How to interpret an echo report? Cardiology Basics
Echocardiogram, often called just echo in short is ultrasound imaging of the heart. Though the actual types of details mentioned in echo report may vary between institutions and even persons reporting it, in general there are several common aspects. Reports of children with congenital heart disease will have a different pattern. This discussion is mainly on an echo report from a general cardiology setup.
In addition to details of identification and date of procedure, indication for the study and the quality of images are usually mentioned in the beginning of the report. Quality of images may be poor in those with emphysem...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 12, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Important blood tests in relation to the heart – Cardiology Basics
Important blood tests in relation to the heart – Cardiology Basics
Here are some important blood tests in relation to the heart. Normal ranges of some of these tests may vary between labs.
Cholesterol is a type of fat found in the blood and has a role in the development of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries as well as other arteries. Desirable value of total cholesterol in blood is less than 200 milligrams per decilitre.
Triglycerides is another type of fat found in the blood. Desirable value is less than 150 milligrams per decilitre. Very high levels of triglycerides carry a risk of pancreatitis. Calorie restr...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 11, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Ultrasound lung comets or B lines in pulmonary edema – Cardiology Basics
Ultrasound lung comets or B lines in pulmonary edema – Cardiology Basics
Usually air in the lungs does not permit transmission of ultrasound and that is the reason for poor echo window in those with chronic obstructive airways disease. But when the lung is waterlogged in pulmonary edema, certain broad lines extending from the transducer location to the end of the imaging field appear on lung ultrasound. These have been called as B lines or ultrasound lung comets. They move with the lung movement in respiration. B lines are easy to detect with any ultrasound device including pocket devices and conventional echocardiog...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 11, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
GATA4 and Cellular Senescence
Researchers have in the past connected GATA4 expression to various age-related conditions, such as scarring in heart tissue. Here, they link GATA4 to cellular senescence, which is also implicated in many of the same conditions. Senescent cells accumulate with age, and their pro-growth, pro-inflammatory signals are disruptive to tissue function throughout the body. In recent years the evidence for clearance of senescent cells via senolytic therapies to be beneficial in older individuals has prompted greater research to connect cellular senescence to many other lines of research in the context of aging and age-related diseas...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 10, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, October 10th 2022
Fight Aging! publishes news and commentary relevant to the goal of ending all age-related disease, to be achieved by bringing the mechanisms of aging under the control of modern medicine. This weekly newsletter is sent to thousands of interested subscribers. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter,
please visit:
https://www.fightaging.org/newsletter/
Longevity Industry Consulting Services
Reason, the founder of Fight Aging! and Repair Biotechnologies, offers strategic consulting services to investors, entrepreneurs, and others interested in the longevity industry and its complexities. To find out m...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 9, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
What is pulmonary edema? Cardiology Basics
Pulmonary edema is collection of fluid within the lung alveoli.
The most important cause of pulmonary edema is heart failure, specifically, left ventricular failure. Pulmonary edema can also occur when there is fluid overload in the body as in renal failure.
Other causes of pulmonary edema are mitral stenosis, pulmonary venous obstruction and increased permeability of the pulmonary capillaries. Increased permeability of the pulmonary capillaries occurs in noncardiogenic pulmonary edema – e.g. adult respiratory distress syndrome or ARDS.
Sudden breathlessness is the most important symptom of pulmonary edema as the lungs ...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 8, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Weekly Overseas Health IT Links – 8th October, 2022.
This report aligns with the reality that healthcare organizations are facing in terms of the effects to patient safety, " said Anahi Santiago, chief information security officer at Delaware-based ChristianaCare.She and other healthcare cybersecurity leaders spoke withHealthcare IT News about the connection between cyber hygiene and patient safety and how to prepare for healthcare cyber attacks. -----https://ehrintelligence.com/news/meaningful-use-ehrs-may-be-key-to-improved-quality-of-care‘Meaningful Use’ EHRs May Be Key to Improved Quality of CareHospitals that meet the “Meaningful Use” EHR requirements were ...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - October 8, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs
Correlation Between a Worse Gut Microbiome and Aging of the Heart
The state of the gut microbiome may be as influential on health as exercise. The balance of microbial populations changes with age, in detrimental ways, for reasons that are not fully understood. The decline of the immune system, responsible for gardening the gut microbiome and defending intestinal tissue, may be one of the more important factors. With age, microbial populations producing beneficial metabolites decline in number, while populations contributing to chronic inflammation grow in number. There are interventions, such as fecal microbiota transplant, that can reverse these changes in a lasting way to improve heal...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 7, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
What is a silent myocardial infarction? Cardiology Basics
Silent myocardial infarction is one in which the person does not know that myocardial infarction has occurred. This can be because chest pain was not felt or was only mild. It can also be missed if the person was under sedation or under general anaesthesia when it occurred. In earlier community studies like the Framingham Heart Study, in which ECG was recorded every two years, it was shown that up to one fourth of the previous myocardial infarctions detected on ECG were silent.
