VALVULAR HEART DISEASE Flashcards
What causes S1 heart sound?
Closure of the atrioventricular valves i.e. tricuspid and mitral valve
This happens at the start of systolic contraction of ventricles
What causes S2 heart sound?
Closing of semilunar valves i.e. pulmonary and aortic valves
This happens once systolic contraction is complete to prevent blood flowing back from pulmonary arteries/aorta into the ventricles
What is S3?
A third heart sound that can be heard roughly 0.1 seconds after the second heart sound
Caused by rapid ventricular filling causing chordae tendineae to pull to their full length
What can cause S3?
Can be normal in 15-40 year olds (hearts function so well that ventricles allow rapid filling)
Heart failure
What is S4?
A fourth heart sound heard directly before S1
Always abnormal
What causes S4?
Indicates a stiff or hypertrophic ventricle and is caused by turbulent flow from an atria contracting against a non-compliant ventricle
How do you best listen to murmurs with the stethoscope?
Bell of your stethoscope - low pitched sounds
diaphragm - high pitched sounds.
(To remember this think of a childs high-pitched screaming from their diaphragm)
What is Erb’s point?
3rd intercostal space on left sternal border - best place for listening to heart sounds
How can you emphasise a mitral stenosis murmur?
Roll pt on their left hand side
How can you emphasises aortic regurgitation?
Patient sits up, leaning forward and holding expiration
How do you assess a murmur?
SCRIPT
Site - where is it loudest
Character - soft, blowing, crescendo, decrescendo, crescendo-decrescendo?
Radiation - to carotids? Or left axilla?
Intensity - what grade?
pitch - high or low? (Indicates velocity)
Timing - systolic or diastolic?
Which murmur can radiate to the carotids?
Aortic stenosis
Which murmur can radiate to the left axilla?
Mitral regurgitation
How do you grade a murmur?
Grade 1 - Difficult to hear
2 - Quiet
3 - Easy to hear
4 - Easy to hear with a palpable thrill
5 - Can hear with stethoscope barely - touching chest
6 - Can hear with stethoscope off the chest
Which valvular heart diseases cause hypertrophy and why?
Mitral and aortic stenosis cause atrial and ventricular hypertrophy respectively
This is because the muscle has to try harder when pushing against a stenotic valve
Which valvular heart diseases cause dilatation and why?
Mitral and aortic regurgitation cause atrial and ventricular dilatation respectively
As blood flows back into the chamber which stretches the muscle, causing dilatation
What is mitral stenosis?
A narrow mitral valve which makes it difficult for the left atrium to push blood through to the ventricle
What can cause mitral stenosis?
Rheumatic fever
Others which are rarer = mucopolysaccharidoses, carcinoid fibroelastosis, endocardial fibroelastosis
What murmur does mitral stenosis cause?
Mid-late diastolic, low pitched murmur best heard in expiration (rumbling sound due to low velocity of blood flow)
Opening snap which is the mitral valve leaflets suddenly opening
Loud S1 (due to thick valves shutting very suddenly) and you can palpate a tapping apex beat due to this
What is mitral stenosis associated with?
Malar flush
AF
Why does mitral stenosis cause malar flush?
This is due to back-pressure of blood into the pulmonary system causing a rise in CO2 and vasodilation.
Why can mitral stenosis cause AF?
This is caused by the left atrium struggling to push blood through the stenotic valve causing strain, electrical disruption and resulting fibrillation.
What is mitral regurgitation?
an incompetent mitral valve allows blood to lead back through during systolic contraction of the left ventricle
It results in congestive cardiac failure
Why does mitral regurgitation cause congestive cardiac failure?
because the leaking valve causes a reduced ejection fraction and a backlog of blood that is waiting to be pumped through the left side of the heart.
What type of murmur does mitral regurgitation cause?
pan-systolic, high pitched “blowing” murmur due to high velocity blood flow through the leaky valve. Best heard at the apex and radiates into the left axilla. You may hear a third heart sound if HF is present
May have a mid-systolic click
Severe MR may cause a widely split S2
What causes mitral regurgitation?
Idiopathic weakening of the valve with age
Mitral valve prolapse
IHD
Infective Endocarditis
Rheumatic Heart Disease
Connective tissue disorders e.g. Ehlers Danlos syndrome or Marfan syndrome (causes myxomatous degeneration)
What is aortic stenosis?
Narrowing of aortic valve so as blood flows during systolic contraction there is tubulance of blood flow
What type of murmur does aortic stenosis cause?
ejection-systolic, high pitched murmur
Crescendo-decrescendo character
Murmur radiates to the carotids
Slow rising pulse and narrow pulse pressure
Pt may complain of exertional syncope due to difficult maintaining good blood flow to the brain
What causes aortic stenosis?
Idiopathic age related calcification
Bicuspid valve - more at risk
Rheumatic heart disease
What is aortic regurgitation?
