Dilated Cardiomyopathy Blogs This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

How common is angina in Ischemic cardiomyopathy ?
We generally believe ischemia and it’s clinical counterpart angina would go together .It is not true .Most patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy do not have any significant angina in spite of having one or more critically narrowed coronary arteries. The reasons could be many , Little viable tissue to generate Ischemia. Less contractile elements and less MVO2 consumption. Severe LV dysfunction makes these patients adopt a very restrictive lifestyle. Loss of nerve fibers along with myocyte necrosis and apoptosis. Post CABG patients often have no angina due to denervation.. The benefits of revascularisatio...
Source: Dr.S.Venkatesan MD - March 31, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: dr s venkatesan Tags: Dilated cardiomyopathy angina in cardiomyopathy Ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy Source Type: blogs

Cardiology MCQ: Epicardial ablation of VT
Epicardial ablation of VT will not be useful for: a) Fascicular VT b) Bundle branch re-entrant VT c) VT originating from the papillary muscle d) All of the above Correct answer: d) All of the above Most ventricular tachycardias (VT) can be approached for ablation endocardially. But there are a few which needs an epicardial approach. VTs originating from the left ventricular outflow tract is likely to be epicardial and perivascular compared to the right ventricular outflow tract VTs. VTs in non ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy and those in Chagasic cardiomyopathy are likely to have epicardial origin. Among the ischemic VTs,...
Source: Cardiophile MD - November 26, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis, MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: Cardiology MCQ DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance ECG / Electrophysiology Source Type: blogs

What is cardiomyopathy?
Cardiomyopathy Diseases involving the heart muscle are called cardiomyopathy (‘cardio’ stands for heart, ‘myo’ stands for muscle and ‘pathy’ for disease). In general, the term is used to denote primary disease of the heart muscle and not damage to the heart muscle secondary to diseases of the blood vessels or the heart valves. Common types of cardiomyopathy Cardiomyopathies are generally classified into three: Restrictive Hypertrophic Dilated Restrictive cardiomyopathy In restrictive cardiomyopathy, there is restriction of filling of the affected ventricle (lower muscular chambers of t...
Source: Cardiophile MD - November 23, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis, MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: Heart Disease FAQ Source Type: blogs

ICD secrets : Appropriate shocks are not benign after all !
Inserting an ICD for DCM may a be great therapeutic success for the physician as well as the patient . But there is one big truth hidden behind the statistical screen. Following study provides dramatic data from Maanhiem in Germany in about 561 patients who had ICD .The long term patient outcome after appropriate shocks were much worse than those without shocks .This was more pronounced in Ischemic DCM . Source : Streitner et al ,University Medical Centre Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany PLoS One. 2013 May 10;8(5):e6391 The fact that these patients continue to throw VT , some thing is wrong in the cellular�...
Source: Dr.S.Venkatesan MD - October 5, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: dr s venkatesan Tags: cardiac resynchronisation Cardiology - Electrophysiology -Pacemaker Cardiology -unresolved questions Dilated cardiomyopathy Electro physiology ICD -Tips and Tricks Infrequently asked questions in cardiology (iFAQs) Land mark articles in card Source Type: blogs

MKSAP: 59-year-old woman with pain of the right foot
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 59-year-old woman is evaluated for a 1-week history of increasing pain of the right foot. She recalls stepping on a nail about 1 month before her symptoms began. The patient has a 5-year history of heart failure secondary to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. She has an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, and her current medications are carvedilol, lisinopril, furosemide, and spironolactone. On physical examination, vital signs are normal. Examination of the foot reveals tenderness and warmth directly belo...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - October 4, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: mksap Tags: Conditions Infectious disease Radiology Source Type: blogs

Cardiology MCQ 307: Loeffler endocarditis
Loeffler endocarditis causes: a) Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy b) Dilated cardiomyopathy c) Restrictive cardiomyopathy d) None of the above ["Click here for the answer with explanation", "Correct Answer:"] c) Restrictive cardiomyopathy Loeffler endocarditis can cause a restrictive cardiomyopathy similar to endomyocardial fibrosis and is associated with hypereosinophilic syndrome. Read more… The post Cardiology MCQ 307: Loeffler endocarditis appeared first on Cardiophile MD. (Source: Cardiophile MD)
Source: Cardiophile MD - September 14, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: Cardiology MCQ DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Source Type: blogs

Cardiology MCQ 300: Epicardial ablation for VT
Epicardial ablation for VT is considered when: a) When intracardiac approach has failed b) Intracardiac thrombi present c) Prosthetic valves precluding an intracardiac approach d) All of the above ["Click here for the answer with explanation", "Correct Answer:"] d) All of the above Epicardial approach has a higher risk of complications and hence is often considered only after an endocardial approach fails. Sometimes it is the first line approach when the ECG pattern or the underlying heart disease like dilated cardiomyopathy makes the possibility of epicardial circuits high. An intracardiac thrombus or prosthetic m...
Source: Cardiophile MD - September 12, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: Cardiology MCQ DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance ECG / Electrophysiology Source Type: blogs

