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Traumatic heart disease
1 What is the most common cause of cardiac injury? Motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause of cardiac injury. 2 List the physical mechanisms of injury in cardiac trauma. Physical mechanisms of injury include penetrating trauma (i.e., ribs,…
Syncope
1 What is the word syncope derived from? According to text in the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines on the Management of Syncope, the word syncope is derived from the Greek words syn , meaning “with,” and the verb…
Pulmonary hypertension
1 What is the definition of pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary arterial hypertension? At the Sixth World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension (PH), held in Nice, France, in 2018 and subsequently published in 2019, a consensus expert panel reestablished the definition of…
Preoperative cardiac evaluation
1 What is the natural history of perioperative cardiac morbidity? Perioperative cardiac morbidity occurs most commonly during the first 3 postoperative days and includes perioperative myocardial infarction (PMI), unstable angina, congestive heart failure, cardiac death, and nonfatal cardiac arrests. Studies…
Pericarditis, pericardial constriction, and pericardial tamponade
1 The pericardium is not necessary for life. What does it do? Why is it important? The pericardium serves many important but subtle functions. It limits distension and facilitates interaction of the cardiac chambers, influences ventricular filling, prevents excessive torsion…
Oral anticoagulation therapy
1 How does warfarin work? Warfarin (and related coumarin compounds) inhibits the activity of hepatic vitamin K-2,3 epoxide, which is used to recycle the active form of vitamin K, vitamin K hydroquinone. Without sufficient vitamin K hydroquinone, clotting factors II,…
Hypertensive crisis
1 What is a hypertensive crisis? Hypertensive crises have historically been classified as hypertensive emergency or hypertensive urgency, although the latter term is potentially misleading. When evaluating patients with severe elevations in blood pressure, the primary consideration in determining the…
Cardiac tumors
1 Which are more common, primary cardiac tumors or metastatic tumors to the heart? Overall, cardiac tumors are rare, and metastatic tumors to the heart, also called secondary tumors, are markedly more common than primary cardiac tumors. Metastatic involvement of…
Adult congenital heart disease
1 What are the three main types of atrial septal defects, and what are their associated anomalies? The three main types of atrial septal defects (ASDs) are secundum (80%), primum (15%), and sinus venosus (5%). The secundum ASD is a…