Our heart is encircled by blood vessels. These blood vessels are called coronary arteries. They originate in the aorta and supply the heart muscle with oxygen rich blood. Coronary arteries consist of Right Coronary Artery, that branches into Marginal RCA and Posterior Descending Artery, and Left Main Coronary Artery, which branches into Left Circumflex, Marginal LCA and Left Anterior Descending Artery.
In order for the heart to function properly the coronary arteries should be constantly supplying oxygen, if any of these arteries becomes blocked we experience angina, injury to the heart muscle, heart attack and in worst cases heart failure and death. Disease of the coronary arteries is the number one of all the heart diseases and the leading cause of death.
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is caused by the occlusion of the coronary arteries. When the artery gets occluded, it diminishes the blood flow to the heart. The heart muscle, the myocardium, doesn’t get enough oxygen to support its function. Myocardium cells become ischemic from the lack of oxygen, and without
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Certain risk factors at the time of MI also contribute to the recovery prognosis. Some of the risk factors contributing to the poorer outcome are: age (risk is increased with age), gender ( men over women), family history, previous history of CAD, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, diabetes, cholesterol, alcohol, smoking. MI usually involves the left ventricle of the heart, but can involve sometimes the right ventricle. MI can be classified as Subendocardial; a non-Q-wave MI, that involves the inner layer of the myocardium, Subepicardial, involves inner and middle layer, and Transmural, a Q-wave depression MI, that involves all 3 layers of myocardium. We diagnose MI by clinical history, changes of Q-wave in EKG and by elevation in cardiac marker enzymes, such as Troponin and
Cardiomyopathy, by definition, means the weakening of the heart muscle. The heart is operated by a striated muscle that relies on the autonomic nervous system to function. Cardiomyopathy is diagnosed in four different ways based on what caused the illness and exactly what part of the heart is weakened. The four main types of cardiomyopathy are dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, restrictive cardiomyopathy, and arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. One other category of cardiomyopathy that is diagnosed is “unclassified cardiomyopathy.” Unclassified cardiomyopathy is the weakening of the heart that does not fit into the main four categories.
Pulmonary arteries carry blood from the heart to the lungs where the blood picks up oxygen. The oxygen rich blood is then returned to the heart via the pulmonary veins. Systemic arteries deliver blood to the rest of the body. The aorta is the main systemic artery and the largest artery of the body. It originates from the heart and branches out into smaller arteries which supply blood to the head region brachiocephalic artery, the heart itself coronary arteries, and the lower regions of the body.
These causes will change the heart significantly. The pathophysiology of heart failure is described differently as: (1) an oedematous disorder, by means of which the deviations in renal hemodynamics and excretory ability lead to salt and water holding; (2) a hemodynamic disorder, considered by peripheral vasoconstriction and decreased cardiac output; (3) a neurohormonal disorder, mainly by stimulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and adrenergic nervous system; (4) an inflammatory syndrome, related with amplified local and circulation pro-inflammatory cytokines; (5) a myocardial disease, started with an damage to the heart trailed by pathological ventricular transformation. In heart failure, the heart sustains either a sudden or longstanding structural injury. When damage occurs, sequences of firstly compensatory but consequently maladaptive mechanisms follow (Henry & Abraham, ).
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common type of multifactorial chronic heart disease. It is a consequence of plaque buildup in coronary arteries. The arterial blood vessels, which begin out smooth and elastic become narrow and rigid, curtailing blood flow resulting in deprived of oxygen and nutrients to the heart [1].
Patients with dilated cardiomyopathy will often have normal thickness of the ventricles with an enlarged right, left, or both ventricular cavities. In the early stages of this disease, there is an initial increase in the stroke volume from the increased force of contraction due to the stretching of the myocardium, which is described by the Frank-Starling mechanism. However, as the disease progresses, the heart loses that compensatory mechanism leading to a decrease in the strength of the contraction of the heart, hence, a decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction. There are two types of DCM, primary and secondary. Primary dilated cardiomyopathy are usually idiopathic in nature, however, “approximately 30% of cases” have a “familial transmission pattern.”3(138) Secondary dilated cardiomyopathy, on the other hand, are associated with “alcohol abuse, cocaine abuse, the peripartum state, pheochromocytoma, infectious diseases (human immunodeficiency virus infection), uncontrolled tachycardia, Duchenne’s muscul...
1) Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)/Coronary Heart Disease (CHD): In the United States, CAD accounts for one death every minute making it a leading cause of death (Kones, 2011). Individuals at risk for CAD include those with modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. Non-modifiable risk factors for CAD include: age, race, family history. Modifiable risk factors include: hypertension, obesity, smoking, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and minimal to no physical exercise. If untreated, CAD can lead to heart failure (Kones, 2011). Individuals with CAD may present to their primary care providers with symptoms such as: angina, shortness of breath, indigestion/heartburn, and dyspnea on exertion. Individuals develop CAD when plaque obstructs the coronary arteries
...ds a supply of its own blood to function properly. These arteries, called the coronary arteries, are responsible for this. The blockage of these arteries prevents oxygen from reach the heart tissue and leads to what is known as a heart attack.
