The LITFL Critical Care Compendium is a comprehensive collection of pages concisely covering the core topics and controversies of critical care.
OVERVIEW Contrast agents are substances used in medical imaging as to enhance the contrast or the distinction between different tissues. aka contrast medium RADIOGRAPHIC CONTRAST AGENTS Composition Currently available agents contain a tri-iodinated benzene ring (either monomeric or dimeric; ionic…
Narrow Complex Tachycardia: two main categories: 1. AV node independent; 2. AV node dependent
Myocarditis: inflammation of heart muscle -> lymphocytic and fibroblast infiltration + myocyte necrosis
Myocardial Stunning = temporary cardiac muscle dysfunction secondary to an insult (ischaemia, hypoxia, very high afterload); can be focal or global
Description of auscultatory findings of heart murmurs and valve disease and valvular lesions
Lown–Ganong–Levine syndrome (LGL): Proposed pre-excitation syndrome. Accessory pathway composed of James fibres. Characteristic ECG findings of short PR interval (<120ms); normal P wave axis; normal/narrow QRS morphology in the presence of paroxysmal tachyarrhythmias
Long QT Syndrome (LQTS) produces prolonged ventricular repolarisation -> predisposes to malignant ventricular arrhythmias
Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstruction (LVOTO) and systolic anterior motion (SAM) of the mitral valve
Junctional Ectopic Tachycardia: rare; congenital or post surgery for congenital heart disease; abnormal automaticity within the His bundle; high mortality rate (35%)
Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs): implantable device defibrillator +/- pacemaker (counter shock vector is from RV -> both SVC)
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is one of the most common inherited cardiac disorders (affecting ~ 1 in 500 people) and is the number one cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. Annual mortality is estimated at 1-2 %.
Criteria for heart transplant recipient