Echocardiography Overview
Echocardiography = a group of interrelated ultrasound applications used to examine the heart and great vessels.
The LITFL Critical Care Compendium is a comprehensive collection of pages concisely covering the core topics and controversies of critical care.
Echocardiography = a group of interrelated ultrasound applications used to examine the heart and great vessels.
Echocardiography in Intensive Care allows direct visualisation of the heart, vessels and pleura
Cardiomyopathy Echocardiography
Aortic Stenosis Echocardiography
OVERVIEW causes: degeneration, infective endocarditis, dilated aortic root, aortic dissection. SEVERITY ASSESSMENT large regurgitant jet on CFD— if takes up more than 65% of LVOT then severe flow reversal in aorta LV dilation— LV end-systolic diameter > 5.5cm large regurgitant…
TOE is better than but TTE, but TTE can be performed first; TTE cannot exclude aortic dissection; TOE is comparable to CT and MRI for diagnostic accuracy
Metabolic Alkalosis DDx
The relationship of urea and creatine is dependent on serum laboratory units used to determine the cause of acute kidney injury.
Creatinine = Non-protein end product of creatinine metabolism. Formed from skeletal muscle and excreted in constant amounts. Completely filtered by kidney (marker of GFR). Production proportional to muscle mass
Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is the modality most widely used in Australia and New Zealand ICUs. There is no evidence suggesting mortality benefit for one modality over another
Highlights and pearls on toxic alcohol ingestion from the EBMedicine article, "Toxic Alcohols: Not Always A Clear-Cut Diagnosis"
Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCA) are weak bases (pKa 8.5) that can cause life-threatening sodium channel toxicity