Cardiology Flashcards
List the 4 features of teratology of fallot
- Pulmonary stenosis (main determinant of severity of symptoms)
- Overriding aorta
- Ventricular septal defect
- Right ventricular hypertrophy
What type of disease is teratology of fallot?
Cyanotic congenital heart disease (most common)
Describe presentation of teratology of fallot.
- Infancy or early childhood
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue on exertion
- Cyanotic episodes by ages 1-2. Relieved by squatting (increased systemic vascular resistance increasing LV pressure)
Describe diagnosis and management of teratology of fallot
- Diagnosis confirmed by haematologic and radiologic studies
- Treatment varies from surgical intervention to pharmacotherapy
Describe the pain in peripheral vascular disease
- Intermittent claudications (cramping)
- Pain upon exertion
What are cardiac abnormalities associated with in fetuses?
Poorly controlled gestational diabetes.
Describe treatment of septic shock
- Intravenous fluid resuscitation
to increase vascular preload - Vasopressor medications to increase systemic vascular resistance.
List common causes of ischaemic stroke
- Embolic disease due to AF
- Atherosclerosis
Which type of murmur is heard in chronic rheumatic fever?
- Mitral stenosis
- Due to type II hypersensitivity reaction to M protein, which binds with factor H to decrease complement activation. This damages the heart and valves.
Describe characteristics of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Genetic disorder (autosomal dominant)
- Crescendo- decreasenco systolic murmur
- Jerky carotid pulse
- Pulsus bisferiens (aortic waveform with 2 peaks per cardiac cycle) on physical examination
What is the leading cause of acute mortality following MI?
- Ventricular tachycardia degenerating into ventricular fibrillation, pulseless electrical activity and asystole
Describe murmur in tricuspid valve stenosis
- Diastolic murmur
- Heard at left lower sternal border, increases with inspiration
List main symptoms of rheumatic fever
- Joint pain
- Carditis
- Erythema marginatum
- Subcutaneous nodules
- Chorea
What is dilated cardiomyopathy?
List its causes
- Left ventricular dilation and systolic dysfunction
- Commonly caused by ischaemia and long standing hypertension and:
Alcohol Beriberi (B1 deficiency) Coxsackie Chagas Cocaine Doxorubicin
What is thromboangiitis abliterans?
- Vasculitis affecting the hands and feet of smokers
- Leads to claudication, ischaemic pain, gangrene and autoamputation of affected digits
- Ischaemic pain secondary to inflammatory thrombi in the arteries and vessels
What is the main cause of sudden cardiac death/arrest?
- Coronary heart disease
- Cessation of cardiac electrical activity with haemodynamic collapse
How do patients present upon examination with mitral valve regurgitation?
- Pansystolic heart murmur over the mitral area
- Louder on expiration
- Commonly caused by mitral valve prolapse caused by posterior myocardial infarction
List major symptoms, signs and epidemiological factors of aortic valve stenosis
- Shortness of breath on exertion
- Syncope
- Loud ejection systolic murmur on right sternal border with characteristic radiation to the carotids
- Slow rising pulse and narrow pulse pressure
- Presents 50-60 if bicuspid, 60-80 if not
What is myocardial infarction?
- Necrosis of heart tissue as a result of ischemia.
What is the best thing to measure to identify an MI?
Troponin 1. Rises 2-3 hours post MI, peaks at 2 days and stays elevated for 7 days
Which virus causes kaposi sarcoma?
- Human herpes virus 8
- Most often associated with HIV positive patients who are immunocompromised
Acute rheumatic fever
- Who it affects
- Cause
- Common in children age 5-15 years old, 2-4 weeks after pharyngeal infection by group A streptococcus.
- To meet criteria must be infection followed by 2 major or 1 major and 2 minor manifestations
List criteria for acute rheumatic fever (minor and major)
Major
- Joints: migratory arthritis predominantly of large joints
- Carditis
- Nodules (subcutaneous)
- Erythema marginatum
- Sydenham chorea
Minor
- Arthralgia
- Fever
- Elevated ESR and C-reactive protien
- Prolongued PR interval
What causes rheumatic fever?
- Cross reactivity between group A streptococcuses M protein and antigens in the myocardium, joints and CNS
- Type II hypersensitivity reaction
- Temporary or chronic
List consequences of rheumatic fever
- Rheumatic heart disease
- Left heart dilation
- Left ventricular hypertrophy
- Congestive heart failure
- Arrythmia
- Bacterial endocarditis
What is accelerated hypertension?
