Cardiovascular System Disorders Overview

Cardiovascular System Disorders

Presentation covered disorders of the cardiovascular system, including common pathologies, high-incidence conditions, and complications.
Objectives highlighted ischemic heart disease, atherosclerosis, angina pectoris, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, rheumatoid heart disease, hypertension, and aneurysms.
CVD (Cardiovascular Disease) is a major mortality factor in the UAE, with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) accounting for 22% of deaths, cerebrovascular disease for 16%, ischemic heart disease for 6%, and hypertension for 5%.
Ischemic heart disease stems from inadequate blood supply to the heart muscle. It's a broad term covering several conditions impacting the heart due to insufficient blood supply. Causes include atherosclerosis (plaque buildup), spasms, and blood clots.
Atherosclerosis involves generalized lipid deposits, calcification, thrombosis, and fibrosis in arteries. This leads to plaque formation, vessel hypertrophy, loss of elasticity, and organ damage.
Angina pectoris, a symptom of ischemic heart disease, involves chest pain relieved by rest or nitroglycerin. Differences between angina and a heart attack (myocardial infarction) lie in the duration of ischemia (prolonged in MI), and reaction to treatments (MI pain is more severe and not relieved by rest or medication). MI occurs when a coronary artery is completely blocked, leading to over 20 minutes of ischemia; cell death (necrosis) and infarction occur in the heart muscle.
Pathologies like rheumatic fever (caused by haemolytic strep) can lead to heart valve deformities, including stenosis and insufficiency. Congenital heart disease includes any defect present at birth within the heart and large arteries/veins.
Additional disorders covered:
Infective endocarditis, septicemia, vasculitis, polyarteritis nodosa, rheumatic fever, microangiopathy.
Various diagnostic tests mentioned (CXR, cardiac catheterization, echocardiogram, ECG) for detecting and assessing heart structure and function.
Treatment methods: surgical repair, medications, strategies for controlling hypertension (e.g., dietary modifications, regular exercise).
Techniques like stent procedures, are used for dealing with disorders.
Symptoms for Hypertension include: headache, extreme fatigue, absence of symptoms.
Various risk factors for cardiovascular conditions highlighted; including smoking, obesity, high fat/high salt diets, excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and family history.
Important complications of MI include dysrhythmias, congestive heart failure, and death.

Congestive Heart Failure

Left-sided failure causes pulmonary edema characterized by symptoms like dyspnea, orthopnea, cough, frothy sputum, crackles, and pallor.
Right-sided failure leads to JVD (Jugular Venous Distention), edema in the legs, ascites, and hepatomegaly, also causes fatigue.

Rheumatic Heart Disease

Rheumatic fever, often stemming from streptococcal (strep throat) infections, leads to damage and abnormalities in heart valves (carditis and valvulitis) eventually leading to stenosis and incompetence.

Congenital Heart Disease

Defects present at birth in the heart or major blood vessels. Examples include septal defects, valvular defects, Tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary stenosis, or ventricular septal defect. Symptoms include dyspnea (shortness of breath), tachycardia (fast heart rate), diaphoresis (sweating), cyanosis (bluish skin), clubbed fingers/nails. CXR , cardiac catheterization, echocardiogram, ECG, are diagnostic tools. Surgical repair is common treatment.

Hypertension

Defined as a high blood pressure, resulting from elevated tension in arterial walls. Subtypes include primary/essential hypertension (unknown cause) and secondary hypertension (due to kidney/endocrine disorders). Malignant hypertension is severe, uncontrolled, and rapidly progressing.
Risk Factors: smoking, obesity, high-fat/high-salt diets, excessive alcohol, inactivity, family history, hypercholesterolemia, history of heart/kidney disease, stroke.
A variety of complicated conditions like hypertension, result in factors like formation of aneurysms, cardiovascular distress, cerebrovascular accidents, renal disease, and vision loss.
Control strategies for hypertension involve lifestyle changes (weight management, salt restriction, exercise) and medication.
Symptoms generally absent initially, but may include headache, extreme fatigue.

Aneurysms

An abnormal localized widening of a blood vessel.
Etiology includes trauma, congenital defects, or atherosclerosis/hypertension.
Treatment involves surgery. Before surgery, maintaining normal blood pressure is crucial to prevent sudden increases in BP during potentially stressful surgical procedures.

Additional Notes

The presentation covered various diagnostic and surgical treatment procedures for cardiovascular issues.
The provided text also discussed the complications of specific conditions like MI (Myocardial Infarction).
The slides include visuals and diagrams to illustrate the concepts.