Silent myocardial infarctions are more likely in those with diabetes mellitus. Long standing diabetes affects the nerves of the heart so that...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 6, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Acute chest pain: " Activate the Cath Lab!!!!! " Or not?
I was called to the resuscitation room to manage a STEMI patient.I walked into the resuscitation area and was handed this ECG:What did I say?Within 3 seconds, I said: " That is a Fakeout " . (i.e., a STEMI mimic) Everyone was perplexed. This patient had presented with chest pain and had ST Elevation and they were certain this was a STEMI and they were going to activate the cath lab.Interestingly, my very smart partner Richard Gray who also reads all my blog posts, was working in triage and had already seen this ECG just as it was recorded, and immediately recognized this as a STEMI mimic. He went to the ch...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - October 6, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
How is thyroid linked to heart disease? Cardiology Basics
Disorders of thyroid gland can cause heart disease in multiple ways. Heart disease can occur with both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. In hyperthyroidism, heart rate increases and there is a hyperdynamic circulatory state which can lead to high output cardiac failure. Unlike in the usual congestive heart failure in which the extremities are cold due to vasoconstriction, in heart failure due to hyperthyroidism, the extremities are warm. Instead of a low volume pulse in usual heart failure, thyrotoxic heart failure has a high volume pulse.
Another important cardiac problem in hyperthyroidism is atrial fibrillation with ...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 5, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Interatrial septal device therapy in HFpEF
Interatrial septal device therapy in HFpEF
Effective therapeutic modalities for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) are lesser than those available for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). All the same, prevalence, morbidity and mortality for HFpEF are not lower than that of HFrEF. Ongoing search for therapeutic options has led to the development of interatrial septal devices to decompress the left atrium, which are still in investigational phase [1].
A unidirectional left-to-right interatrial shunting device was initially tested in patients with HFrEF as a safety and proof-of-principle...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 3, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) of the tricuspid valve
After transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) for mitral valve, TEER for tricuspid valve is catching up. Data from the United States of America has been published in May 2022. They queried the Nationwide Readmissions Database and identified 918 hospitalizations for TEER of tricuspid valve from 2016 to 2019. There was a rise from 13 cases in the first quarter of 2016 to 122 cases in the last quarter of 2019. Concomitant TEER of mitral valve was performed in 42.1% of the admissions.
Overall in-hospital mortality was 2.1% and surgical tricuspid valve replacement was needed in 1.1% of admissions; none of them died during the...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 1, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: Angiography and Interventions Structural Heart Disease Interventions Source Type: blogs
Coffee good for heart health – Large study
Coffee good for heart health – Large study
Usually physicians, including me, ask patients with cardiovascular disease to avoid coffee, especially for those with cardiac arrhythmia [1]. Now, here is a study which says that taking 2-3 cups of decaffeinated, ground or instant coffee a day is associated with significant reductions in incident cardiovascular disease and mortality. Even more, ground and instant coffee, but not decaffeinated coffee was associated with reduced arrhythmia [2].
In fact, coffee consumption at 3-4 cups per day has been described as probably not harmful and perhaps even moderately beneficial in t...
Source: Cardiophile MD - September 30, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Are all of these ST-T findings due to LVH?
CONCLUSION: Contrast a final time the appearance of ST-T waves consistent with LV " strain " in the anterior and lateral chest leads of ECG #2 — with the lack of such changes in the chest leads of ECG #1 (in which ST-T wave changes were attenuated by the opposing effect of the ongoing acute infero-postero OMI). (Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog)
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - September 30, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