- Blood pressure higher than 180/120
- Hypertensive encephalopathy (papilledema)
- Renal failure
- Retinal haemorrhage or papilloedema
- Also called malignant hypertension
Define aortic stenosis
Tightening of the aortic valve at the origin of the aorta
Describe aetiology of aortic stenosis
- Calcification of the aortic valves: most common cause of AS in developed countries, typically occurring in elderly adults.
- Congenital abnormality of the aortic valve: the aortic valve is normally composed of three cusps (known as a tricuspid valve), but in some cases, individuals have only two cusps (known as a bicuspid valve) which predisposes them to the development of AS as well as aortic regurgitation.
- Rheumatic heart disease: a rare cause of AS in developed countries.
What are the signs and symptoms of aortic stenosis?
- Syncope (exertional)
- Angina
- Dyspnoea (SOB)
- On auscultation, crescendo decreascendo murmur heard loudest at right sternal edge in second intercostal space (ejection systolic), radiates to caroids
- Louder on expiration
- Narrow pulse pressure
- Slow rising pulse
Describe findings upon examination in patent ductus arteriosus
- Failure to thrive
- Clubbing
- Frequent respiratory infections
- Wide pulse pressure
- Continuous machine like murmur
List signs of mitral regurgitation
- AF
- Displaced, hyperdynamic apex beat
- Pansystolic murmur at apex radiating to axilla
- The more severe the largery the left ventricle
- First heart sound followed by a high-pitched holosystolic murmur at the apex, that radiates to the clavicular area
- Louder on expiration
- Can cause pulmonary oedema due to increased pressure in lung capillaries
What is thrombophlebitis and how is it investigates?
- Inflammation and thrombus formation in lower superficial veins
- Characterized by doppler ultrasound to rule out DVT
Define peripheral vascular disease
Narrowing and calcification of peripheral vessels
List risk factors of peripheral vascular disease
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- High BP
- High cholesterol
- Age
- Family history
Define rheumatic fever
Systemic inflammatory disorder affecting children
List investigations performed in rheumatic fever
- ECG (prolongued PR and tachycardia)
- Vital signs (fever)
- Throat swab for group A strep
- Chest x ray
- Doppler echocardiogram
Describe the symptoms of acute coronary syndrome and angina pectoris
- History of sudden onset, central crushing chest pain radiating to both/ either arms, neck or jaw lasting a few minutes or half an hour
- Angina pectoris pain occurs while exercising and stops at rest
Describe features of pulmonary embolism
- Sudden onset shortness of breath, and/or haemoptysis and/or pleuritic chest pain in someone with an inflamed limb and/or risk factors for blood clots
- Tachycardia
- Signs of hypoxia (only if very large)
How are patients with acute coronary syndrome treated immediately (when in crisis)?
- Morphine and metoclopramide
- Oxygen (if required)
- Nitrates (for vasodilation)
- Aspirin 300mg
- Clopidogrel or ticagrelor
STEMI patients recieve coronary reperfusion by PCI if available within 2 hours or fibrinolysis under 12 hours (Cath lab, stent)
NSTEMI angioplasty only (CABG, MABG), additionally fondaparinux (inhibits factor X) + LMWH. Grace score used to determine whether conservative management of PCI
What is variant angina?
- Angina at rest that occurs in cycles
- ECG captures diffuse ST elevations
- Cardiac enzymes and markers are generally normal levels
How is AF treated?
If under 48hrs and haemodynamically stable
- Rhythm control (DC cardioversion or chemical cardioversion (flecanide {contraindicated in CVD) or amiodarone)
- Rate control (bisoprolol, verapamil, dilitazem, digoxin)
- Chadvasc score for anticoagulation
If over 48 hours
- Anticoagulation (LMWH + warfarin loading, 4-8 weeks later DC cadioversion)
- Rate control (bisoprolol, verapamil, diliazem, digoxin)
If haemodynamically unstable
- DC cardioversion
How is atrial septal defect characterised?
- Wide fixed splitting of S2 and a systolic murmur at the left third ICS
What does hypovolaemia cause?
- Tachycardia
- Hypotension
- Sunken eyes
- Dry mucous membranes
- Perenal acute kidney injury due to increased renal perfusion (increased blood urea nitrogen to creatine and low sodium excretion)
Define infective endocarditis
- Infection of the endocardial surfaces of the heart
- Microorganism is introduced (eg. via surgery) and adheres to the heart. It then invades the valve (tricuspid) and surrounding areas.
List symptoms of infective endocarditis
- Fever
- Chills
- Anorexia
- Weight changes
- Malaise
- Headache
- Myalgia
- Night sweats
- Shortness of breath
- Cough
- Arthralgia
List signs of heart failure due to left ventricular dysfunction
- Pulmonary oedema
- 3rd heart sound
- Tachypnoea, tachycardia
- Cardiomegaly (displaced apex beat) and prominent pulmonary vasculature on X ray
- Pleural effusions
How is hypertension diagnosed?
