Cardiovascular Medicine Flashcards
What are the main causes of chest paint?
- Myocardial ischaemia
- Aortic dissection
- Pleural disease
- Oesophageal disease
- MSK Ddisease (e.g.costochondritis)
Describe the symptoms of myocardial ischaemia
- Crushing, gripping or heavy pain centrally on the chest
- Can radiate to shoulder or jaw
- Associated with parasthesia (prickling sensation)/heaviness in one or both arms
- Associated with dyspnoea, nausea and sweating
- Comes on other minutes
What is aortic dissection?
Aortic dissection (AD) occurs when an injury to the innermost layer of the aorta allows blood to flow between the layers of the aortic wall, forcing the layers apart.
What are the symptoms of pleural disease?
- Localised sharp pain, worse on deep breathing and coughing
- Associated with costo-chondral tenderness
- Pain in the shoulder tip is suggestive of diaphragmatic pleural irritation
What are the symptoms of oesophageal disease?
- Retrosternal chest pain.
- Worse on bending over or lying down, relived by antacids
What are the symptoms of MSK chest pain e.g. costochondritis?
- Can cause very server pain, importantly associated with local tenderness
- Worse with certain movements, often a history of trauma of causative event
What is the common pathology of acute coronary syndromes?
- Atheromatous plaque formation in the coronary arteries
- Fissuring/ulceration of the plaque leading to platelet aggregation
- Localise thrombosis,vasoconstriction and disf thromboembolism
- Myocardial infraction
What are the Acute coronary syndromes?
- Unstable angina
- STEMI
- NSTEMI
Define unstable angina
Angina occurring at rest, or sudden increased frequency/severity of existing angina
What causes unstable angina?
Pathologically caused by fissuring of plaques, thus there is a risk of subsequent total vessel
Occlusion and progression to Acura myocardial infarction (AMI)
What causes a regional MI?
Infact if one segment of the ventricular wall, nearly always due to thrombus formation on an atheromatous plaque giving prolonged ischaemia
What causes a regional subcutaneous infarction?
If there is lysis of the thrombus or a strong collateral supply the infarct is limited to the subendocardial zone (most distal point from the bloody supply)
What is a circumferential subendocardial infarction?
Caused by a general hypoperfusion of the coronary arteries, usually dyes a hypotension episode in arteries already af free ted by high grade atherosclerosis
How do you disagrees an MI?
- Elevations in serum cardiac tropinin levels (i.e. cardiac myocyte death) with additional categorisation based on they ECG
- ST elevation/ new LBBB (The hallmark of left bundle branch block is QRS duration ≥0,12 seconds, deep and broad S-wave in V1/V2 and broad clumsy R-wave in V5/V6) = STEMI
What does the right coronary artery supply?
Right atria, right ventricle, posteriorly septum and AVN In 80% and SAN in 60%
What part of the heart does a right coronary artery effect?
Posterior/ inferior
What leads depict a right coronary artery blockage?
Leads II, III, VF
Describe the symptoms of aortic dissection
- Severe, central chest pain, radiating to the back and down the arms
- Patients may be shocked and can have neurological symptoms secondary to loss of blood supply to the spinal cord
- There may be signs of distal ischaemia or absent peripheral pulses
- Comes on over seconds
What does e left coronary artery split into?
Circumflex and left anterior descending arteries
What part of the heart does an occlusion to the left coronary artery try affect?
Anterior lateral
What leads does a left coronary artery occlusion show on?
Leads 1, aVL, V5/6
What does the left anterior descending artery supply?
Left ventricle and anterior septum
What part of the heart does a left anterior descending artery affect?
Anterior septal
What leads does a left anterior descending artery occlusion show on?
Leads V1-V4
How does a collagenous scar develop after an MI with time?
0-12 hours: infarct not visible, loss of oxidative enzymes
12-24 hours: infarct pale and blotchy with intercellular oedema
24-72 hours: infarcted area excites acute inflammatory response with dead area soft and yellow with neutrophilic infiltration
3-10 days: organisation of infarcted area by vascular granulation tissue
10 days- several months: collagen disposition, infarct replaced by collagenous scar
What causes deaths in ischaemic heart disease (IHD)?
Ventricular fibrillation
What are ACS symptoms?
- Severe crushing gripping or heavy chest pain lasting longer than 20 seconds- not relive by 3 x GTN sprays at 5 minute intervals
- Radiates to the left arm, neck or jaw
- Associated with dyspnoea, nausea, fatigue, sweatiness and palpitations
- May present without chest pain (silent infarct) particularly in elderly or diabetics who can present later with a verity of symptoms
How does ACS present on examination?
- Sympathetic activation: tachycardia, hypertension, pallor, sweatiness
- Vagal stimulation: bradycardia, vomiting
- Myocardial impairments: hypotension, narrow pulse pressure, raised JVP, basal crepetatations, 3rd heart sound
- Tissue damage: low grade pyrexia (fever)
- Later a pericardial rub and peripheral oedema may develop or pansystolic murmur due to papillary muscle rupture/ventriculo-septal defect
What is the differential diagnosis of the central chest pain from ACS?
- Coronary spasm
- Pericarditis/myocarditis
- Aortic dissection
- PE
- pneumothorax
- Oesophageal disease
- Mediastinitis
- Costochondritis
- Trauma
What investigations would you order for ACS?
