Clinical aspects of Cardiovascular disease Flashcards
what are the modifiable risk factors for atherosclerosis?
smoking
hypertension
hyperlipidaemia
diabetes
obesity
what are the non modifiable risk factors for atherosclerosis?
age
male gender
family history
what are the cardiac causes of chest pain?
aortic dissection
pulmonary embolism
aortic stenosis
pericarditis
myocarditis
takotsubo cardiomyopathy
cardiac ischaemia
how do you test for cardiac ischaemia?
troponin positive
-type I MI -physcial blockage of artery
-type II MI- physical artery okay but there is a blockage/aneurism/spasm
-SCAD
-coronory spasm
Troponin negative
-angina- stable vs unstable
-cor spasm
-microvasular/endothelial
what is an aortic dissection?
process where layers of aortic wall split like an onion, very painful
what is a pulmonary embolism?
big clots going up to lungs; tends to be one sided
what ia aortic stenosis?
heart muscle grows significantly and outgrows its blood supply
what is pericarditis?
inflammation of pericardium
what is myocarditis?
inflammation of heart muscle ( not normally painful)
what is takotsubo cardiomyopathy?
broken heart syndrome - from Amin and jawad
what are the respiratory causes of chest pain?
pneumonia
pneumothorax
oesophagitis/ reflux disease
oesophageal rupture/ mediastinitis
what are some other causes for chest pain?
- Cancer
- Neuralgia
- Psychogenic
what are the GI causes of chest pain?
- Pancreatitis
- Gallstones
what are the stages of the sequence of progression of atherosclerosis?
endothelial cell injury
lipoprotein deposition
inflammatory reaction
smooth muscle cell cap formation
what happens during endothelial cell injury stage?
This is likely the initial factor that begins the process of atherosclerotic plaque formation. Because the endothelium is constantly exposed to the circulation, any toxin present can result in damage, as occurs during tobacco use, diabetes and dyslipidemia. The continuous physical force exerted upon the endothelium also commonly plays a role, as the greatest atherosclerotic plaque occurs at arterial bifurcations ― i.e. the bifurcation of the left main coronary artery and the left anterior descending. Hypertension increases the physical force present.
what happens during the lipoprotein deposition phase?
When the endothelium is injured or disrupted, lipoprotein molecules can gain entry where they are then modified by oxidation (via free radicals or oxidizing enzymes) or glycation (in diabetes). This modified lipoprotein, or LDL, is inflammatory and able to be ingested by macrophages, creating “foam cells” and causing a “fatty streak” in the arterial wall.
what is the good cholesterol?
HDL
what is the bad cholesterol?
LDL
what happens during the inflammatory reaction phase?
The modified LDL is antigenic and attracts inflammatory cells into the arterial wall. Also, after endothelial injury, inflammatory mediators are released further, increasing leukocyte recruitment.
what happens during the smooth muscle cell cap formation stage?
Smooth muscle cells migrate to the surface of the plaque, creating a “fibrous cap.” When this cap is thick, the plaque is stable; however, thin capped atherosclerotic plaques are thought to be more prone to rupture or erosion, causing thrombosis.
how do wer diagnose chest pain?
- Inpatients
- Layered history
- Observations
- Laboratory tests
- ECG
- Serial ECG
- CXR
- Outpatients
- Dual history
- ECG
- Chronology
what investigations are required before diagnosis of chest pain?
- Exercise Tolerance Test (ETT)
- Sensitivity and specificity ~70%
- Low risk (<1:10,000)
- Low resource
- Many patients unsuitable/submaximal/indeterminate
- Invasive Coronary Angiogram
- Gold standard
- Low risk (but highest risk) —> MI/CVA/Arrhythmia
- High resource
- Patient selection
what is unstable angina?
unpredictable pain
-unstable plaque without myocardial necrosis
-critical coronary disease
what is the mechanism of action of anti-anginal drugs?
reduce cardiac workload
-slow HR
-reduce force of contraction
-reduce pre-load/ after-load
-improve blood supply
-coronory vasodilation
what are the indicators of acute coronary syndromes?
unstable angina
NSTEMI
STEMI (ST elevation MI)
what is treatment for an NSTEMI?
- Dual antiplatelet therapy - Aspirin + Clopidogrel
- LMWH/fondaparinux - Heparin as anti-coagulant
- Statin - for correction of cholesterol (HDL)
- ACE-I - Affects LV modelling
- β-blocker
- Risk stratification (ECG, TnT, GRACE, Echo, other investigation)
what is a STEMI (ST-elevation MI)?
has more heart damage as ‘trans-mural’
complete vessel occlusion
what are the coronary interventions available for a type 1 STEMI?
systemic thrombolysis
primary percutaneous coronary intervention
interventional cardiac centre