Cardiology Flashcards
What % of kids will have a murmur at some point in their lives?
90%
What % of murmurs in children actually represent pathology?
<5%
What are some buzz words for describing an innocent murmur?
V’s: Very Good
Vibratory
Venous hum
Vascular (Carotid bruit)
What in the history should make you think of a pathological murmur?
Any associated physiological problem
Name some findings on history that would point away from an innocent murmur
- Tachypnea
- Exercise intolerance
- Feeding difficulties
- Dyspnea
- Cyanosis
- Syncope
- Wheezing/Cough
What are some descriptions of a murmur that should make you think pathological?
- Harsh sounding
- Intensity >3/6
- Pansystolic or late systolic
- Diastolic
- 4th heart sound or S4 gallop
- Ejection and/or mid-systolic clicks
What is the first thing to do if they describe a 3rd heart sound?
Check the position of the child
If you hear a 3rd heart sound in what position is it normal versus not?
If laying down, can be normal- Should disappear when sitting- if not, could be abnormal
Fixed split S2?
ASD
Patient with decreased exercise tolerance and a fixed split S2?
ASD
Where is the VSD murmur best heard?
Left lower sternal border
Blowing/Holosystolic murmur?
VSD
True or False: Infants with VSDs typically do not have a murmur in the immediate newborn period?
True
Why doesn’t an infant with a VSD have an audible murmur?
Right/left ventricular pressures are roughly equal in newborn period so no interventricular flow to create a murmur
When is a VSD murmur louder- with a smaller opening or larger one?
Smaller (more turbulance)
Baby with tachypnea, sweating with feeds, hyperdynamic precordium…?
Watch out for VSD (may not have murmur)
Systolic click and normal splitting of S2?
Pulmonary stenosis
What changes to the heart happen with pulmonary stenosis?
RVH
Systolic (ejection) click, regardless of position?
Aortic stenosis
Murmur best heard at the upper right sternal border and radiating into the neck?
Aortic stenosis
What changes to the heart happen with aortic stenosis?
LVH
To-and-fro machinery-type murmur?
PDA
What condition should you think of with an AV canal defect?
Down Syndrome
What axis is seen in an AV canal defect?
Superior QRS axis (30-90degrees)
Why does an AV canal defect have a superior QRS axis?
Conduction system has to go around the large defect in the middle of the heart
What axis deviation is seen in AV canal defect?
LAD
What should a right-sided aortic arch make you think of?
22q11 deletion
What axis deviation on EKG does LVH lead to?
LAD
Does hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that results in LVH lead to left axis deviation on EKG?
No
What are 2 scenarios where you can see left axis deviation without left ventricular hypertrophy?
- Tricuspid atresia
- AV canal defects
Due to effect on conducting system’s orientation
True or False: CHF presents the same in infants and older children
False
How does CHF in infancy present?
Difficulty feeding, weight loss or failure to gain weight, tachypnea, tachycardia, hepatomegaly
What should you think with an infant that is small, sweaty, surly, and sick?
CHF
How does CHF present in older children?
Fatigue (especially with exertion or exercise), poor appetite, coughing, shortness of breath, diaphoresis
What are clinical scenarios where you would see systemic arteriovenous shunting of blood?
AV malformation in brain or liver
What does systemic arteriovenous shunting of blood result in?
Left to right extracardiac shunting which leads to right sided congestion
- Blood goes from high pressure (arterial) to low pressure (venous)
- Causes volume overload on right side of heart leading to jugular vein distension and hepatomegaly
What are some physical exam findings of CHF?
- Gallop rhythm
- Distended jugular veins
- Peripheral edema
What treatments are preferred for CHF?
Ones that rest the heart:
- Diuretics
- Vasodilators
- Beta-blockers
Over inotropes (Dignoxin) that overexert the heart
What is the murmur with coarctation?
Systolic murmur with radiation to the back and an early diastolic component
Name 3 classic findings of coarctation
- Murmur (systolic, radiates to back, early diastolic)
- Systolic HTN
- Decreased perfusion/pulses in lower extremities
What is the classic description for BP with coarctation?
> 10mmHg difference in BP between arms and leg (brachial/femoral pulse delay)
What are some findings you might be presented with for coarctation?
- Classic signs of CHF
- Shock
- Acidosis
- Lethargic infant not feeding well
- Non-specific gallop
- Nasal flaring
- Sweating while feeding
What is the main goal of treatment of coarctation?
Maintain PDA with a prostaglandin drip (increases blood flow to descending aorta)
How is coarctation ultimately treated?
Surgery
True or False: After coarctation correction, re-occurance and HTN can occur
True
Does coarctation in newborns present with right or left ventricular hpertropy?
Right (RV is dominant pumping chamber in fetus)
When do infants with hypoplastic left heart present?
When PDA closes
How does hypoplastic left heart present?
