Physiology/Pathophysiology Flashcards
What were the key preparedness and prevention recommendations in the RECOVER guidelines?
- Organized, pre-stocked arrest stations improve CPR performance and should be located where animals are routinely anesthetized
- Post-CPR debriefing is safe, easy and improves future performance
- Standardized training programs have improved adherence to guidelines in human medicine and are needed in veterinary medicine
- Leadership and team communication training increase effectiveness of CPR teams
- High fidelity manikins for teaching CPR psychomotor skills are highly effective in human medicine and would be valuable in veterinary medicine.
What are the key BLS recommendations for canine and feline CPR made in the Recover guidelines?
- Emphasis on rapid recognition of CPA and rapid initiation of CPR
- Immediate initation of chest compressions with intubation and ventilation performed simultaneously
- Ventilation rate of 10 breaths/min without interruptions to chest compressions
- Chest compressions should aim to compress the chest by 1/3 to 1/2 its width in lateral recumbency, at a rate of at least 100 compressions/min allowing full recoil between compressions (“push hard and push fast”)
- Utilization of 2 minute cycles of uninterrupted chest compressions with alternation of compressors between cycles. Intercycle interruptions in compressions should be kept to a minimum, only as long as required for rhythm diagnosis.
What are the key ALS reccomendations for canine/feline CPR as laid out in the RECOVER guidelines?
- Standard dose epinephrine (0.01mg/kg) is the preferred dose for CPR
- Rapid defibrillation is warranted in animals with observed progression to pulseless VT or VF, preferentially using a biphasic defibrillator
- Defibrillation should follow a cycle of CPR in unwitnessed pulseless VT or VF
- Open chest CPR might be considered in select cases with access to post cardiac arrest support
- Reversal of anesthetic agents and correction of major acid-base and electrolyte disturbances is advisable
What are the key monitoring recommendations laid out by the RECOVER guidelines?
- Time spent verifying an absent pulse may delay onset of CPR; chest compressions should be initiated immediately for apneic, unresponsive patients
- ECG analysis of an unresponsive patient may help to rule out CPA or be used to evaluate for rhythms requiring specific therapeutic approaches (eg ventricular fibrillation–VF)
- EtCO2 should not be used as the sole confirmation of ET intubation in cardiac arrest patients
- Pauses in chest compressions to evaluate the ECG rhythm should be minimized
- EtCO2 monitoring is useful to identify ROSC and may be prognostic for the liklihood of ROSC
- Patient monitoring following ROSC should be directed at identifying abnormalities that may portend another CPA and should be individually tailored to each patient
What are the key post-cardiac arrest care guidelines recommended by the RECOVER analysis?
- Based upon human studies that suggest hemodynamic optimization protocols during the PCA phase are clinically feasible an dpotentially useful, in hemodynamically unstable dogs and cats after cardiac arrest, a hemodynamic optimiazation strategy including fluid therapy adjusted according to criteria customary to veterinary SAECC is reasonable
- Good evidence to advocate normoxemia versus hyper/hypoxemia in the early PCA period
- THe evidence suggests a neuro benefit of mild hypothermia in the early postresuscitation period and that fast rewarming after induced/unintended hypothermia may be harmful
- There is no evidence to support routine administration of corticosteroids, antiseizure prophylaxis, mannitol or metabolic protectants after cardiac arrest
- Low-dose corticosteroid teratment of patients with perisstent hypotension requiring sympathomimetic support may be considered
- Hypertonic saline may be considered in animals that are suspected of having cerebral edema as evidenced by coma or obtundation after cardiac arrest
- Bundled therapy including hypothermia, hypertension and normocapnia and thiopental, methylprednisolone, phenytoin and perhaps antioxidants may have outcome benefit
- More comprehensive PCA care in a specialty center wiht access to more advanced monitoring equipment and supportive care may have outcome benefit
Discuss the cardiac pump versus thoracic pump theory.
- Cardiac Pump
- During compressions, the ventricles are directly compressed between the ribs
- Best for cats, small dogs
- Can use in keel-chested dogs as well, placing hands directly over location of heart in lateral recumbency
- Thoracic pump
- During compressions, the overall intrathoracic pressure is increased, secondarily compressing the aorta and collapsing the vena cava, leading to blood flow out of the chest
- During elastic recoil, subatmospheric intrathoracic pressure provides a pressure gradient that favors the flow of blood from the periphery back into the thorax/lungs where oxygen and Co2 exchange occurs
- Best for medium, large dogs, placing hands over widest portion of chest
- Provide compressions at 100-120bpm
What is the optimal ventilation strategy during a CPR event?
