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…

…s outcome: Neurological injury Myocardial dysfunction Systemic response to reperfusion and ischemia Effects of the underlying cause of cardiac arrest Neurological injuries may cause coma…

…often necessary to normalize blood pressure. Management of hypertension requires careful consideration of other cardiovascular risk factors and coexisting conditions. Therapy must be tailored to…

…is not an established drug interaction. The half life of adenosine is 8 seconds. Adverse effects are therefore very brief. Indications Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT…

…pronounced symptoms and other therapies have failed. Patients with structural heart disease or reduced left ventricular function are not eligible. Effects of propafenone and flecainide…

…This is also a normal finding. Abnormal (pathological) causes of sinus bradycardia In all other situations, sinus bradycardia should be regarded as a pathological finding…

…drinking in either sex. Other definitions of unhealthy drinking include at least two drinks daily in women or three in men, or at least four…

…methods may also contribute. The cardioprotective effect is therefore likely to result from the cumulative influence of multiple modest dietary changes. Mediterranean type diets provide…

…pulmonary disease (COPD) Bronchospasm (asthma) Other : Coma Central hypoventilation syndromes Neuromuscular diseases Anemia The natural course of asphyxia Should ventilation be entirely inhibited (as seen…

…effects, and the condition is classified as cardiac tamponade. The classical signs of cardiac tamponade are hypotension, muffled heart sounds and jugular venous distention. Other…

…the suppression of the renin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS), such as decreases in blood pressure and mild azotemia. However, two distinct side effects—nonproductive cough…

…infection or other circumstances that may affect cessation or treatment monitoring. Single question screening can identify unhealthy drug use requiring counselling regarding cardiovascular effects and…

…Interactions Pharmacodynamic interactions Anticoagulants, thrombolytics, or other platelet aggregation inhibitors: Salicylates inhibit platelet function and enhance the effect of anticoagulants, increasing bleeding risk. Monitor coagulation…

…etc. Cardiac tumors cause nonspecific symptoms that depend on the size of the tumor, localization, hemodynamic effects and possible impact on the coronary arteries. The…

…of revascularization Expected effects on death, myocardial infarction and stroke Likelihood of repeat revascularization Symptom burden and treatment goals Diabetes, left ventricular function and other…

…hypertensive emergency. It summarises the mechanism of action, the onset, the duration of effect, the dosing, the adverse effects and the important precautions. A hypertensive…

…aggregation. Because aspirin affects only one pathway of platelet activation, its antiplatelet effect is relatively limited compared with agents that inhibit other platelet pathways. The…

…conventional risk factors have sex dependent effects: Blood pressure rises more steeply in women from young adulthood, resulting in a greater lifetime burden of hypertension…

…sites. Its cardiovascular effects therefore appear to reflect modulation of vascular inflammation rather than lipid lowering. Other anti inflammatory strategies have produced less favourable results…

…the magnitude of additional LDL C lowering needed and the patient’s prior treatment. Inclisiran is particularly attractive when a durable treatment effect and infrequent…

…setting of cardiac arrest, it is essential to reconfirm the rhythm in two leads if possible to distinguish true bradyarrhythmic or asystolic arrest from other…

…macrophages, neurons and other tissues. This distribution helps explain why PA produces cardiovascular injury beyond its effects on blood pressure and potassium balance. The principal…

…excellent, with the vast majority of patients recovering completely after restoration of sinus rhythm (or any other rhythm with normal ventricular rate and activation). Recovery…

…from the combined effects of contrast exposure and other ischaemic or nephrotoxic stresses. The kidney is particularly vulnerable to toxic injury because of its high…

…AV) nodes. In addition to these direct effects, adenosine antagonizes catecholamine stimulated adenylate cyclase. This inhibition decreases the accumulation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), which…

…all cause mortality. The excess risk is mediated by the combined effects of hyperglycaemia, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, obesity, smoking and other conventional risk factors, together with…

…ventricular rate (beta blockers being the mainstay of this therapy). Rate control does not affect the rhythm per se . Rhythm control, on the other hand…

…gaze palsy — that can be assessed before and during the window of effect. The muscarinic effect may at the same time produce marked bradycardia and…

…regards to their effects and hazards. For example, high HDL cholesterol levels appears to be beneficial, whereas triglyceride levels seem to be of little or…

…These sympatho inhibitory effects decrease serum norepinephrine levels, plasma renin levels, and potentially aldosterone levels. Clinical Presentation and Symptoms In the management of heart failure…

…in the myocardium. The electrical potential difference exists between ischemic and normal myocardium and it results in displacement of the ST segment. The ST segment…