2 or more seated blood pressure readings over outpatient meetings, ABPM HBPM
How is systolic hypertension treated?
Thiazide
What causes concentric hypertrophy?
- Chronic hypertension
- Additonal sarcomere units are added in parallel to increase strength and overcome afterload
How do beta blockers work
- Negative ionotrohic effect (reduce force of contraction)
- Negative chonotropic effect (reduce rate and rhythm by affecting conduction system)
List side effects of calcium channel blockers
Increased blood fluid due to vasodilation results in…
- Ankle swelling
- Headaches
- Flushing
- Palpatations
- Constipation
- Abdominal pain
Define first degree av block
Prolongation of PR interval to over 200msec
How is AV nodal reentrant tachycardia treated?
- Short term with IV adenosine
- Long term with verapamil (non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker
Describe examination for DVT
Ultrasonography
List cardiovascular parameters that change during pregnancy
- Decrease in systemic vascular resistance
- Increase in cardiac output
- Decrease in vascular resistance, leads to decreased afterload and increased stroke volume
How is unstable tachycardia treated?
Syncronised cardioversion
Describe ECG in second degree heart block
- Type II block is characterized by intermittently conducted P-waves that are not preceded by progressive prolongations of the PR-interval. Ratio of p waves to QRS
. In contrast, In type I block, there is progressive
prolongation of the PR-interval before a QRS-complex is not conducted.
Describe second degree heart block (type 2)
- Second degree atrioventricular block is usually due to failure of conduction at the level of the His-Purkinje system
- There are 2 subtypes of second degree AV block.
- Type I second degree AV block is more commonly due to a functional suppression of AV conduction (e.g. due to drugs, reversible ischemia). Progressive elongation of PR until QRS missed.
- Type II block is more likely to be due to structural damage to the conducting system (e.g. infarction, fibrosis, necrosis). Randomly dropped QRS complexes, PR interval constant.
What is Behcets disease?
- An immune complex small vessel vasculitis characterized by recurrent multiple aphthous ulcers, uveitis, and genital ulcers.
- This condition has a high-incidence among Eastern-Mediterranean countries.
Describe signs and symptoms of a patient with a burst AAA
- Abdominal, flank or back pain
- Grey turners if retroperitoneal bleed
- Syncope
- Pulsatile mass on palpation
- Tachycardia, hypotension
Define AAA
- Dilation of the abdominal aorta over 50% of previous diameter. Usually asymptomatic until burst
- Bursting is a medical emergency
List risk factors for AAA.
- Hypertension
- Age
- Connective tissue disorders (eg. Marfans)
- Cigarette smoking
- Hereditary/family history
- Male sex (prevalence)
- Female sex (rupture)
- Hyperlipidaemia
- COPD
- Atherosclerosis (i.e., coronary artery disease [CAD], peripheral arterial occlusive disease)
- Hypertension
- Increased height
- Central obesity
- on-diabetic
Describe investigations for AAA
- Ultrasonography is the definitive test (can also use radiography, CT scanning and MRI)
- CT scan with contrast (angiogram) shows rupture, while ultrasound shows aneurysm but not whether it has ruptured
List risk factors for heart failure
- Ischaemic heart disease (smoking, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension, south Asian descent, strong family history
- Other atheroscleroticc disease
- Hypertension
- Valvular disease
- Cardiomyopathy
Describe Stokes-Adams attacks and list their causes
- Sudden transient loss of consciousness induced by a slow or absent pulse and subsequent loss of cardiac output
- Underlying problem is either third-degree heart block or sinoatrial disease
- Not associated with change in posture
How are Stokes-Adams attacks treated?
Implant a pacemaker
Define deep vein thrombosis
The formation of a blood clot within a deep vein, predominantly in the legs
- Provoked is associated with a risk factor
- Unprovoked in absence of a risk factor
List symptoms and signs of DVT
- Pain in the leg (unilateral, occurs when walking or bearing weight)
- Swelling of the calf
- Redness
- Warmness
- Engorged superficial veins
- Homans sign (pain on dorsiflexion)
- Oedema, redness, warmth, venous distention
List risk factors for DVT
- A history of DVT.
- Cancer (known or undiagnosed).
- Age over 60 years.
- Being overweight or obese.
- Male sex.
- Heart failure.
- Medical illness, for example acute infection.
- Acquired or familial thrombophilia.
- Inflammatory disorders (for example, vasculitis, inflammatory bowel disease).
- Varicose veins.
- Smoking.
- Recent major surgery.
- Recent hospitilisation.
- Recent trauma.
- Chemotherapy.
