Cadaver’s anatomy
The other group found this particular pathology in our cadaver and, because they proceeded to dissect the heart and remove the abnormal fatty tissue, we did not get an opportunity to see the abnormal anatomy of the heart. We will therefore discuss this pathology mainly from research and from what the other group could tell us.
They informed us that, during the dissection of our cadaver’s heart, they discovered large amounts of fatty tissue within the heart muscle of the right ventricle, and that, after speaking to the lecturers and doing a preliminary internet search, they concluded that the abnormal anatomy of his heart correlated with that of a disease known as Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD).
(insert dissection photo)
Overview (definition)
“Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD) is characterized by fatty infiltration, fibrosis, and thinning of the RV and is associated with ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death.”[#2A.1] In layman’s terms, ARVD occurs when muscle cells (myocytes) are replaced by fat cells (adipocytes) and fibrous tissue.[#2A.3] This leads to irregular heart rhythms, incredibly fast heart beats and, if these irregularities in heart rhythm are continued, ARVD may result in sudden cardiac arrest and death.[#2A.3]
Normal anatomy
In the heart, the right ventricle walls are composed of rough pectinate muscle, with grooves and ridges known as trabeculae carnae. The wall is smooth at the infundibulum, also known as the conus arteriosus, where it leads to the pulmonary valve. The pulmonary valve is made up by three parts, the anterior, right and left semilunar valves. It leads to the pulmonary trunk, from which the pulmonary arteries branch right and left to t...
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... RL. Chapter 42. Ventricular arrhythmias. In: Fuster V, Walsh RA, Harrington RA, editors. Hurst's the heart. 13th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2011.
[#2A.2]: Bashore TM, Granger CB, Hranitzky P, Patel MR. Chapter 10. Heart disease. In: Papadakis MA, McPhee SJ, Rabow MW, editors. CURRENT medical diagnosis & treatment 2014. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2014.
[#2A.3]: Azaouagh A, Churzidse S, Konorza T, Erbel R. Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia: a review and update. Clin Res Cardiol. 2011 May 01;100(5):383-94.
[#2A.4]: Photograph courtesy of University of Pretoria
[#2A.5]: Indik JH, Marcus FI. Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia. Indian Pacing Electrophysiol J. 2003 July 1;3(3):148–56.
[#2A.6]: Moore KL, Dalley AF, Agur AMR. Moore clinically oriented anatomy. 7th ed.Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2010.
Else RW, Holmes JR. Cardiac pathology in the horse. Equine Veterinary Journal 1972; 4(1): 1-8.
In this lab, I took two recordings of my heart using an electrocardiogram. An electrocardiogram, EKG pg. 628 Y and pg. 688 D, is a recording of the heart's electrical impulses, action potentials, going through the heart. The different phases of the EKG are referred to as waves; the P wave, QRS Complex, and the T wave. These waves each signify the different things that are occurring in the heart. For example, the P wave occurs when the sinoatrial (SA) node, aka the pacemaker, fires an action potential. This causes the atria, which is currently full of blood, to depolarize and to contract, aka atrial systole. The signal travels from the SA node to the atrioventricular (AV) node during the P-Q segment of the EKG. The AV node purposefully delays
This is induced by the sliding of the cardiac myofibril. Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, also known as HCM, is a type of heart disease that affects the Cardiac Muscles and Cardiac Muscle cells. This disease occurs if the Cardiac Muscle cells enlarge, which causes the wall of the heart’s ventricles (most often the left ventricle) to thicken. It can also cause stiffness in the ventricles, as well as mitral valve and cellular changes. On a cellular level, HCM can cause the cells to become disorganised and lost.
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.
The science and history of the heart can be traced back as far as the fourth century B.C. Greek philosopher, Aristotle, declared the heart to be the most vital organ in the body based on observations of chick embryos. In the second century A.D, similar ideas were later reestablished in a piece written by Galen called On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body. Galen’s thesis was that the heart was the source of the body’s essential heat and most closely related to the soul. Galen made careful observations of the physical properties of the heart as well. He said “The heart is a hard flesh, not easily injured. In hardness, tension, in general strength, and resistance to injury, the fibers of the heart far surpasses all others, for no other instrument performs such continues, hard work as the heart”(Galen, Volume 1).
De Cecoo CN, Magri D, Piccirillo G, et al. Myocardial Repolarization Dispersion and Late Gadolinium Enhancement in Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Circulation Journal. Mar 2014
Cardiovascular disease is currently the leading cause of death in the United States. It is responsible for one in four deaths every year, about 600,000 mortalities. This disease affects men and women, as well as every ethnic group. Coronary artery disease is the most common cardiovascular disease, representing approximately 400,000 deaths per year of the aforementioned 600,000 total deaths from cardiovascular diseases as a whole. In 2010 alone, coronary artery disease cost the United States $108.9 billion for health care services, medication, and lost productivity. These chilling statistics, published every year by the American Medical Association, demonstrate the immediate need for new and innovative ways to prevent, detect, and treat coronary heart disease. This paper will explore the molecular biology behind the disease while explaining the current treatments and prevention that are available today, why they work and what can be done to improve them.
