Structural Heart Disease Flashcards
When there is heart failure, what stage of the cardiac cycle fails first?
Isovolumetric contraction
What are the 2 determinants of cardiac stroke volume?
Energy of contraction
Arterial pressure
What is Starling’s law?
Increased stretch of the heart increases calcium sensitivity and therefore energy of the contraction
Starting at the bottom left corner of a pressure volume loop, describe which valve opens and closes at each of the 4 points
Bottom left: mitral valve opens
Bottom right: mitral valve closes
Top right: aortic valve opens
Top left: aortic valve closes
What is stenosis of valves?
Their narrowing
What is the medical name for dilation of the heart valves?
Regurgitation lesion
One which side of the heart are valve problems more important?
Left
How is stenosis of heart valves assessed?
Transthoracic echocardiogram
How do transthoracic echocardiograms work? What result indicates severe stenosis?
They look at blood flow velocity, if blood flow is <4mm stenosis is severe
What are some causes of aortic stenosis?
Biscuspid aortic valve
Infective endocarditis
Hyper urethemia
What is a biscuspid aortic valve?
When the aortic valve has 2 flaps instead of 3
What are some causes of mitral stenosis?
Rheumatic fever Congenital SLE Whipples Rheumatoid arthritis
What affect does aortic valve stenosis have on the heart?
It causes increased pressure/higher after load in the left ventricle leading to left ventricular hypertrophy
What effect does mitral valve stenosis have on the heart?
It causes increased pressure in the left atrium which can cause left atrial dilation and further cause atrial arrhythmia
Name all the heart valves, what structures they separate and include alternate names for them if they have any
Mitral valve: also known as the left atrio-ventricular valve and separates the left atrium and ventricle
Aortic valve: separates the left ventricle and the aorta
Bicuspid valve: also known as the right atrio-ventricular valve, separates the right atrium and ventricle
Pulmonary valve: separates the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery
What side of the heart is the aorta associated with?
Left
What side of the heart is the pulmonary artery associated with?
Right
When can aortic stenosis be heard?
When the heart is contracting
When can mitral stenosis be heard?
When the heart is relaxing, but its harder to hear than aortic stenosis