therapeutic Rationale Hypertension is a major risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and contributes to microvascular and macrovascular complications. It…

Cardiology Emergency medicine Definition and Pathophysiology A hypertensive emergency is severe blood pressure elevation accompanied by acute hypertension mediated target organ damage (HMOD). The European…

Cardiology Endocrinology & metabolism Definition and pathophysiology Hypertriglyceridaemia (HTG) is defined by an increased concentration of circulating triglycerides. Both fasting and non fasting measurements provide prognostic…

Cardiology Emergency medicine Surgery & trauma Definition and Pathophysiology Aortic dissection is a major form of acute aortic syndrome (AAS), alongside intramural haematoma, penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and therapeutic rationale Inclisiran is a liver directed small interfering RNA (siRNA) designed to reduce production of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin…

Cardiology Continous medical discussion: the ECG blog Endocrinology & metabolism Cardiovascular medicine is currently witnessing a paradigm shift. For decades, the management of type 2 diabetes…

Cardiology Clinical chemistry & laboratory medicine Definition and Pathophysiology B type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N terminal pro BNP (NT proBNP) are circulating markers of myocardial…

Cardiology Myocardial ischemia and infarction Definition and pathophysiology Ischemic cardiomyopathy is severe myocardial dysfunction caused by coronary artery disease (CAD). The clinical syndrome may resemble…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and pharmacological basis Ivabradine is a selective inhibitor of the If, or “funny,” current in sinoatrial node pacemaker cells. This current…

Cardiology Definition and pathophysiology Low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL C) is the principal therapeutic target in lipid management because LDL and other apolipoprotein B containing…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and pathophysiology Lipid lowering therapy is a central component of cardiovascular prevention, particularly in patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD…

Cardiology Clinical chemistry & laboratory medicine Definition and structure Lipoprotein(a), abbreviated Lp(a), is an LDL like circulating lipoprotein particle. It contains one molecule of…

Cardiology Endocrinology & metabolism Definition and Pathophysiology Metabolic syndrome is a clustering of cardiometabolic abnormalities centred on abdominal adiposity, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia, elevated blood pressure and…

Cardiology Myocardial ischemia and infarction Definition and Pathophysiology Angina with non obstructive coronary arteries (ANOCA) describes anginal symptoms in patients whose epicardial coronary arteries are…

Cardiology Myocardial ischemia and infarction Definition and Clinical Purpose Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET…

Cardiology Critical care Pharmacology & dosing Definition and Pathophysiology In the management of acute heart failure and cardiogenic shock, intravenous vasoactive agents are categorised according to…

Cardiology Endocrinology & metabolism Definition and pathophysiology Obesity is a chronic, relapsing and biologically complex disease characterized by excessive accumulation of adipose tissue. It is an…

Cardiology Pharmacology & dosing Definition and Pathophysiology Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a hepatic protein that regulates the availability of the low density…

Cardiology Clinical medicine Definition and pathophysiology Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a clinical disorder caused by stenosis or occlusion of the aorta or arteries supplying…