…the concurrent use of beta blockers. The vasodilating effect reduces preload and afterload, further reducing myocardial workload. 1 The pharmacokinetic profile of levosimendan is modulated…

…all other situations, sinus arrest/pause should be considered abnormal, and the following differential diagnoses are at hand: Sinus node dysfunction. Side effects of drugs…

…of patients with posterolateral infarction will also have right ventricular infarction; among these patients, roughly 10% have hemodynamically significant right ventricular infarction. Hemodynamic effects of…

…or worsen with illness, treatment, or other interventions. Frailty commonly overlaps with multimorbidity and is frequent in patients with cardiovascular disease, including heart failure and…

…S Ca 2+ 2.6 mmol/L In approximately 90% of cases, hypercalcemia is attributed to primary hyperparathyroidism or neoplastic etiologies. Other causes include immobilization…

Echocardiography The Doppler effect When sound waves hit objects some of the sound waves are reflected back to the sound source. If the reflector (i…

…Lathundar Key messages Two things set the COPD exacerbation apart from many other causes of acute dyspnoea: oxygen must be titrated cautiously and the blood…

…tracer uptake plateaus. This saturation effect can lead to an underestimation of blood flow in regions affected by significant coronary artery disease, potentially resulting in…

…by beta blockers. Dobutamine β 1 agonist Infusion of 3−10 μg/kg/min. T½ 2 min Effective if inotropic effect is required. Theophylline …

…TdP is well defined for many of these agents, many are classified as QT prolonging solely based on their drug class or presumed pharmacodynamic effects…

…Heart failure, pulmonary oedema and other conditions with a high risk of fluid overload — a relative contraindication requiring invasive monitoring and slower administration. Significant metabolic…

…and infarction Myocardial ischemia: cellular changes, ECG signs and development of infarction Like all other cells in the human body, cardiac myocytes use ATP (adenosine…

…of blood flow. However, the Doppler effect can also be used to study myocardial motion. Myocardial motion during systole and diastole alter the frequency of…

…treatment — modification of loading, eccentric exercise, an NSAID, an orthosis — has not given a sufficient effect. Contraindications Absolute: Cellulitis, a skin wound or other infection…

…dose , titrated against clinical effect. 2. Parenteral thiamine early , preferably before or at the same time as carbohydrate administration. 3. Rapid identification of seizures, delirium…

…less than 80% diagnoses chronotropic incompetence) Management of chronotropic incompetence Treatment of chronotropic incompetence and other bradyarrhythmias are discussed in the chapter Treatment of bradyarrhythmias.

…myocardial contractility and heart rate. Coronary compression and a Venturi or “suction” effect have been proposed as mechanisms of inducible ischaemia. The functional impact depends…

…greater ventricular wall stress, probably because of suppression of natriuretic peptide production or post translational modification rather than a simple clearance effect. Treatment also affects…

…Other mechanisms include thrombosis, embolism, vasculitis, fibromuscular dysplasia, arterial entrapment, cystic adventitial disease and trauma. Atherosclerotic PAD is a manifestation of systemic arterial disease rather…

…cardiovascular death, and progression of atherosclerotic disease in patients with established coronary or other atherosclerotic vascular disease. Antiplatelet therapy is a central component because platelet…

…remains the foundation of lipid lowering treatment for patients with chronic coronary syndrome, acute coronary syndrome (ACS), atherosclerotic peripheral arterial disease, and other very high…

…measure of the physiological effect of an individual epicardial lesion rather than its anatomical appearance alone. Coronary angiography provides only an imperfect estimate of functional…

…Ultimately, the specificity of exercise stress testing is lower in the elderly, as compared to younger individuals. Sensitivity, on the other hand, appears to be…

…and other emergency instruments. Personnel conducting the test must be formally trained to assess cardiovascular response, symptoms, and ECG changes. Although the risk of cardiac…

…other situations than does ventricular rhythm; idioventricular rhythm is primarily seen after reperfusion in an occluded coronary artery. It also occurs as side effect of…

…repeated cycles of transient ischemia induce the protective effect. Some studies (including randomized clinical trials) have suggested the benefit of ischemic preconditioning, while other studies…

…the bleeding risk of the procedure and by renal function. In markedly reduced renal function (dabigatran at eGFR <30 mL/min, the other DOACs at…

…without delay, in any of the following: A systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg caused by the arrhythmia. Ongoing myocardial ischaemia with chest pain and…

…The magnitude of untreated LDL C elevation. The presence and age of onset of premature CAD or other vascular disease. A history of myocardial infarction…