3.2.1. ANATOMY - Internal and Clinical Anatomy of the Heart Flashcards
Left Atrium
What does JVD indicate? (What is happening, don’t list out possible diseases)
Backing up of blood, something is wrong in the chest!
If the trachea is deviated to the right, what do you know?
There is some kind of pressure in the left side pushing the trachea to the right (like AIR!)
If you percuss and you feel a dullness, what does this indicate?
Dull = blood below
(assume blood w/trauma, otherwise could just be watery fluid)
Hyperresonating or echo like sound indicates what when percussing?
Air below
(like a drum)
If you do not hear breath sounds, what does it mean?
That lung is not working, most likely due to blood/fluid buildup or lung collapse from air
A patient presents to you with hypotension, cyanosis, and can’t breathe. X-ray shows a left-deviated mediastinum with a compressed left lung.
What caused the low blood pressure and how do you treat this?
This deviation causes the IVC to kink, so the blood can’t get to the right atrium. This is what causes the low blood pressure
Pressure buildup in the chest prevents the SVC from delivering blood to the RA
Treatment is a needle decompression or a chest tube to relieve the pressure
Where do we insert the chest tube with respect to the rib?
ABOVE the rib, so as not to damage the neurovascular bundle on the inferior aspect of the rib
What is the difference between a patient not being able to breathe and saying that they can not breathe?
Airway = Can’t breathe
Breathing issue = Patient tells you that they can’t breathe (complaints of dyspnea, as opposed to physical incapacity)
A patient is shot in the right chest by a sniper - Dangerous due to bullet’s ability to break through the mediastinum.
Right sided chest pain, patient says they can’t breathe, cyanotic, low blood pressure.
Physical exam shows no breath sounds on the right side, percussion shows tympanic/hyperresonating sounds.
What is going on? How do we fix it?
“Sucking chest wound” - resistance of the hole is less than through the trachea, so the air rushes in, collapsing the lung.
COVER THE HOLE = allows you to breathe
Why is the bandage for a sucking chest wound only sealed on 3 sides, not all 4?
3 sided bandage used with the top left open to allow air to leave the cavity. Covers the hole to prevent more air from coming in.
Patient is shot by his friend, is not complaining of breathing issues.
Patient is cyanotic, tachycardic, and hypotensive.
X-ray shows blood in the right side of his chest with dull percussion and no breath sounds in the right chest.
What do you do?
Do a chest tube to let the blood out. After 1.5 liters, you need to have surgery
32 y.o. woman shot in the left chest, hypotensive, cyanotic and tachycardic. Her exam yields Jugular neck vein distension, decreased heart sounds, normal percussion and normal breath sounds.
What does she have?
Cardiac Tamponade
What is Beck’s Triad and which part is the most important diagnostically?
Beck’s Triad
- Hypotension
- JVD
- Decreased heart sounds: most diagnostically important
What is a pericardiocentesis? How do we deal with it?
Pericardiocentesis (aka pericardial tap) for blood buildup in the pericardium - Needle to drain excess fluid before the heart explodes since it cannot expand or stretch to accommodate the extra pressure.
When draining blood from the pericardium, there is always the risk of piercing the heart itself.
How do you know if the blood you have removed is coming from a ventricle or from the pericardial sac?
Squirt the blood you just drew onto the table - if the blood clots, then you’re in the right spot! If not, you pierced the ventricle…
Blood that’s been resting in the pericardial space (re: “tamponade”) is more likely to have begun the clotting process and will more readily clot than circulating blood.
A 66 year old male found unconscious after his truck hit a telephone pole. He was intubated rapidly by EMT and delivered to your ER. On exam, his GCS:6, BP 90/35, and he has dull breath sounds on left side
- Xray shows white on the left side of the chest. What does this mean?
white = no air in that lung
What is the risk of soving an endotracheal tube in quickly?
Endotracheal tube can get shoved right down the right side of the lung TOO FAR, just pull the tube up a little bit if you see this.
-Straight shot to the right lung (left lung curves)
Car accident patient - Painful percussion on right side with decreased breath sounds
Can’t breath, cyanotic, and tachycardic
Right chest wall sinks slightly with deep inspiration pain to right side.
What is going on here?
flail chest
Discuss a flail chest and how it affects breathing
Fast compression of the lung usually due to heavy impact causing bruising of the lung. Usually accompanied by rib fractures (must have frx in at least two places to have a freely-floating rib segment, typically on the lateral/axillary aspects).
Has to be the side of the chest to be considered a flail chest
Can’t breathe because you can’t expand the chest
