Year 3 Cardiology Flashcards
How is CVS pain different?
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Chest pain
- Dull, central, crushing, retrosternal.
- Prolonged (>0.5h) suggests MI
- Pain radiates to both arms, shoulder jaw/ neck
- Aortic dissection - pain is instantaneous like a tearing
- Sometimes epigastric
- Trigerred by cold, exercise, palpitations or emotion, lying flat, hot drinks or alcohol
- Relieved by GTN sprays or within minutes by rest
- Associated with: nausea, sweating, vomiting, palpitations, dyspnoea and syncope
What are some of the associated symptoms and how would you confirm these with a patient?
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Dyspnoea - from LVF, PE, any resp cause
- Orthopnea - number of pillows used at night
- PND - do they wake up in the night coughing
- Palpitations - ectopics, AF, SVT, VT. Ask if patient has checked his pulse
- Syncope - vasovagal faints. Ask if there was a pulse, limb jerking, tongue biting or urinary incontinence.
Define a STEMI
- Cardiac sounding chest pain
- ST segment elevation above 1mm in limb leads and 2mm in chest
- Elevated TnI >100ng/L and CK >400
Define what happens in NSTEMI
- Cardiac sounding chest pain
- ST segment depression and T wave inversion
- Tn100 >100ng/L
What is the relevance of troponin and what levels do we expect
- Troponins rise 4-6 hours after onset of infarction, peak at 18-24 hours, and may persist for 14 days or longer
- Males: over 34 ng/L
- FM: over 16ng/L - Take on admission and after 1 hr
What can cause false postitive TnI increases
- Large PE
- Renal failure
- Congestive HF
- Myocarditis
- Aortic dissection/ stenosis
What conditions can mimic STEMI in ECG
- Brugada syndrome
- Pericarditis
- Early repolarisation - younger pt, african american, athletic
- Takotsubo cardiomyopathy
What can cause ST segment depression and T wave inversion
- LV hypertrophy
- Digoxin toxicity
- Old MI
- NSTEMI
- Unstable angina
How do you manage a STEMI
MONAC
- IV access
- M- Analgesics - morphine + anti emetics metacloperamide
- O - Oxygen (if hypoxic, <94%)
- N - Nitrate (GTN)
- A - Aspirin (300mg loading and 75mg od life) 5.
-
C - Clopidogrel (600mg loading + 75mg od 1 year)
- 2nd line - Plasugrel (60mg loading and 10 mg od 1 yr) -> if PPCI yes, <65 yo, no stroke and >60kg weight) 6
- 3rd line - Ticragelor (loading 180mg and 90mg bd 1 year
- PPCI - If <2 hrs of first presentation
- Long term medication: ABCDE:
- ARB/ AceI - ramipril (2.5mg od)
- B - bisoprolol (1.25mg od)
- C - cholesterol - Statin - atorvastatin (80mg od)
- D - Dual antiplatelet: aspirin (75mg od life) and clopidogrel (75mg od 12 mos)
- E - Everything else: Diabetic control - insulin infusions, HbAc1 measured, metformin - introduce with caution if suspected LV hypertrophy, smoking cessation and hypertension
How do you manage NSTEMI / unstable angina?
MONA(T)+L+Grace
- Pain relief: M: morphine + metacloperamide
- Oxygen
- Nitrates
- A- Aspirin (300mg loading + 75mg od life)
- T - Ticragelor if risk is > 3 % 180mg loading and 90mg BD
- L- LMWH enoxaparin - 48 hrs (depends on weight + creatinine)
- Repeat ECG
- Risk assessment if increased TnI: Grace score
- Whilst waiting for ip angiography - consider anti anginals, nitrates, ranazoline and CBB
Define stable angina
- Chest discomfort
- Caused by effort or emotion
- Relieved by rest + GTN
- Radiated symptoms: throat tightness + arm heaviness
- Autonomic symptoms: fear, sweating + nausea
How do NICE define stable angina?
NICE define anginal pain as the following:
- Constricting discomfort in the front of the chest, or in the neck, shoulders, jaw or arms
- Precipitated by physical exertion
- Relieved by rest or GTN in about 5 minutes
- patients with all 3 features have typical angina
- patients with 2 of the above features have atypical angina
- patients with 1 or none of the above features have non-anginal chest pain
What are some of the risk factors for coronary artery disease:
- Cigarette smoking
- Hypertension
- DM
- Hypercholesterolaemia
- FMH
- PMH
When is angina unlikely
- Pain is continuous or prolonged
- Pain is unrelated to activity
- Pain brought on by breathing
- Associated symptoms: dysphagia or dizziness
What do you examine angina
- Weight and height
- BP
- Murmus - aortic stenosis
- Evidence of Hyperlipidemia
- Evidence of peripheral vascular disease and carotid bruits
What investigations help diagnose angina
What Ix do NICE recommenD?
- FBC / Hbac1
- Lipid profile
- 12 lead ECG
NICE recommend:
- 1st line: CT coronary angiography
- 2nd line: non-invasive functional imaging (looking for reversible myocardial ischaemia)
- 3rd line: invasive coronary angiography
How is stable angina characterised?
Typical angina is:
- Chest pressure or squeezing lasting several minutes
- Provoked by exercise or emotional stress
- Relieved by rest or glyceryl trinitrate
Coronary artery disease CAD - what percentage mean what treatment ?
- CAD 61-90% - Invasive coronary angiography
- CAD 30-60% - Functional imaging (stress MRI, echp, myoview)
- CAD 10-29% - CT calcium scoring
How do you manage stable angina?
AS(S-ABCDS)
- A - Aspirin - 75mg OD (If allergic - clopidogrel)
- S - Sublingual GTN
-
S - Symptomatic:
- Acei
-
1st: Bisoprolol, 2nd: CCB (diltiazem/ verapamil)
- 3rd: line: ivabrandine/ isosorbide mononitrate (sinus node blocking agent) - can be used for pt with impaired LV function but not to be prescribed with CCB
- Diabetes
- Statin
What are some of the causes of non cardiac chest pain
- Costochondritis
- Gastrooesophageal
- PE
- Pneumonia
- Pneumothorax
- Psychosomatic
Define stage 1, 3 and severe hypertension
- Stage 1: Clinical BP 140/90 mmHg/ home BP 135/85 mmHg
- Stage 2: Clinic BP 160/100mmHg/ home 150/95 mmHg
- Severe: Clinical sytolic >180 or diastolic >110mm
What are some of the symptoms of hypertension
- Nil/ headache
- Sweating/ headaches/ palpitations/ anxiety - phaeochromacytoma?
- Muscle weakness/ tetany
What investigations are used for hypertensive emergencies?
- Protein in urine - albumin: creatinine
- Blood sample
- Fundi: hypertensive retinopathy
- ECG
- Consider echocardiopgraphy
How do you treat hypertension pharmacology
Step 1: <55 yo: A, >55/ black any age: C
Step 2: A+C
Step 3: A, C + D (thiazide like diuretic)
Step 4: A, C, D (thiazide like diuretic) + spironolactone (only if K+ < 4.5mmol/L)
Non pharmacological: salt reduction, weight loss, smoking and drinking cessation, exercise
What are the consequences of hypertensive emergencies:
- Immediate end organ damage: encephalopathy, LV failure, aortic dissection, unstable angina, renal failure
What are the triad of symptoms with a phaeochromacytoma?
- Headache
- Sweating
- Tachycardia