Cardiac Issues Flashcards
Three examples of bad heart things that present with chest pain that are life threatening
ACS, aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism
What three populations typically present with “atypical” symptoms? (but as Emily Downs astutely noticed maybe its men that are the “atypical” patients).
Women, elderly, diabetics
How soon do we want to get an ECG within when a patient presents with chest pain
10 minutes
What criteria must be met to a diagnose a STEMI?
Greater than or equal to 1 mm elevation in two contiguous leads
Time delay for Troponin?
6 hours
What are some causes of high troponins that false positives?
Renal disease, myocarditis, cardiac contusion, recent cardiac surgery or cath
ST elevation, ST depression or T wave inversion, chest pain with hemodynamic instability are all high, moderate, or low risk signs?
High
What electrolytes are important to monitor when someone presents with chest pain? (or which ones were mentioned)
Potassium and manegsium
What is the gold standard to rule out ACS?
Cardiac catheterization
NSTEMI – how do we treat?
Aspirin/anti-platelet agents
(dual anti-platelet therapy), beta blocker, heparin, statin therapy
What is the TIMI score?
Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Score
What is the TIMI used for?
to determine the likelihood of ischemic events or mortality in patients with unstable angina or non-ST segment elevation
Age greater than or equal to 65, 3 or more risk factors for CHD, prior coronary stenosis of 50 percent or more, ST segment deviation on admit EKG, 2 or more anginal episodes in 24 hours, elevated cardiac biomarkers, and use of aspirin in prior 7 days are all part of what scoring system?
TIMI score
If you have a TIMI score of 6, what is your percent risk?
50 percent
If you have a TIMI score of 2, what is your percent risk?
8.3%
If we believe someone is in atrial fibrillation, what 4 actions must we take immediately?
Verify rhythm, verify hemodynamic stability, ventricular rate control, blood pressure management
After we have taken care of the first 4 immediate actions, we have to do these 3 things – the “post immediate issues”
Identification of precipitating factor(s), consideration of cardioversion (rhythm vs rate), and anticoagulation
Minimize symptoms related to a fib, prevent thromboembolic complications, minimize side effects of adverse reactions, minimize risk of bleeding, and decrease mortality are all????
Management goals of a fib
Besides and ECG and an echo for evaluating a fib, what other test should we order?
Thyroid function tests, chest x-ray looking for pulmonary disease, and possibly ambulatory monitoring and/or exercise testing for rate control
When should we hospitalize patients with a fib?
- Cardioversion
- Initiation of anti-arrhythmics
- Rate management
- Treatment of associated medical conditions
- elderly patients more safely treated in hospital
- Patient with risk of complications from A fib
What are the benefits of rhythm control?
Maintain sinus rhythm and optimal cardiac output
What chamber of the heart has improved function over time with rhythm control?
Left ventricle