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Right Heart Strain
Right heart strain (also right ventricular strain or RV strain) is a medical finding of right ventricular dysfunction where the heart muscle of the right ventricle (RV) is deformed. Right heart strain can be caused by pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary embolism (or PE, which itself can cause pulmonary hypertension), RV infarction (a heart attack affecting the RV), chronic lung disease (such as pulmonary fibrosis), pulmonic stenosis, bronchospasm, and pneumothorax. When using an echocardiograph (echo) to visualize the heart, strain can appear with the RV being enlarged and more round than typical. When normal, the RV is about half the size of the left ventricle (LV). When strained, it can be as large as or larger than the LV. An important potential finding with echo is McConnell's sign, where only the RV apex wall contracts; it is specific for right heart strain and typically indicates a large PE. On an electrocardiogram (ECG), there are multiple ways RV strain can be demonstrate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Echocardiograph
An echocardiography, echocardiogram, cardiac echo or simply an echo, is an ultrasound of the heart. It is a type of medical imaging of the heart, using standard ultrasound or Doppler ultrasound. Echocardiography has become routinely used in the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of patients with any suspected or known heart diseases. It is one of the most widely used diagnostic imaging modalities in cardiology. It can provide a wealth of helpful information, including the size and shape of the heart (internal chamber size quantification), pumping capacity, location and extent of any tissue damage, and assessment of valves. An echocardiogram can also give physicians other estimates of heart function, such as a calculation of the cardiac output, ejection fraction, and diastolic function (how well the heart relaxes). Echocardiography is an important tool in assessing wall motion abnormality in patients with suspected cardiac disease. It is a tool which helps in reaching an ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Right Heart Failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, and leg swelling. The shortness of breath may occur with exertion or while lying down, and may wake people up during the night. Chest pain, including angina, is not usually caused by heart failure, but may occur if the heart failure was caused by a heart attack. The severity of the heart failure is measured by the severity of symptoms during exercise. Other conditions that may have symptoms similar to heart failure include obesity, kidney failure, liver disease, anemia, and thyroid disease. Common causes of heart failure include coronary artery disease, heart attack, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, valvular heart disease, excessive alcohol consumption, infection, and cardiomyopathy. These cause heart failure by altering ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pulmonary Heart Disease
Pulmonary heart disease, also known as cor pulmonale, is the enlargement and failure of the right ventricle of the heart as a response to increased vascular resistance (such as from pulmonic stenosis) or high blood pressure in the lungs. Chronic pulmonary heart disease usually results in right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH), whereas acute pulmonary heart disease usually results in dilatation. Hypertrophy is an adaptive response to a long-term increase in pressure. Individual muscle cells grow larger (in thickness) and change to drive the increased contractile force required to move the blood against greater resistance. Dilatation is a stretching (in length) of the ventricle in response to acute increased pressure. To be classified as pulmonary heart disease, the cause must originate in the pulmonary circulation system; RVH due to a systemic defect is not classified as pulmonary heart disease. Two causes are vascular changes as a result of tissue damage (e.g. disease, hypoxic in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardiac Magnetic Resonance
Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cardiac MRI), also known as cardiovascular MRI, is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology used for non-invasive assessment of the function and structure of the cardiovascular system. Conditions in which it is performed include congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathies and valvular heart disease, diseases of the aorta such as dissection, aneurysm and coarctation, coronary heart disease and it can be used to look at pulmonary veins. It is contraindicated if there is a permanent pacemaker or defibrillator, intracerebral clips or claustrophobia. Conventional MRI sequences are adapted for cardiac imaging by using ECG gating and high temporal resolution protocols. The development of cardiac MRI is an active field of research and continues to see a rapid expansion of new and emerging techniques. Uses Cardiovascular MRI is complementary to other imaging techniques, such as echocardiography, cardiac CT, and nuclear medicine. The technique has a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Right Bundle Branch Block
