Cardiology Flashcards
Symptoms and signs of heart failure?
Poor feeding, breathlessness, faltering growth, excessive sweating, recurrent chest infections.
Signs - tachycardia, cool peripheries, tachypnoea, hepatomegaly. Third heart sound, murmur, abnormal pulses.
Causes of heart failure?
Neonates - duct dependent: Requires PDA until definitive treatment. - Hypoplastic left heart syndrome - Critical aortic valve stenosis - Severe coarctation of the aorta
Infants:
- Large ventricular septal defect
- Atrioventricular septal defect
- Large PDA
Older children and adolescents:
- Eisenmenger syndrome
- Rheumatic disease
- Cardiomyopathy
Investigations for heart failure?
Echo is diagnostic
CXR
ECG - may show hypertrophy
Management of heart failure?
Treat underlying cause.
Diuretics - ACE-i
Nutritional support for poor feeding.
Causes of blue baby?
Hypoventilation Right-to-left intracardiac shunting V-Q mismatch Diffusion impairment ToF Truncus arteriosus Transposition of great arteries Respiratory distress syndrome Transient tachypnoea of newborn Aspiration (meconium, blood, milk) can give rise to atelectasis or chemical pneumonitis Pneumonia Pulmonary haemorrhage Pulmonary oedema Pneumothorax Pleural effusion Polycythaemia
How do oxygen sats rise in healthy babies in first 10 minutes of life?
Rise to >90 by 10 minutes of age.
How to treat blue baby?
A-E
15L 100% oxygen - if doesn’t;t help, means its cardiovascular cyanosis so won’t help.
Fluids and vasopressors for hypotension and shock
Abx if evidence of sepsis or pneumonia
Alprostadil (prostaglandin E1) infusion to maintain latency of ductus arteriosus if suspected ductal-dependent congenital cardiac conditions.
What are the hallmarks of an innocent murmur?
Asymptomatic Soft blowing murmur Systolic murmur only Heard on left sternal edge No radiation
Name Genetic disorders and associated congenital heart disease?
Down syndrome - AV septal defect
Turner syndrome - coarctation of aorta, bicuspid aortic valve.
DiGeorge syndrome - ToF, Truncus arteriosus, interrupted aortic arch
Noonan syndrome - Pulmonary stenosis
Name acyanotic congenital heart defects? Which direction are the shunts?
Ventricular septal defect
Atrial septal defect
Patent ductus arteriosus
Coarctation of aorta
Left to right shunts
What are the causes or association with ventricular septal defect?
Down’s, Edwards, Patau’s.
Most common CHD
Features of ventricular septal defect?
Small VSD - asymptomatic
Large VSD - symptoms of heart failure (breathlessness, fluid overload, sweating when feeding, fatigue, poor feeding).
Pansystolic murmur at lower left sternal edge.
Management of ventricular septal defect?
Complications?
Spontaneous improvement occurs in most children with small defect.
Operate in severe cases to repair hole.
Eisenmengers syndrome - irreversible and life-threatening.
Right heart failure
Aortic regurgitation
Infective endocarditis.
What are the two types of atrial septal defect?
Ostium secundum Ostium primum (common in Down's)
Features of atrial septal defect?
Asymptomatic if small
May have paradoxical embolus - embolus usually travels from RA to RV to lungs - PE.
In ASD it may travel from RA to LA to LV to aorta to aortic branches - stroke.
Usually doesn’t occur as L pressure is greater.
Ejection systolic murmur in left upper sternal edge with split S2.