Articles

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More than 200 results
Article

Point-of-care ultrasound (curriculum)

The point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) curriculum is one of our curriculum articles and aims to be a collection of articles that represent the core applications of ultrasonography in a point-of-care setting. Point-of-care ultrasound refers to ultrasonography which may be simultaneously performed,...
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Interventricular septum

The interventricular septum divides the right and left ventricles, running in the plane of the anterior and posterior interventicular grooves. Septation of the ventricles occurs in the fetus within 7 weeks of gestation, achieved by the formation of this embryologically heterogenous structure 6. ...
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Aortomitral continuity

The aortomitral continuity (also known as the aortomitral curtain, aorticomitral junction, intervalvular fibrous body) is a fibrous sheet located between the noncoronary and left coronary leaflets of the aortic valve and anterior leaflet of the mitral valve. It is attached by the left and right ...
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Endocarditis signs (mnemonic)

A mnemonic to remember the most important signs of endocarditis is: FROM JANE Mnemonic F: fever R: Roth's spots O: Osler's nodes M: murmur of heart J: Janeway lesions A: anaemia N: nail haemorrhage E: embolism
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Intramyocardial haemorrhage

Intramyocardial haemorrhage is referred to as the extravasation of erythrocytes and/or blood products into the myocardium. Epidemiology Intramyocardial haemorrhage occurs in 35-50% of the patients with successful coronary revascularisation of ST-elevation myocardial infarction 1-4. Associatio...
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Left atrium

The left atrium (LA) (plural: atria) is one of the four chambers of the heart. It receives oxygenated blood from the pulmonary circulation that is then delivered to the left ventricle and then into the systemic circulation. Gross anatomy The left atrium is grossly cuboidal. It is the most supe...
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Sarcoidosis (cardiac manifestations)

Cardiac involvement of sarcoidosis is a manifestation of sarcoidosis which is often asymptomatic, although can be associated with high mortality 8. Autopsy studies show prevalence of ~25% cardiac involvement, yet only 5-10% are found symptomatic 1,2.  Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disorder chara...
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Regurgitant volume and regurgitant fraction

The regurgitant volume refers to the volume of blood flowing backwards or in the reverse direction through the valvular plane within a beat or cardiac cycle. The regurgitant fraction is referred to as the backflowing blood volume divided by the forward flow volume and is expressed in percent [%...
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Miminally invasive direct coronary artery bypass

Minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) is a novel method for bypassing diseased coronary arteries that can replace open coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG) in certain situations, most commonly when bypassing the left anterior descending artery (LAD) with a left internal thora...
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Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy is defined as a "disease of the myocardium with associated cardiac dysfunction" 1. It has been classified according to several systems: 1995 WHO/ISFC cardiomyopathy classification system Elliott et al. classification system: published by the European Society of Cardiology Workin...
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Approach to shock (echocardiography)

An organised approach to shock is critical in the management of these often very sick patients. Shock - of any form - manifests as inadequate tissue perfusion, the end-point of which is multisystem organ failure and death. Echocardiography at the point-of-care is fast, non-invasive, and often p...
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Chagas disease

Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis (plural: trypanosomiases), is a tropical parasitic infection with a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations since it can virtually affect any organ, but there are characteristic radiological features. Epidemiology Chagas disease is endemi...
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Cervical aortic arch

Cervical aortic arches are a rare aortic arch anomaly characterised by an elongated, high-lying aortic arch extending at or above the level of the medial ends of the clavicles. Clinical presentation Patients with cervical aortic arch are usually asymptomatic. Symptomatic patients may present w...
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Pulmonary valve regurgitation

Pulmonary valve regurgitation, also known as pulmonary valve insufficiency or pulmonary valve incompetence, is a valvulopathy that describes leaking of the pulmonary valve diastole that causes blood to flow in the reverse direction from the pulmonary trunk and into the right ventricle. Epidemio...
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Congenital coronary artery anomalies

Congenital coronary artery anomalies (CCAAs) are not common, found only in ~1% (range 0.1-2%) of patients 1,3. The major anomalies are due to abnormal course, abnormal origin or a combination of both. The most important finding to look for is the "malignant" course of the anomalous coronary ar...
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Right-to-left shunt (mnemonic)

A useful mnemonic to remember the differential diagnoses associated with right-to-left cardiovascular shunts is: 1-5 Mnemonic 1: a combination vessel; truncus arteriosus 2: number of arteries involved; transposition of the great arteries 3: "tri-" means 3, the number of leaflets involved; t...
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Surgical haemostatic material

Surgical haemostatic material is used to control bleeding intraoperatively and is hence frequently intentionally left in the operative bed, not to be confused with a gossypiboma which is caused by foreign material left behind in error. Its use has increased with the advent of minimally invasive ...
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Right heart strain

Right heart strain (or more precisely right ventricular strain) is a term given to denote the presence of right ventricular dysfunction usually in the absence of an underlying cardiomyopathy. It can manifest as an acute right heart syndrome. Pathology Right heart strain can often occur as a re...
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Cardiovascular shunts

Cardiovascular (cardiac) shunts are abnormal connections between the pulmonary and systemic circulations. Most commonly they are the result of congenital heart disease. Pathology Blood can either be shunted from the systemic circulation to pulmonary circulation (i.e. 'left-to-right shunt') or ...
Article

Left atrial appendage

The left atrial appendage, also known as left auricle, is a pouch-like projection from the main body of the left atrium, which lies in the atrioventricular sulcus in close proximity to the left circumflex artery, the left phrenic nerve, and the left pulmonary veins. Gross anatomy Morphological...

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