What is athlete ’s heart?
Athlete’s heart denotes structural, functional, and electrical remodeling seen in trained athletes. It is a physiological adaptation helping athletes perform physical tasks better than non-athletes. Though most of the findings in athlete’s heart are related to the left ventricle, changes do occur in the right ventricle as well.
During aerobic exercise which is isotonic, the heart rate and stroke volume increases. Systemic vascular resistance falls, but slight to moderate increase in blood pressure can occur due to the increased cardiac output.
As the cardiac output increases, it is a mostly a volume overload situation ...
Source: Cardiophile MD - May 2, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Should you measure blood pressure in both arms?
Guidelines on hypertension (high blood pressure) generally recommend measurement of blood pressure in both arms in the initial visit. They also suggest that the arm with higher blood pressure recording should be used to record blood pressure in subsequent visits. It is often mentioned that there is a small difference in the blood pressure between the arms and usually it is the right arm blood pressure which is higher.
Blood vessels to both arms arise from the largest blood vessel in the body supplying oxygenated blood known as aorta. The origin of the blood vessel to the right arm is in line with initial part of the aorta....
Source: Cardiophile MD - May 1, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
CRT-P and CRT-D
CRT stands for cardiac resynchronization therapy. CRT is used in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. According to the Universal Definition and Classification of Heart Failure, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction has left ventricular ejection fraction of 40% or less. CRT is a type of pacemaker in which three chambers of the heart are paced, right atrium, right ventricle and left ventricle.
This picture illustrates what reduced ejection fraction means. Ejection fraction is the fraction of end diastolic volume which is pumped out from the left ventricle during systole. Normal ejection fraction is around 60 ...
Source: Cardiophile MD - May 1, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic disorder with a guarded prognosis which occurs in about 1:500 individuals.
It is an autosomal dominant disorder with variable penetrance with either a defect in sarcomeric protein genes which encode for myosin heavy chain, actin or tropomyosin or due to abnormal myocardial Ca++ kinetics which increase intracellular Ca++, causing hypertrophy and cellular disarray.
Echocardiography is the sheet anchor of diagnosis of HCM and other modalities are complementary.
MYH7 mutation in the gene which encodes for beta myosin heavy chain, located on chromosome 14 is found in about 15-25% of case...
Source: Cardiophile MD - May 1, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Coronary Diagnostic Catheters
Diagnostic coronary angiography is most often undertaken either through the femoral route or radial route. Rarely brachial or axillary access may be resorted to if the popular radial or femoral routes are not feasible. Femoral access may be preferred in an emergency when quick arterial access is needed. It is also used when more devices have to be introduced, but seldom the case for diagnostic coronary angiography. The most popular catheter for femoral route is Judkins catheter. Judkins catheter comes in left coronary and right coronary curves. They have a primary curve and a secondary curve. Primary curve engages the coro...
Source: Cardiophile MD - April 30, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
How Does Exercise Prevent Heart Disease?
Dr. Paul Dudley White, the famous physician who has taught many a luminary in the field of cardiology once wrote that heart disease before eighty is our fault and not God’s will or nature’s will.
This means that he recognized long back, the role of life-style modification in preventing heart disease. Exercise in a regular pattern is one of the important life style modifications which everyone can adopt to prevent or delay cardiovascular disease. Exercise helps in various ways for prevention of cardiovascular disease. In those with established cardiovascular disease, graded exercise programs can promote the formation of...
Source: Cardiophile MD - April 30, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Should you take medications for high blood pressure lifelong?
The answer depends on what caused your high blood pressure. If it is a reversible cause which can be removed, then of course medications can be stopped.
But if a reversible cause has not been found, you should be cautious about stopping medications.
What are the reversible causes of high blood pressure? A transient drop in kidney function due to some illness (acute kidney injury) can raise the blood pressure. But when the kidney problem settles, blood pressure normalizes, and it may never recur. In this situation blood pressure medication can certainly be stopped.
There are certain rare tumours which secrete hormones which...
Source: Cardiophile MD - April 29, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Ways to prevent clots in legs and lungs
Pulmonary embolism is obstruction of blood vessels of the lungs by clots carried by blood circulation, usually from the legs.
It is a serious life threatening condition and hence trying to prevent it is very important.
Clots can also migrate from blood vessels of the tummy, but that is not easy to prevent. Blood clots can form in the veins or blood vessels returning deoxygenated blood to the lungs for enrichment with oxygen.