- 10 breaths per minute
- VT 10ml/kg
- Inspiratory time of 1 second
Compare monophasic and biphasic defibrillators.
- Monophasic defibrillator
- Unidirectional current flows from one electrode to another
- Requires higher energy
- Initial dose 4-6J/kg
- Biphasic defibrillator
- Current initially flows in one direction, then reverses and flows in the other direction
- Have been shown to more effectively terminate VF at lower defibrillation energy than monophasic defibrillators, in turn leading to less myocardial injury
- initial dose 2-4 J/kg
After loss of perfusion, the ischemic heart is known to pass through what three phases?
- The electrical phase during which minimal ischemic damage occurs, lasting 4 minutes
- The circulatory phase during which reversible ischemic damage occurs, lasting 6 minutes
- The metabolic phase during which potentially irreversible ischemic damage begins to occur and which may necessitate more advanced techniques such as therapeutic hypothermia and cardiac bypass to reverse.
Immediate defibrillation is recommended in cases of CPA d/t pulseless VT of duration of 4 minutes or less.
If the patient is known/suspected to have been in VF/pulseless VT for >4 minutes (therefore beyond the electrical phase) energy substrates are likely depleted and the patient will most likely benefit from a 2min cycle of BLS before defibrillation.
What is the formula for myocardial perfusion pressure?
- MPP=ADP-RADP (aortic diastolic minus right atrial diastolic)
- The majority of myocardial perfusion during CPR occurs during the decompression phase of chest compressions and is determined predominantly by myocardial perfusion pressure
- A higher MPP during CPR is associated with better success in both humans and dogs
What conditions essentially make external chest compressions futile and necessitate converstion to open chest CPR?
Pleural space disease, pericardial effusion, penetrating thoracic injuries
Following cardiac arrest, PCA brain injury results from global cerebral ischemia perfusion. Much of the mechanism of injury is poorly understood, however, list 4 key points that we do know…
- Most of the injury is sustained during the reperfusion event, not ischemia, giving the clinician time to intervene after ROSC is attained
- Cytosolic and mitochondrial calcium overload leads to activation of proteases that may lead to neuronal detah and production of ROS
- A burst of ROS occurs during reperfusion, leading to oxidative alterations of lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids, propagating injury of neuronal cell compnents and limiting the cells protective and repair mechanisms
- MIld thearpeutic hypothermia administered after ROSC is proven to reduce postresuscitation cerebral dysfuncion
How is mild therapeutic hypothermia proposed to exert its protective effects in increasing neurologically intact survival from OHCA?
- Reduces mitochondrial injury and dysfunction
- Decreases cerebral metbolism
- REduces Ca inflow into cells and neuronal excitotoxicity
- Reduced production of ROS and reduced apoptosis
- Reduced seizure activity
Explain the term “myocardial stunning”.
- Refers to reversible myocardial injury in the absence of cell necrosis that occurs following cardiac arrest
- PCA myocardial dysfunction is characterized by:
- increased CVP and pulmonary capillary wedge pessure
- Decreased left and right sided systolic and diastolic ventricular function
- Increased end diastolic and end systolic volume
- Reduced left ventricular ejection fraction and cardiac output
- Typically resolves within ~48 hours
What is a reactive oxygen species (ROS)?
A species that may cause oxidative injury; capable of reacting with all biological molecules including nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids
What molecules are most frequently damaged by ROS and what reaction happens?
- Lipids
- Mammalian cells are rich in PUFA’s which are highly susceptible to oxidative stress
- Once an ROS is formed, it can either react with another radical to form a covalent bond or, more commonly, react with a non-radical
- When a free radical reacts with a non-radical, the non-radical loses an electron and transforms into a free radical
- This is the chain reaction that propagates extensive damage to cell membranes
- The product can actually be more damaging than the original radical
- NO combining with superoxide, creates peroxynitrite which is 2000 times more damaging than H2O2
- The interaction of ROS with lipids in the presence of free iron results in lipid peroxidation
What are the two major free radicals that can initiate lipid peroxidation? What happens with lipid peroxidation?
