Medicine- cardiology Flashcards
Non-ACS causes of raised troponin
Chronic renal failure
Sepsis
Myocarditis
Aortic dissection
Pulmonary embolism
Initial investigations in stable angina
- Physical Examination (heart sounds, signs of heart failure, BMI)
- ECG
- FBC (check for anaemia)
- U+Es (prior to ACEi and other meds)
- LFTs (prior to statins)
- Lipid profile
- Thyroid function tests
- HbA1C and fasting glucose
Treatment for acute NSTEMI
Acute NSTEMI treatment: BATMAN B –
Beta blockers unless contraindicated
A – Aspirin 300mg stat dose
T – Ticagrelor 180mg stat dose (clopidogrel 300mg is an alternative)
M – Morphine titrated to control pain
A – Anticoagulant: Low Molecular Weight Heparin (LMWH) at treatment dose (e.g. enoxaparin 1mg/kg twice daily for 2-8 days)
N – Nitrates (e.g. GTN) to relieve coronary artery spasm Give oxygen only if their oxygen saturations are dropping (i.e. <95%).
What is Dressler’s Syndrome?
This is also called post-myocardial infarction syndrome. It usually occurs around 2-3 weeks after an MI. It is caused by a localised immune response and causes pericarditis (inflammation of the pericardium around the heart). It is less common as the management of ACS becomes more advanced.
Secondary prevention after ACS
Secondary Prevention Medical Management (6 As)
Aspirin 75mg once daily
Another antiplatelet: e.g. clopidogrel or ticagrelor for up to 12 months
Atorvastatin 80mg once daily
ACE inhibitors (e.g. ramipril titrated as tolerated to 10mg once daily)
Atenolol (or other beta blocker titrated as high as tolerated)
Aldosterone antagonist for those with clinical heart failure (i.e. eplerenone titrated to 50mg once daily)
Some medical comorbidities which raise the risk of atherosclerosis
Diabetes
Hypertension
Chronic Kidney Disease
Inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis
Atypical Antipsychotic Medications
Difference between primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease
Primary Prevention – for patients that have never had cardiovascular disease in the past.
Secondary Prevention – for patients that have had angina, myocardial infarction, TIA, stroke or peripheral vascular disease.
Check LFTs within 3 months of starting a statin and again at 12 months why?
Statins can cause a transient and mild rise in ALT and AST in the first few weeks of use and they often don’t need stopping if the rise is less than 3 times the upper limit of normal.
Notable side effects of statins
Myopathy (check creatine kinase in patients with muscle pain or weakness)
Type 2 Diabetes
Haemorrhagic Strokes (very rarely)
Definition of stable angina
Angina is “stable” when symptoms are always relieved by rest or glyceryl trinitrate (GTN)
Gold standard diagnosis angina
CT Coronary Angiography
What should a person with angina who has chest pain 5 minutes after their second dose of GTN do?
Call an ambulance
Drugs (2) for long term symptomatic angina relief
Beta blocker (e.g. bisoprolol 5mg once daily) or;
Calcium channel blocker (e.g. amlodipine 5mg once daily)
Levine’s sign
Clutching fist over sternum when describing chest pain
TIMI Risk score factors
Historical (1 point for each factor) Age 65 yr 3 risk factors for CAD Known CAD (stenosis 50%) Aspirin use in past 7 d Presentation Recent (24 h) severe angina ST-segment deviation 0.5 mm Increased cardiac markers
How soon after a diagnosis of STEMI do you initiate reperfusion therapy?
Immediately and without waiting for other investigations
Goal of treatment for STEMI
Goal is to re-perfuse artery:
thrombolysis (“EMS-to-needle”) within 30 min or
primary PCI (“EMS-to-balloon”) within 90 min (if available)
Which is better in STEMI, thrombolysis or PTI?
Early PCI (12 h after symptom onset and <90 min after presentation) improves mortality vs. thrombolysis with fewer intra-cranial hemorrhages and recurrent MIs
Absolute contraindications to thrombolysis
- Prior intracranial haemorrhage
- Known vascular lesion
- Intracranial neoplasm
- Closed head or facial trauma
- Ischaemic stoke <3months
- Active bleeding
- Suspected aortic dissection
Useful prognostic factor post STEMI
Resting LVEF
Pre-hospital medications to administer possible ACS
Aspirin, oxygen, SL nitroglycerine and morphine
Goal for stent placement or balloon inflation in STEMI should be within how long?
within 90 min
Goal for thrombolysis in STEMI should be within how long?
within 30 minutes
Indications for CABG
Triple-vessel or left main disease
DM
Plaque morphology unfavourable for PCI
Drugs that lower mortality in MI
Aspirin (chew it)
Beta blockers
Beta blocker contraindications
Systolic BP <90
Cardiogenic shock
Severe bradycardia
Second or third degree heart block
Asthma/ emphysema
Peripheral vascular disease
Uncompensated CHF
Which drug should be administered immediately to unstable anginas who are to be managed conservatively?
Ticagrelor a P2Y12 receptor antagonist + aspirin dual therapy
What does the Framingham data calculate?
10 year risk of CAD in a patient with dyslipidemia
Aneurysm size threshold for surgery in men and women
Men 5-5.5cm
Women 4.5cm
Contraindications to statins
Active liver disease High ALT + AST
Triggers for Acute LVF
Iatrogenic (e.g. aggressive IV fluids in frail elderly patient with impaired left ventricular function)
Sepsis
Myocardial Infarction
Arrhythmias
What is the main measure of left ventricular function on echo?
The ejection fraction. This is the percentage of the blood in the left ventricle which is squeezed out with each ventricular contraction. An ejection fraction above 50% is considered normal.
How is the grade of LV failure calculated?
Use Ejection Fraction to Grade LV Dysfunction • Grade I (EF >60%) (Normal) • Grade II (EF = 40-59%) • Grade III (EF = 21-39%) • Grade IV (EF 20%)
CXR findings in Acute LVF
- Cardiomegaly on CXR - defined as cardiothoracic ratio > 0.5.
- Upper lobe venous diversion
Fluid leaking from oedematous lung tissue causes additional xray findings of:
Bilateral pleural effusions
Fluid in interlobar fissures Fluid in the septal lines (Kerley lines)
Management Acute LVF
Use the simple mnemonic Pour SOD for acute LVF:
Pour away (stop) their IV fluids
Sit up
Oxygen
Diuretics
Diagnosis of chronic heart failure
Clinical presentation
BNP blood test (specifically “N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide” – NT‑proBNP)
Echocardiogram ECG