Heart
Heart failure, congenital disease, ischemia, valve disease, cardiomyopathies, pericardium and tumours.
28 pages
Topic
- Arrhythmias and sudden cardiac deathMost sudden cardiac deaths are a fatal rhythm in a diseased heart, usually coronary disease; in…
- Cardiomyopathies: classificationCardiomyopathies are diseases of the heart muscle itself
- Congenital heart disease: overviewAbout one baby in a hundred is born with a heart defect
- Heart transplantation and cardiac devicesReplacing a failing heart or valve saves lives but brings its own problems: rejection, clots…
- Valve disease: causes by valveA valve can open too little (stenosis) or close too poorly (regurgitation)
Lesion
- Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathyIn arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, heart muscle cells come apart and are replaced by fat and…
- Calcific valve diseaseWith age, calcium builds up on heart valves
- Chagas heart diseaseChagas disease, caused by a parasite spread by triatomine bugs, can scar the heart years later…
- Complications of myocardial infarctionAfter a heart attack, different problems strike at different times: rhythm problems first, wall…
- Dilated cardiomyopathyIn dilated cardiomyopathy the heart becomes large, baggy and weak
- Hypertensive heart disease and cor pulmonaleLong-standing high blood pressure thickens the left ventricle; high pressure in the lungs…
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathyIn hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an inherited defect makes the heart wall grow very thick and…
- Infective endocarditisGerms settle on a heart valve and form a friable clump that destroys the valve and throws…
- Left- vs right-sided heart failureA failing left heart backs blood into the lungs; a failing right heart backs it into the liver…
- Left-to-right shunts: ASD, VSD, PDA, AV canalHoles that let oxygenated blood flow back to the right heart and lungs
- Mitral valve prolapse: myxomatous degeneration and what it leads toIn mitral valve prolapse, the valve leaflets become soft and floppy and bulge back into the…
- Myocardial infarction: pathogenesisA heart attack is the death of heart muscle when a clot blocks a coronary artery
- MyocarditisMyocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle that injures myocytes
- Non-infected vegetations: marantic, Libman–Sacks, carcinoidNot every growth on a heart valve is an infection
- Obstructive congenital heart lesionsSome babies are born with a narrowing in the aorta, a valve or a chamber
- Pericardial diseaseFluid, blood or inflammation can fill or stiffen the sac around the heart
- Restrictive cardiomyopathy and cardiac amyloidosisIn restrictive disease, a stiff heart cannot fill
- Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart diseaseAfter a strep throat, the immune system can attack the heart
- Right-to-left shunts: tetralogy, transposition and othersThese defects send blue blood straight to the body, so babies are cyanotic from early life
- Toxic and radiation injury of the myocardiumSome cancer drugs, cocaine, high adrenaline, thyroid disease and chest radiation can damage the…
- Tumours of the heartTumours that start in the heart are rare
Mechanism
- Heart failure: hypertrophy and remodellingA strained heart first grows thicker or wider to cope
- Ischaemic heart diseaseThe heart muscle suffers when its supply of oxygenated blood falls short of demand, almost…
A to Z
Educational content on the mechanisms of disease; not a diagnostic or treatment guide and no substitute for a health professional's advice. No doses are given.
Representative model, for educational purposes only.