MKSAP: 21-year-old man with a heart murmur
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 21-year-old man is evaluated during a medical examination for health insurance. The patient is a weight lifter. He has no medical problems and takes no medications or illicit drugs. On physical examination, blood pressure is 128/73 mm Hg, pulse rate is 56/min, and respiration rate is 16/min; BMI is 30. Increased skeletal muscle mass is noted. There is no jugular venous distention. Carotid upstrokes are brisk. There is a grade 2/6 early systolic murmur along the left lower sternal border that is accentuated by ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - August 23, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: mksap Tags: Conditions Heart Source Type: blogs

Calcium scoring of coronary arteries
scoring can be done with EBCT, while the vessel assessment can be done only with MDCT. The calcium scoring scale is known as Agatston score. A score of 0 means that there is no identifiable calcium. If there is no calcium there is no obstuctive coronary artery disease (CAD); if calcium score is more than 100 , it predicts obstructive CAD. Calcium scoring is useful to differentiate ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy from the idiopathic variety. If the calcium score is negative, it is unlikely to be ischemic in origin. (Source: Cardiophile MD)
Source: Cardiophile MD - July 27, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: General Cardiology Agatston score Calcium score Calcium scoring of coronary arteries EBCT ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy MDCT obstructive CAD obstuctive coronary artery disease Source Type: blogs

Disease complexity: rare diseases and common diseases
In June, 2014, my book, entitled Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs: Keys to Understanding and Treating the Common Diseases was published by Elsevier. The book builds the argument that our best chance of curing the common diseases will come from studying and curing the rare diseases. In most cases, rare genetic diseases are produced by a single mutation in a single gene, to produce a rare disease that typically develops early in life, often with a rather uniform clinical presentation. In Chapter 7, some of the complexities of single-gene disorders are discussed. Here is an excerpt: A single gene may produce a protein produ...
Source: Specified Life - July 1, 2014 Category: Pathologists Tags: Beckwith-Wiedemann common disease complex diseases disease complexity genetics of disease monogenic disease orphan disease orphan drugs polygenic disease rare disease Wiskott-Aldrich Source Type: blogs

Low Voltage in Precordial Leads
A patient with was resuscitated from respiratory and cardiac arrest of uncertain etiology, but because she was very difficult to ventilate with BVM ventilation, and there were no ultrasonographic slidings signs, pneumothorax was suspected and bilateral needle thoracostomies were placed. This ECG was recorded:There is sinus tach and very low voltage in the precordial leads. It is otherwise unremarkable, especially for a patient who was in cardiac arrest.There was a previous ECG available:The low voltage is indeed new, and there is no change in limb lead voltageWhy is there low voltage?Although she was thought to ...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - January 11, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs

Modified Carpentier functional classification of mitral valve disease
Carpentier in 1980s described a classification, mainly for mitral regurgitation, from the point of view of surgical repair. It took into account the etiology, pathology and pathophysiology of mitral valve dysfunction. Initial classification had classes I-III with subclasses while classes IV and V were added later. In type I, motion of leaflet margin is normal while there is prolapse or flail leaflet in type II. In type IIIa there is restricted leaflet opening while type IIIb has restricted leaflet closure. Type IVa has systolic anterior motion and type V has features of more than one of the other types. Type I occurs in va...
Source: Cardiophile MD - December 27, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs

COPD’s friendly handshake with CAD !
In this mean world ,most truths exist without evidence . . . and often falsehoods masquerade as truths with overwhelming evidence ! Human biology has always been a mystery and can express in dramatic ways . While , many disorders combine to play havoc on the body , few tend to protect each other. HT and DM can join a deadly coalition to attack the heart .Smoking causes extensive peripheral vascular disease , still thrombo angitis of coronary arteries ( due to smoking ) is virtually unknown. Tuberculosis does not have the courage to attack the heart valves , w...
Source: Dr.S.Venkatesan MD - August 31, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: dr s venkatesan Tags: Uncategorized COPD and CAD does copd has a protective effect on CAD Source Type: blogs

COPD’s friendly handshake with CAD !
Human biology has always been a mystery and can express in a dramatic way . While , many disorders combine to play havoc on the body , few tend to protect each other. HT and DM can join a deadly coalition to attack the heart . Smoking causes extensive peripheral vascular disease , still thrombo angitis of coronary arteries ( due to smoking ) is virtually unknown. Tuberculosis does not have the courage to attack the heart valves , while it can inflict serious injuries all over the body . Similarly , systemic hypertension and Rheumatic heart disease does no...
Source: Dr.S.Venkatesan MD - August 31, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: dr s venkatesan Tags: Uncategorized COPD and CAD does copd has a protective effect on CAD Source Type: blogs

High output cardiac failure
Which of the following is not a cause of high output cardiac failure? a) Anemia b) Thyrotoxicosis c) Beriberi d) Dilated cardiomyopathy Correct answer: d) Dilated cardiomyopathy Dilated cardiomyopathy causes marked systolic left ventricular dysfunction and low ejection fraction with low cardiac output. (Source: Cardiophile MD)
Source: Cardiophile MD - August 31, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: Cardiology MCQ DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Source Type: blogs