- Hydroxyl radical and peroxynitrite
- Lipid peroxidation severely damages cell membranes, causing alterations in enzyme systems and receptors, alterations in ionic channels and increased permeability to calcium and other ions
- The products of lipid peroxidation are also thought to initiate inflammation, apoptosis and activation of thiol-containing enzymes
What is an antioxidant? What are the main routes of antioxidant defense against cellular damage?
- Antioxidants are substances that can delay or prevent oxidation of lipids, DNA or proteins.
- Antioxidant proteins (albumin, haptoglobin, ferritin) abundant in plasma/ECF
- Intracellular antioxidants
- Glutathione: considered to be first line of defense against ROS
- Superoxide dismutase
- Catalase
- Cell membranes contain tocopherols/beta-carotene in their lipid layer which can impede lipid peroxidation
Describe cold versus warm ischemia.
- Cold ischemia
- Occurs in organs outside the body
- Endothelial cells and Kuppfer cells damaged first
- Warm ischemia
- Occurs in organs in the body
- Hepatocyte death predominates
Several events combine during ischemia to set the stage for massive ROS formation. What are these key steps?
- During hypoxia, cells degrade ATP into its components.
- With continued ischemia, hypoxanthine accumulates.
- Decreased ATP inactivates the ATP sensitive cell membrane pumps
- Net efflux potassium, influx of sodium, calcium, chloride
- Acute cellular swelling
- The increased intracellular calcium is one of the earliest events in IR injury
- Causes both apoptosis and necrosis of the cell
- Activates a protein that leads to marked formation of xanthine-oxide (XO)
- Continued accumulation of hypoxanthine and XO, which play a role in reperfusion
- Activation of NFKB leads to increases in inflammatory mediators, adhesion molecules
- Leads to increased leukocyte adhesion at the site of IR injury during reperfusion
- Inactivation of NO leads to vasoconstriction
Reperfusion causes more injury than ischemia and is associated with severe endothelial dysfunction. What occurs during reperfusion to lead to this severe injury?
- Massive ROS formation; first occurring at the interface between the endothelium and the blood upon reperfusion
- Oxygen re-introduction combines with the already present XO and hypoxanthine which leads to superoxide release
- Superoxide serves as a source for hydrogen peroxide
- Hydrogen peroxide, in the presence of increased intracellular iron (due to ischemia), is converted via the Haber-Weiss reaction to the hydroxyl radical
- Hydroxyl radical is a highly destructive/potent oxidizing agent
- Chain reaction of lipid peroxidation leading to loss of membrane selective permeability, damage to DNA, degradation of structural proteins and membrane bound enzyme activity
- During reperfusion, large bursts of ROS can bind to circulating NO
- Loss of NO lets endothelin (potent vasoconstrictor) run unchecked
- Also has anti-inflammatory activity
What role due neutrophils play in IR injury?
- ROS cn initiate chemotaxis and subsequent neutrophil infiltration
- Leukocyte infiltration is a crucial component of the IR cascade, with extravasation of the leukocytes from the vasculature a primary event.
- Much of the tissue injurey occuring arises from the oxidants generated and the proteolytic enzymes released from the neutrophils after extravasation
- Activated neutrophils can cause tissue injury by
- ROS synthesis during respiratory burst
- Release of intrinsic proteolytic enzymes
- Physical obstruction of capillaries
- Has been suggested the neutrophils mediate the majority of mucosal and microvascular injury subsequent to IR
- Continual neutrophil chemotaxis and activation leading to additonal ROS formation, endothelial damage and capillary plugging
What is the no-reflow phenomenon?
- Describes diminished or absent blood flow to an area of tissue after relief of vascular obstruction
- Thought to be related to swollen endothelium, endothelial protrusions and platelet and fibrin thrombi.
- Neutrophils likely to play a key role.
- Longer periods of ischemia more likely to lead to no-reflow.
What are the initial goals of chest compressions?
- Provide pulmonary blood flow for oxygen uptake and CO2 elimination
- Tissue perfusion for oxygen delivery to restore cellular metabolic activity