There are multiple cardiovascular diseases that can occur in some people that can be moderate and some severe. A heart attack is one of them and it happens when blood is blocked by a clot, making the heart unable to pump blood throughout the body. Most of cardiovascular diseases are related to lifestyles and other non-preventable factors like ages. Coronary artery disease is a heart disease, that is caused by atherosclerosis, which is a buildup of plaque in the arteries which causes less blood flow to the heart. If plaque were to rupture it can block blood vessels which then leads to “unstable angina or a heart attack” (NHLBI). The heart also has different heart rhythms, people with bradycardia have a slow heart rate sometimes below 60. Some causes of bradycardia are increased vagal tone, SA disease, and digitoxin od. However, sometimes this can be normal in athletes who are very fit. On the opposite side we have tachycardia, which has a heart greater than 100 BPM. The causes for tachycardia usually are exercise, fever, anxiety, hypovolemia, anemia, pump failure, hypoxia, and high parathyroid
left ventricular function and heart failure.” Clinical Investigative Medicine. 31.2 (2008): E90-E97. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
Coronary heart disease is defined by the hardening of the epicardial coronary arteries. The buildup of plaque in the arteries slowly narrows the coronary artery lumen. In order to better understand the physiology of the disease, it is important to first know the basic anatomy of the human heart. The aorta, located in the superior region of the heart, branches off into two main coronary blood vessels, otherwise known as arteries. The arteries are located on the left and right side of the heart and span its surface. They subsequently branch off into smaller arteries which supply oxygen-rich blood to the entire heart (Texas Heart Institute, 2013). Therefore, the narrowing of these arteries due to plaque buildup significantly impairs blood flow throughout the heart.
Left main artery was normal, so it was unlikely that the diagnostic catheter engagement caused traumatic dissection. She denied any chest discomfort and electrocardiogram showed no ischemic changes. Intravascular ultrasound was not performed due to the risk of worsening of the dissection flap in an asymptomatic patient with no evidence of ischemia and normal distal flow. Serial cardiac markers and electrocardiograms were unremarkable. Echocardiogram revealed no regional wall motion abnormalities with a normal left ventricular ejection fraction. The patient was observed in the coronary care unit and treated with dual antiplatelet therapy. She had an uneventful hospital course. Discussion: SCAD is an uncommon cause of ACS. Patients lack the traditional risk factors for atherosclerotic coronary artery disease but certain populations have been identified. This patient had received OHT from a young female which could be a contributing factor for the development of SCAD. The absence of angina in heart transplant recipients is due to denervation of the graft. Although corticosteroids may be a risk factor, the majority of OHT recipients are weaned off by 6
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. 13 million people are affected by this disease. CHD is also called Hardening of the Arteries, CAD. CHD is cause by the build-up of plaque in the arteries that connect to the heart. The build-up is caused by fat materials and other substances that form plaque. The plaque builds-up on the wall of the coronary arteries. The coronary arteries are responsible of the blood flow and oxygen that gets to the heart. The build-up of the fat materials causes the arteries to get narrow, this results in the blood flow and oxygen to the heart to slow down or even stop.
Work based on avian models suggested that the endothelium of the coronary artery originates from pro-epicardium (Perez-Pomares et al., 2002; Ishii et al., 2010) and sinus Venosus (Poelmann et al., 2003), and eventually grows into the aorta, thereby forming the coronary arterial orifices (Eralp et al., 2005). However, studies of coronary artery formation in mammals have not lead to similar conclusions. Recent work by Tian et al (2013b) revisited the question in mammals (using murine models) and provides strong evidence that it is more consistent with a coronary ingrowth model.
...lood Vessel Stents.” 1-3). Bypass surgery is another option; a blood vessel from somewhere in the body is used to go around the blocked artery. This completely bypasses the blocked artery, so it no longer becomes an issue. Thrombolytic therapy is a method that involves injecting a medication into the artery that will dissolve the clot and allow blood to pass freely through the artery (“Peripheral Artery Disease.” 3).
Myocardial infarction occurs when the coronary arteries are blocked by a blood clot. It is commonly known as “heart attack”. The heart needs its own constant supply of oxygen and nutrients to work properly. Two coronary arteries delivery oxygenated blood to the heart, and if one of these two arteries fail or become blocked, then a portion of the heart will not acquire the necessary oxygen. This clot could be because of CAD (coronary artery disease), which happens when the inner walls of the coronary arteries thicken because of build up of cholesterol, fatty deposit, calcium among other elements that are carried in the blood (Boston Scientific, 2009).