Aortic valve becomes incompetent and blood flows back from aorta into left ventricle during diastole
What murmur does aortic regurgitation cause?
What other features can be present?
early-diastolic blowing murmur, best heard on the left lower sternal border
Intensity of the murmur can be increased by handgrip manoeuvre
Collapsing pulse
Wide pulse pressure
Quincke’s sign
De Musset’s sign
Mid-diastolic Austin-Flint murmur in severe cases
What are other features of aortic regurgitation?
Wide pulse pressure
Corrigans pulse
Causes HF
Can cause Austin-Flint murmur - heard at apex and is an early diastolic rumbling murmur
What is Austin-Flint murmur?
A murmur heard at the apex
An early diastolic rumbling murmur
What causes Austin-Flint murmur?
caused by blood flowing back through the aortic valve and over the mitral valve causing it to vibrate
What is a Corrigans pulse?
also called a collapsing pulse and is a rapidly appearing and disappearing pulse at carotid as the blood is pumped out by the ventricles and then immediately flows back through the aortic valve back into the ventricles.
What causes aortic regurgitation?
Idiopathic age-related weakness/calcification
Bicuspid aortic valve
Rheumatic fever
Connective tissue disorders e.g. Ehlers Danlos syndrome or Marfan syndrome
Acute - Infective endocarditis , Aortic dissection, Hypertension
What can cause a loud S1?
Mitral stenosis
Left-to-right shunts
Short PR interval, atrial premature beats
Hyperdynamic states
What causes a quiet S1?
Mitral regurgitation
What causes a loud S2?
Hypertension
Hyperdynamic states
Atrial septal defect without pulmonary hypertension
What causes a soft S2? Why?
Aortic stenosis - because its harder for the valve to close so it may close at the same time as pulmonary valve (usually aortic valve closes first)
What causes a fixed split S2?
Atrial septal defect
What causes a widely split S2?
deep inspiration
RBBB
pulmonary stenosis
severe mitral regurgitation
What causes a reversed split S2?
LBBB
severe aortic stenosis
right ventricular pacing
WPW type B (causes early P2)
patent ductus arteriosus
Whats the most common valvular disease?
Aortic stenosis
What is rheumatic fever? And what is its pathophysiology?
A systemic infection that is common in developing countries and develops 2-4 weeks after a streptococcus pyogenes infection
These bacteria have M proteins which the immune system produces antibodies against. These antibodies undergo molecular mimicracy - they also target proteins found in myocardium and heart valves (type 2 hypersensitivity reaction)
Whats the diagnostic criteria for rheumatic fever?
JONES CRITERIA
Diagnosis is based on evidence of recent streptococcal infection accompanied by:
2 major criteria
1 major with 2 minor criteria
Evidence of recent streptococcal infection can be determined by raised/rising streptococci antibodies, positive throat swab or positive rapid group A streptococcal antigen test
Major criteria
erythema marginatum
Sydenham’s chorea: this is often a late feature
polyarthritis
carditis and valvulitis (eg, pancarditis)
subcutaneous nodules
Minor criteria
raised ESR or CRP
pyrexia
arthralgia (not if arthritis a major criteria)
prolonged PR interval
Whats the structure of the aortic valve?
3 leaflets - right left and posterior
In 1-2% of the population it is found to congenitally have 2 leaflets
What murmur is associated with tricuspid regurgitation?
Pansystolic high-pitched blowing murmur best heard in tricuspid area
Which groups of people are tricuspid diseases most common in?
IV drug users
Why does aortic regurgitation cause a wide pulse pressure?
Blood leaks back from aorta into left ventricle -> left ventricular end diastolic volume increases -> eccentric hypertrophy -> systolic blood pressure increases -> during diastole less blood in aorta as some has leaked back into ventricle = decreased diastolic pressure
Whats the effect of wide pulse pressure in aortic regurgitation?
Causes a Hyperdynamic circulation which leads to a bounding ‘water hammer’ pulse
It can cause head bobbing in tune with the heartbeat (De Musset’s sign)
Overtime it can lead to left heart failure
How does rheumatic fever cause valvular heart disease?
Commissural fusion of leaflets in valve and it can cause scarring of the valves
Why is mitral stenosis likely to cause AF?
Secondary to the increase in left atrial pressure which leads to left atrial enlargement - the larger it is the more chance of AF
Why does mitral stenosis cause dyspnoea and haemoptysis?
Increased left atrial pressure causes pulmonary venous hypertension
From the murmur alone, how can you tell the severity of mitral stenosis?
The distance between end of S2 and the opening snap - as the opening snap comes closer to S2, the valvular disease is becoming more severe whilst an opening snap that occurs later in diastole indicates a milder disease
This happens as there’s a much higher left atrial pressure in severe mitral stenosis so it takes less time for blood to pass through stenoses valves