- ECG
- Bloods- FBC and U&E, glucose (lowered) and lipids (raised), cardiac enzymes (cardiac troponin)
- CXR (cardiomegaly, pulmonary odema, widened mediastinum in aortic dissection)
- If in doubt transthoracic echocardiography May confirm or help detect alternative diagnosis such as PE
Describe the ST changes in a non-reperfused STEMI
5 minutes- tall, pointed T-waves
30 minutes- ST elevation
2+ hours after- T wave inversion, Q waves develop
Days after- ST segment returns to normal
Weeks after- T wave may return to normal, Q wave remains
How is an NSTEMI different you a STEMI?
STEMI generally correlates with a full-thickness myocardial infarct, whereas NSTEMI is often a partial thickness elision
There may be ST depression, T wave inversion or other non-specific changes
How does unstable angina present in clinical tests?
May be ischaemic ST depression in the leads affected and there will be no tropes rise
What is the early management of ACS?
- A-E: oxygen only required if SpO2 <94%, Baseline bloods including tropics and clotting
- 300mg aspirin chewed
- Morphine starting at 5mg and titrated up, plus anti-emetic
- GTN spray/IV nitrates unless hypotensive
- if there is ST elevation on ECG, immediate referral to cardiology for PCI is required (Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) refers to the strategy of taking a patient who presents with STEMI directly to the cardiac catheterization laboratory to undergo mechanical revascularization using balloon angioplasty, coronary stents, aspiration thrombectomy, and other measures.)
- if there is no ST elevation, assess mortality risk using the GRACE score, continue regular ECG monitoring and add further medication (clopidogrel 300mg blood thinner, fondaparinoux anticoagulant)
Whats the GRACE score?
takes into account age, heart rate, blood pressure, class of CHF, renal function, ST segment changes, troponin elevations and whether there was an arrest at admission to give a mortality risk at various time intervals
How do you treat a STEMi?
Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the gold standard if available in a timely fashion: door to balloon in 90 minutes, patient transfer advised if intervention can occur within this window
If contraindicated then thrombolysis should be given
How do you treat NSTEMI/UA?
- high risk if GRACE mortality >3% in 6m or raised troponins, persistent pain, ST depression or diabetes –> organise semi-elective PCI as inpatient
- Low risk i.e. resolved unstable angina or GRACE <3% –> potentially can be discharged with long-term medication and outpatient follow up (e.g. elective angiography)
What is long term ACS management?
- 48h bed rest with continuous ECG monitoring
- Daily U and Es and cardiac enzyme for 2-3days
- Thomoprophylaxis; fondaparinoux SC 2.5mg OD (if undergoing/undergone PCI within 24h, discuss need with cardiology)
- Asprin 75mg OD continued for life
- Clopidogrel 75mg OD continued for one year
- Bisoprolol for life, titrated to reduceHR to around 60bpm
- start Stanton and ACEi after 24-48 course (atorvastatin 80mg o.n. rampipril 2.5mg b.d.)
- address modifiable risk factors
- Start oral nitrates if there is ongoing angina (isosorbide mononitrate 50mg bd.)
- discharge at 5-7 days
What are the immediate complications of AMI?
Arrhythmias (VT and VF are common following AMI, particularly after reperfusion, AF occurs frequently and relapse is frequent, bradycardia or AV block can occur ion the MI affects the SAN/AVN
What are the short term complications of AMI?
- pulmonary oedema
- cardiogenic shock
- thromboembolism
- venticulo-septal defect
- ruptured chordae tendinae
- rupture of ventricular wall
How does pulmonary oedema occur as a result of AMI?
-left heart fails to pump effectively, with poor systolic emptying leading to dilation: ‘a dilated chamber is a failing chamber’
-the back pressure in the pulmonary veins is reflected into the capillaries, leading to extravasation of low-protein fluid into the alveolar sacs
-
How does pulmonary oedema present?
- extreme breathlessness, with sweating and anxiety
- there may be a cough. producing frothy, blood-stained sputum
- on examination there are signs of acute heart failure, with cracks throughout the chest
- arterial PO2 falls, and initially PCO2 falls also due to over breathing, but later the PCO2 rises due to impaired gas exchange
What is cardiogenic shock?
hypotension causing a further reduction in coronary flow and thus further pump failure leading to a vicious cycle and a high mortality rate
How does thromboembolism occur due to AMI?
mural thrombus formation over the inflamed area of endocardium can cause emboli to the brain, kidney, gut, lower limbs etc. causing infarction
What is a venticulo-septal defect?
inter cardiac rupture through the septum causing left-right shunt and development of sever left ventricular failure if large
What does a ruptured chordae tendiae cause?
mitral valve incompetence
Why does AMI cause rupture of the ventricular wall?
2-10 days after due to re-organisation and softening of the wall
What does rupture of the ventricular wall cause?
haemopericardium, cardiac tamponade and rapid death
what are the long term complications of an AMI?
- heart failure
- Dressler’s syndrome
- ventricular aneurysm formation
What is Dressler’s syndrome?
immune mediated pericarditis, associated with a high ESR and sometimes anti-myocardial antibodies
How long after an infarct does Dressler’s syndrome occur?
2-10 months
How does Dressler’s syndrome present?
- sharp chest pain exacerbated by ,movement and lying down, relieved by sitting forwards
- on examination, there is a classical pericardial friction rub at the lower left sternal edge with the patient leaning forwards
- there may also be a pericardial effusion, leading to dyspnoea if it compresses adjacent bronchi