[12] Ho, Carolyn Y, MD; López, Begoña, PhD; Coelho-Filho, Otavio R, MD; Lakdawala, Neal K, MD; Cirino, Allison L, MS, CGC; Jarolim, Petr, MD, PhD; Kwong, Raymond, MD; González, Arantxa, PhD; Colan, Steven D, MD; Seidman, JG, PhD; Díez, Javier, MD, PhD; Seidman, Christine E, MD. (2010) Myocardial Fibrosis as an Early Manifestation of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, Boston, MA: Massachusetts Medical Society
Today, cardiovascular disease is “the number one killer in the United States and the developed world” (Sapolsky, 2004, p. 41). Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common form of cardiovascular disease, and is responsible for claiming an unreasonable amount of lives every year. CHD can begin to accumulate in young adults, but is prominently found in both men and women in their later adult lives. As a result of CHD, men typically experience heart attacks, whereas women present with chest pains, known as angina (Matthews, 2005).
left ventricular function and heart failure.” Clinical Investigative Medicine. 31.2 (2008): E90-E97. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
One of the leading causes of death in the United States is heart disease. “Approximately every 29 seconds one American will have a heart attack, and once a minute one American will die from a heart attack” (Ford-Martin and Odle, 915). According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine men over the age of 45 and women over the age of 55 are considered at risk for heart disease. Heart disease is a major cause of death. It is beneficial to individuals who seek to prevent heart disease to recognize the risks leading to heart attacks as they are one of the primary indications of developing heart disease; especially those that fall into the at risk age groups. These risks consist of some that cannot be changed such as heredity risks, or those that can change such as smoking habits. It is very important to know these specific risks for prevention and to understand the symptoms of heart attacks, such as sweating or the feeling of weakness so if these or other symptoms occur people are aware. Finally heart disease treatment is of vital importance if you experience a heart attack so you can learn how to prevent another one from occurring.
The heart is two sided and has four chambers and is mostly made up of muscle. The heart’s muscles are different from other muscles in the body because the heart’s muscles cannot become tired, so the muscle is always expanding and contacting. The heart usually beats between 60 and 100 beats per minute. In the right side of the heart, there is low pressure and its job is to send red blood cells. Blood enters the right heart through a chamber which is called right atrium. The right atrium is another word for entry room. Since the atrium is located above the right ventricle, a mixture of gravity and a squeeze pushes tricuspid valve into the right ventricle. The tricuspid is made up of three things that allow blood to travel from top to bottom in the heart but closes to prevent the blood from backing up in the right atrium.
Bradycardia can be very serious. Some of the symptoms are loss of consciousness, heart failure, or death. Slow heart rates are caused by heart block. The hearts natural pace-maker fails to be conducted to the ventricles, the hearts main pumping chambers.
The heart is a pump with four chambers made of their own special muscle called cardiac muscle. Its interwoven muscle fibers enable the heart to contract or squeeze together automatically (Colombo 7). It’s about the same size of a fist and weighs some where around two hundred fifty to three hundred fifty grams (Marieb 432). The size of the heart depends on a person’s height and size. The heart wall is enclosed in three layers: superficial epicardium, middle epicardium, and deep epicardium. It is then enclosed in a double-walled sac called the Pericardium. The terms Systole and Diastole refer respectively and literally to the contraction and relaxation periods of heart activity (Marieb 432). While the doctor is taking a patient’s blood pressure, he listens for the contractions and relaxations of the heart. He also listens for them to make sure that they are going in a single rhythm, to make sure that there are no arrhythmias or complications. The heart muscle does not depend on the nervous system. If the nervous s...
Cardiac dysrhythmias come in different degrees of severity. There are heart conditions that you are able to live with and manage on a daily basis and those that require immediate attention. Atrial Fibrillation is one of the more frequently seen types of dysrhythmias (NIH, 2011). The best way to diagnosis a heart condition is by reading a cardiac strip (Ignatavicius &Workman, 2013). Cardiac strips play an chief part in the nursing world allowing the nurse and other trained medical professionals to interpret what the heart is doing. In a normal strip, one can clearly identify a P wave before every QRS complex, which is then followed by a T wave; in Atrial Fibrillation, the Sinoatrial node fires irregularly causing there to be no clear P wave and an irregular QRS complex (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013). Basically, it means that the atria, the upper chambers of the heart, are contracting too quickly and no clear P wave is identified because of this ‘fibrillation’ (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013).