Though the heart pumps blood to the whole body, it has no mechanism for bringing the blood back to it.
This work is usually taken care of by muscles in other parts of the body. When you move your limbs...
Source: Cardiophile MD - April 28, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Day Time Sleepiness Triples Risk of Heart Failure!
Daytime sleepiness is not that uncommon. There are many who fall asleep while at work or while reading. Wait before taking it so lightly. It may mean something more sinister.
The Sleep Heart Health Study found that obstructive sleep apnea with excessive daytime sleepiness triples the chance of heart failure and doubles the risk of a heart disease event.
Obstructive sleep apnea known in short as OSA is transient stoppage of breathing while sleeping due to obstruction of the upper air passages. The obstruction is manifest as noisy breathing or snoring. Poor quality of sleep at night leads to daytime sleepiness.
The Sleep Hea...
Source: Cardiophile MD - April 27, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Sick Sinus Syndrome
Sinus node is the natural pacemaker of the heart which gives out regular electrical pulses to produce each heartbeat. When it is diseased, this function is defective and called sick sinus syndrome.
Sinus node, known in short as SA node, is situated in the right upper part of the heart. Normally it gives out 60 to 100 pulses per minute so that heart beats at the same rate. When you exercise or are having a stress, the rate increases gradually.
When the sinus node stops functioning, it can manifest as a long pause in the ECG, the recording of the electrical activity of the heart.
Just as the next senior person takes charge i...
Source: Cardiophile MD - April 26, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
What is Paradoxical Motion of Interventricular Septum?
Interventricular septum is a common wall shared by the left ventricle and right ventricle. Normally it contracts with the left ventricle, that is why when it does not contract in synchrony with the left ventricle it is known as paradoxical septal motion. The paradoxical motion is due to change in the shape of the left ventricle. Normally the left ventricle is circular in cross section in both systole and diastole. In right ventricular volume overload, septum becomes flat or even concave towards the right ventricle in diastole. This curvature reverts in systole, producing the paradoxical motion. The authors of the cited stu...
Source: Cardiophile MD - April 26, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
What do you call fluid collection around the heart?
Pericardial effusion is collection of fluid within the layers covering the heart. Pericardium is the covering of the heart. It has an inner layer and an outer layer. Fluid collects in between these layers in certain disease conditions and compresses the heart. If the amount of fluid is large or there is a rapid increase in the rate of fluid collection, the compression of the heart prevents its proper filling. An unfilled heart is not able to pump out blood well and the blood pressure falls. This serious condition is known as cardiac tamponade.
Cardiac tamponade needs urgent removal of fluid from the pericardial cavity by n...
Source: Cardiophile MD - April 25, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Which coronary artery is called widow maker artery and why?
Coronary arteries are blood vessels supplying oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. LAD is short for left anterior descending coronary artery. LAD is usually the largest branch of the left main coronary artery which supplies the major portion of the left ventricle.
Hence blockage of LAD can cause a major heart attack, which can sometimes be fatal. That is why LAD has been called a widow maker artery. LAD supplies the front region of the left ventricle and the partition wall between the ventricles. Ventricles are the lower muscular pumping chambers of the heart.
When the LAD is blocked at its origin, the resulting damage to...
Source: Cardiophile MD - April 24, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Treadmill Stress ECG
Treadmill Exercise ECG is usually done with a computerized treadmill unit which controls the motor speed of the treadmill as well as monitors the ECG. ECG is recorded periodically during the test in addition to documenting any specific events like arrhythmias. Ideally treadmill test is done in a basal state so that the process of digestion of food and consequent increase in cardiac output does not interfere with the assessment. If it is a diagnostic test, the individual should be off medications. But if it is for assessment of effort tolerance while on treatment, it may be done on medications.
Though various protocols like...
Source: Cardiophile MD - April 24, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
How Significant is First Degree Heart Block?
First degree heart block is an abnormality in the electrical conduction of the heart noted on the ECG, the recording of the electrical activity of the heart. It is not a block in the blood vessels of the heart which we are more familiar with. The waves on an ECG are P, QRS complex and the T wave.
Normal interval between the onset of the P wave and the onset of QRS complex is up to one fifth of a second (0.2 seconds). When this interval is increased, it is called first degree heart block or first degree atrioventricular or AV block to be specific. Atria are the upper chambers of the heart and ventricles the lower chambers.
...
Source: Cardiophile MD - April 23, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