- Significant immobility
- Prolonged travel (for more than 4 hours).
- Significant trauma or direct trauma to a vein (for example intravenous catheter).
- Hormone treatment (for example oestrogen-containing contraception or hormone replacement therapy).
- Pregnancy and the postpartum period.
- Dehydration.
What is vasospastic angina?
Angina caused by coronary artery spasm
Which grafts are used to treat coronary artery disease?
- LIMA (left interior mammary artery)
- CABG (uses saphenous vein, usually great)
Define myocarditis
Inflammation of heart muscle in the absence of acute or chronic ischaemia characteristic of coronary artery disease
List major causes of myocarditis
Infection
- Adenovirus
- Trypanosoma cruzi
- Parvovirus B19
- Coxsackie B - MOST COMMON IN EUROPE
- HIV
- CMV
- Rubella
- Polio
- Enterovirus
Drugs
- Cyclophosphamide, catecholamines (e.g. adrenaline, dopamine)
- Amphetamines, ethanol, cocaine
- Heavy metals (copper, iron, lead)
Hypersensitivity
- Antibiotics (cephalosporins, penicillins, sulphonamides)
- Clozapine
- Diuretics
- Lithium
- Phenytoin
Inflammatory/immune disorders
- Diabetes mellitus (type 1)
- GPA (formerly known as Wegner’s)
- IBD
- Sarcoidosis
- SLE
Describe symptoms of myocarditis
- Flu like symptoms (eg. fatigue, fever, myalgia, URTI)
- Chest pain (worse when laying down)
- Dyspnoea
- Orthopnoea
- Fatigue
- Palpatations
- Syncope
List signs of myocarditis
- Raised JVP
- Tachycardia
- Fever
- Hypotension
- Low oxygen sats
- Pitting oedema
- S3/4 gallops
- Pericardial rub
- Arythmia
Describe epidemiology of myocarditis
- All age groups can be affected but it commonly affects those <50
- Slightly higher incidence in men than women
- 5% of patients with acute viral illness may have myocardial involvement
- Approximately 10% of all sudden cardiac deaths in people under 35 can be attributable to myocarditis aetiology
Describe ECG appearance of left bundle branch block
What is it associated with?
WiLLiaM MoRRoW - V1 W V6 M - Widened QRS-interval, >120 ms, broad monomorphic R-waves in I and V6 with no Q-waves, and broad monomorphic S-waves in V1. - Negative complex in V1 - Associated with aortic stenosis - 2 complexes at once
List the different types of hypertension
- Primary hypertension (no identifiable cause, 90% of cases)
- Secondary hypertension, usually in under 40s (10% cushings, hyperadrenalism, diabetic nephropathy, kidney disease, renal artery stenosis, phaeochromocytoma, connective tissue disorders, drugs eg. COCP)
Stage 1 135/85-149/94 HBPM, 140/90 - 159/199 clinic
Stage 2 over 150/95 HBPM, 160/100 clinic
Stage 3 over 180/120 in clinic
List risk factors for hypertension
- Poor diet
- Obesity
- High cholesterol
- Physical inactivity
- Alcohol
- Smoking
- Family history
- Age
What is done if a one of blood pressure reading of 140/90-180/120mmHg occurs?
- Offer 24 hours blood pressure monitoring (ABPM)
- Ask patients to measure blood pressure at home
- Assess cardiovascular risk
- Investigate for end organ damage
How is stage 1 hypertension treated?
- If over 80 consider treatment
- If under 80 with Q risk over 10% and target organ damage consider drug treatment
- If under 60 and no end organ damage/ high CVD risk consider lifestyle management first
- If under 40, investigate for underlying casue
How is target organ damage investigated in hypertension?
- Urine (haematuria and proteinurea using urine albumin:creatinine)
- Bloods for U and Es
- Fundoscopy for retinopathy (cotton wool spots, flame haemorrhage, blot haemorrhage, papilloedema)
- ECG for left ventricular hypertrophy
Describe treatment of hypertension pharmacologically
- If under 55 and not african carribbean, or if hypertension with type 2 diabetes first step is ACEi or ARB. Next step is to add CCB or thiazide like diuretic
- If 55 or over or African Carribbean origin, CCB first line. Next add ACEi or ARB or thiazide like diuretic. CCB also first line for pregnant women
- For both, stage 3 is to use ACEi or ARB and CCB and thiazide like diuretic
- If this doesn’t work, spirinolactone or alpha blockers/beta blockers are used. Measure potassium first (lower potassium spironolactone, higher potassium alpha blocker)
List lifestyle advice in hypertension
- Reduce sodium
- Reduce caffeine
- Smoking cessation
- Reduce alcohol
- Weight loss and exercise