Severe CHF (after PDA closes), cardiomegaly, precordial hyperactivity, loud S2
10 day old newborn, tachypneic, thready pulses, enlarged liver, ABG with metabolic acidosis…. what medication do you start?
Prostaglandin E1 (hypoplastic left heart)
-Presents with picture of cardiogenic shock
Describe the murmur with hypoplastic left heart
There isn’t one- PDA is open, but pulmonary and aortic pressures are equal so no turbulance across the patent ductus
What are 2 important tests to get in a child with cardiogenic shock?
EKG and ECHO
What should you think with a newborn with hypoxemia whose O2 sat doesn’t improve with 100% O2?
Cardiac disease (vs. pulmonary)
What are infants with cyanotic heart disease and polycythemia at risk for?
CVA
What are the 3 causes of severe cyanosis in the immediate newborn period?
- Transposition
- Pulmonary atresia
- Ebstein malformation
Which 3 conditions will presents with central cyanosis, no respiratory distress, no significant murmur, and fail to correct with 100% O2?
- Transposition
- Pulmonary atresia
- Ebstein malformation
What is the first thing to do for an infant with transposition, pulmonary atresia, or Ebstein malformation?
PGE1 (maintain PDA)
What can present similarly to transposition/pulmonary atresia/Ebstein, but will improve with O2 administration?
Persistent pulmonary HTN of the newborn
True or False: If an infant is anemic, they may not show signs of cyanosis on PE?
True (even with O2 sats around 88%)
Why might you not see cyanosis in an infant until O2 sats are quite low?
Because infants have high fetal Hbg levels
5 T’s of cyanotic congenital heart disease?
- Truncus Arteriosus
- Transposition of the Great Arteries
- Tricuspid Atresia
- Tetrology of Fallot
- Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return
Of the 5 T’ which presents with severe cyanosis in the first few hours of life?
Transposition (the others turn blue after PDA closes
Infant with good APGARs, pink/well-perfused initially. Day 1-2 of life becomes cyanotic, tachypneic. CXR has no increased vascular markings?
Ductal Dependent Lesions
- Cyanotic with closing PDA (decreased mixing at level of PDA)
- Lack of increased vascular markings rules out pulmonary disease
How are ductal dependent lesions treated?
Prostaglanding- Maintain PDA
None of the 4 pulmonary veins is attached to the left atrium?
TAPVR
-Oxygenated blood leaving lungs returns to RA and then back to lungs
What must be presents for TAPVR to be compatible with life?
Connection from R heart to L (ASD/VSD/PDA)
How does TAPVR present?
Full term infant
- Increased right ventricular activity
- Cyanosis
- Hypoxia
- Hypercarbia
- Pulmonary edema
What are findings on CXR consistent with TAPVR?
- Pulmonary congestion (increased venous return)
- Normal to small heart
What is seen on ABG with TAPVR?
Increase PCO2
What pulmonary problem can TAPVR present similarly to?
RDS- With a full term baby, consider TAPVR first (even though RDS can occur in full term infants)
What is the valve between RA and RV?
Tricuspid
What is Ebsteins’ anomaly?
Abnormality of the Tricuspid valve leaflets
What 2 drugs can cause Ebsteins’ anomaly?
Lithium or Benzos
4 components of TOF?
- Pulmonary stenosis
- Overriding aorta
- VSD
- RVH with RAD on EKG
What is the overall most common cyanotic heart condition?
TOF
What is the most common cyanotic heart condition in newborns?
Transposition of the great arteries
TOF most common overall, but not usually present in the newborn period
How do kids with TOF present?
Palpable right ventricular impulse
Single 2nd heart sound (pulmonary component absent)
What does EKG demonstrate in TOF?
RVH
What is seen on CXR for TOF?
“Boot-Shaped” heart with decreased pulmonary vascularity
When does TOF typically present?
Infant 3-5 months
Often asymptomatic in early infancy
What 2 things are kids at risk for after surgery for TOF?
- Arrhythmias
2. Episodes of syncope
What happens during a tet spell?
Increased right to left shunting causes hypercyanosis and hypoxia
What are common triggers for tet spells?
Anemia and dehydration
Describe what the child does during a tet spell?
Turn blue, deep rapid respiratory pattern (hyperpnea)
What is found on cardiac exam during a tet spell?
Murmur disappears… Usually they have a systolic murmur
What are 4 factors that worsen cognitive prognosis in children with cyanotic heart disease?
- Decreased neurological baseline before surgery
- Seizures occurring after surgery (especially early)
- Coexistent problems (chromosomal abnormality)
- Duration of intraoperative circulatory arrest (>75 min makes for worse prognosis)
What is a clue you will see when describing a classic tet spell?
Acute onset
What is treatment for a tet spell?
- Squatting position or knee to chest (increase peripheral vascular resistance)
- Morphine
- Phenylephrine
- IV propranolol
- Volume expansion
When should elective repair of TOF be completed?
In the first postnatal year