1 What does aortic valve disease mean? Aortic valve disease most often refers to obstruction of the aortic valve, aortic stenosis, or an aortic valve leak known as aortic regurgitation or aortic insufficiency. The vast majority of aortic valve disease…
1 What are the causes of mitral regurgitation? a. (Primary) degenerative mitral regurgitation is due to an abnormality of the mitral valve annulus, leaflets, or chordae tendineae. Principal causes include: Mitral valve prolapse Valvular degeneration Annular calcification Rheumatic fever Endocarditis…
1 What is the most common cause of mitral valve stenosis in adults? Rheumatic fever. This usually occurs in early childhood, and many patients do not recall their illness. 2 Which gender is most commonly affected? Women, by a ratio…
1 What is angina, and what causes it? Angina pectoris reflects myocardial ischemia. Patients often describe the sensation as pressure, choking, or tightness. Angina typically worsens with exertion or stress and is relieved by rest. Angina is typically produced by…
1 What is the role of the vascular diagnostic laboratory (VDL) in the assessment and treatment of patients with suspected vascular disease? Although traditional evaluation by an experienced physician remains the foundation of vascular diagnosis, clinical assessment has its limitations.…
1 What is deep venous thrombosis (DVT)? What initiates it, and what causes it to propagate? DVT means thrombosis in the deep veins of the extremities and neck, as opposed to the superficial veins. In the lower extremity, DVT includes…
1 What is an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA)? The aorta tapers in size from roughly 2.8 cm in the thorax to roughly 2.0 cm in the abdomen of adult men. Aneurysms are defined by a 50% increase in normal vessel…
1 What primary diseases affect the carotid arteries? Atherosclerosis is by far the most common disease affecting the carotid arteries, accounting for 90% of lesions in the Western world. The carotid artery also can be affected by kinking secondary to…
1 Describe claudication and its physiology Intermittent claudication consists of reproducible lower extremity muscular pain induced by exercise and relieved by short periods of rest. It is caused by arterial obstruction, which restricts the normal exercise-induced increase in blood flow,…
1 Do you have to be old to have atherosclerosis? No. The initial (or type I) lesion, consisting of lipid deposits in the intima, has been well characterized in infants and children. 2 What is a fatty streak? Fatty streaks…