STRUCTURAL HEART DISEASE Flashcards
List examples of congenital structural heart diseases
Ventricular septal defect (VSD)
Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF)
Atrial septal defect (ASD)
Coarctation of the aorta
Describe the condition of ventricular septal defect (VSD) and the presentations
Septum fails to develop normally causing holes between ventricles causing the mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood
Presentations:
- poor weight gain
- poor feeding
- palpitations
What is the treatment of VSD?
Open heart surgery/cardiac catherization to manually close it .
Sometimes if hole is small enough it closes when child grows older
Describe the condition of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF)
Occurrence 4 different effects which can happen together
- VSD
- Pulmonary stenosis
- Widening of aortic valve (causes mixing of blood)
- Right ventricular hypertrophy
Describe the condition of atrial septal defect (ASD)
Wall between atria fails to develop properly causing a hole and mixing of blood
Describe the condition of coarctation of the aorta
Narrowing of the descending aortic artery increasing afterload and causing hypertrophy of ventricles and heart failure
List some valvular defects
Aortic stenosis
Aortic regurgitation
Mitral stenosis
Mitral regurgitation
Which valve disease is more prevalent in all age ranges, mitral or aortic?
Mitral valve disease
What is the most common valvular disease in the UK and Europe?
Aortic stenosis
What age group does aortic stenosis mainly affect?
Older people 70-80 yrs old
What is aortic stenosis often preceded by?
Aortic sclerosis
How is aortic stenosis often suspected?
Presence of an early-peaking, systolic ejection murmur and confirmed by echocardiography
What are the risk factors of aortic stenosis?
Hypertension LDL levels Smoking Elevated C-reactive protein Congenital bicuspid valves (more prone to wear and tear) CKD (more exposed to infection) Radiotherapy Older age
What are the causes of aortic stenosis?
Rheumatic heart disease
Congenital heart disease
Calcium build up causing calcification
Describe the pathophysiology of an aortic stenosis?
Valvular endocardium is damaged due to abnormal blood flow across congenital bicuspid aortic valve or by unknown trigger
Inflammation causing fibrosis and deposition of calcium on valve
What is the pathophysiology of aortic stenosis in rhuematic disease?
Autoimmune inflammation triggered by prior streptococcus infection that targets the valvular endothelium eventually leading to calcification
How does aortic stenosis lead to systolic heart failure?
The pressure overload causes left ventricular hypertrophy as an adaptive mechanism to maintain normal wall stress
As stenosis gets worse, adaptive mechanism fails and wall stress increases eventually causing systolic heart failure
What investigations can you undergo to diagnose aortic stenosis?
Transthoracic echocardiography
ECG chest X ray
Cardiac catheterisation
Cardiac MRI
For what aortic stenosis patients should aortic valve replacement be done for?
Primary treatment of symptomatic aortic stenosis
Asymptomatic patients with severe AS with LVEF < 50% or who are undergoing other cardiac surgery
Asymptomatic patients with severe AS with rapid progression, abnormal exercise test or elevated serum BNP levels
What are the symptoms of aortic stenosis and what may they have in their history?
Exertional dyspnoea and fatigue
Chest pain
Ejection systolic murmur
History of:
- rheumatic fever
- high lipoprotein
- high LDL
- CKD
What is aortic regurgitation?
Diastolic leakage of blood from the aorta into the left ventricle due to incompetence of valve leaflets from either intrinsic valve disease or dilation of aortic root
What happens in chronic aortic regurgitation?
Gradually increase in LV volume leading to LV enlargement and eccentric hypertrophy.
Early stages: ejection fraction normal or slightly increase
After some time ejection fraction falls and LV end systolic volume rises. Eventually LV dyspnoea lowering coronary perfusion and causing ischemia, necrosis and apoptosis
What occurs in acute aortic regurgitation?
Increased blood volume in LV during systole due to blackflow causing LV end diastolic pressure to increase. This increases pulmonary venous pressure leading top dyspnea and pulmonary oedema and heart attack cumulating into cardiogenic shock
List the causes of aortic regurgitation
Rheumatic heart disease Infective endocarditis Aortic valve stenosis Congenital heart defects Congenital bicuspid valves
Aortic root dilation
What are the causes of dilation of the aortic root and thus aortic regurgitation?
Marfan's sundrome Connective tissue diseases Idiopathic Akylosing spondilytis Traumatic
What are some causes of acute aortic regurgitation?
Infective endocarditis causing rupture of leaflets or paravalvular leaks
Vegetations on valvular cusps causing inadequate closure of leaflets resulting in leakage of blood
Chest trauma causing tear in ascending aorta
What are some causes of chronic aortic regurgitation?
Bicuspid aortic valve
Rheumatic fever leading to fibrotic changes causing thickening and retraction of leaflets