A right bundle branch block (RBBB) is a heart block in the right bundle branch of the electrical conduction system. During a right bundle branch block, the right ventricle is not directly activated by impulses travelling through the right bundle branch. The left ventricle, however, is still normally activated by the left bundle branch. These impulses are then able to travel through the myocardium of the left ventricle to the right ventricle and depolarize the right ventricle this way. As conduction through the myocardium is slower than conduction through the Bundle of His-Purkinje fibres, the QRS complex is seen to be widened. The QRS complex often shows an extra deflection that reflects the rapid depolarisation of the left ventricle followed by the slower depolarisation of the right ventricle. Incomplete right bundle branch block Incomplete right bundle branch block (IRBBB) is an conduction abnormality in the right bundle branch block. While a complete RBBB has a QRS dura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pneumothorax
A pneumothorax is an abnormal collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve is formed by an area of damaged tissue, and the amount of air in the space between chest wall and lungs increases; this is called a tension pneumothorax. This can cause a steadily worsening oxygen shortage and low blood pressure. This leads to a type of shock called obstructive shock, which can be fatal unless reversed. Very rarely, both lungs may be affected by a pneumothorax. It is often called a "collapsed lung", although that term may also refer to atelectasis. A primary spontaneous pneumothorax is one that occurs without an apparent cause and in the absence of significant lung disease. A secondary spontaneous pneumothorax occurs in the presence of existing lung disease. Smoking increases the risk of primary spontaneous pneumothora ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medical Finding
Medical findings are the collective physical and psychological occurrences of patients surveyed by a medical doctor. The survey is composed of physical examinations by the doctor's senses and simple medical devices, which build clinical findings. If necessary, the results are proofed by further diagnostic tests, which may include procedures using medical apparatus. As the findings relate to the intersubjective occurrences diagnosed by the doctor, they will be differentiated from the sum of subjective data in the patient's medical history. Definition Using for example the National Cancer Institute Thesaurus (NCIT), a finding is a Clinical, Laboratory or Molecular evidence (or absence of evidence) of a disease. Types of findings The documentation of medical findings can differ between: *quantitative evidence, e.g. "the cholesterol level is 220 mmol/L" * qualitative evidence, e.g. "the consciousness is clouded" Out of a combination of these extracted medical findings, a doctor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bronchospasm
Bronchospasm or a bronchial spasm is a sudden constriction of the muscles in the walls of the bronchioles. It is caused by the release (degranulation) of substances from mast cells or basophils under the influence of anaphylatoxins. It causes difficulty in breathing which ranges from mild to severe. Bronchospasms occur in asthma, chronic bronchitis and anaphylaxis. Bronchospasms are a possible side effect of some drugs: pilocarpine, beta blockers (used to treat hypertension), a paradoxical result of using LABA drugs (to treat COPD), and other drugs. Bronchospasms can present as a sign of giardiasis. Some factors that contribute to bronchospasm include consuming certain foods, taking certain medicines, allergic responses to insects, and fluctuating hormone levels, particularly in women. Bronchospasms are one of several conditions associated with cold housing. The overactivity of the bronchioles' muscle is a result of exposure to a stimulus which under normal circumstances wou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pulmonic Stenosis
Pulmonic stenosis, is a dynamic or fixed obstruction of flow from the right ventricle of the heart to the pulmonary artery. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood. Signs and symptoms Cause Pulmonic stenosis is usually due to isolated valvular obstruction (pulmonary valve stenosis), but it may be due to subvalvular or supravalvular obstruction, such as infundibular stenosis. It may occur in association with other congenital heart defects as part of more complicated syndromes (for example, tetralogy of Fallot). Pathophysiology When pulmonic stenosis (PS) is present, resistance to blood flow causes right ventricular hypertrophy. If right ventricular failure develops, right atrial pressure will increase, and this may result in a persistent opening of the foramen ovale, shunting of unoxygenated blood from the right atrium into the left atrium, and systemic cyanosis. If pulmonary stenosis is severe, congestive heart failure occurs, and systemic venous engorgement will be noted. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
