Ventricular Fibrillation (VF)

by jeanne abayie

Ventricular fibrillation is called V-fib for short. This life threatening condition is the most serious cardiac rhythm disturbance. It is a severe form of arrhythmia. The lower chambers of the heart ( ventricles ) quiver with no useful contractions. Therefore the heart can't pump any blood and this causes cardiac arrest. Ventricular fibrillation needs immediate medical attention.

CAUSES

The heart pumps blood to the lungs, brain and other parts of the body. Interruption of heart beat for a few seconds can lead to fainting or cardiac arrest. Fibrillation is uncontrolled quivering of the heart muscles ( fibrils). When this occurs in the lower chamber of the heart, it is called ventricular fibrillation.

During ventricular fibrillation, the heart's lower chambers contract in a rapid, unsynchronized way. The ventricles flatter and the heart pumps little to no blood. Sudden cardiac death follows.

The cause of this condition is not always known. However the most common cause is a heart attack. VF may occur when the heart muscles don't get enough oxygen. Other conditions that can lead to VF include the following:

• heart injury
• congenital heart defect
• heart surgery
• narrowed coronary arteries
• heart muscle disease
• electrocution accidents

Most people who get ventricular fibrillation have no heart disease history but often have risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes. If you've had VF before, you are more likely to get it again.

SYMPTOMS

Lost of consciousness or collapse are usually the most common signs of ventricular fibrillation. Other symptoms that may be experienced earlier include

• chest pain
• rapid heart beat
• nausea
• shortness of breath
• dizziness

TEST AND DIAGNOSIS

Ventricular fibrillation is usually diagnosed after it happens. It is not likely to be diagnosed during a routine medical exam.

The doctor will monitor your heart beat and check your pulse. The doctor will do additional tests to find out the cause of your V - fib. These include

• Blood test
• Electrocardiogram
• Imaging tests such as chest x-ray, cardiac MRI, CT scan and echocardiogram
• Coronary catheterization (angiogram)
• TREATMENT

Ventricular fibrillation is a medical emergency and immediate treatment is needed to save the person's life. If a person has v fib episode at home, call an emergency number such as 911. While waiting for help, you needs to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to help restore blood flow to the rest of the body. Continue to do CPR until help arrives or person becomes alert.

Defibrillation may also be done to restore the heartbeat to a normal rhythm. This should be done immediately. It delivers quick electric shock to the chest using a defibrillator. This can be done by an emergency personnel or by stander using a public defibrillator. Most public places now have this machine.

Treatment may also be given to prevent future episodes. These include

• medications to control heart beat and function
• Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) may be implanted in the chest for people at risk for VF. It quickly sends an electrical shock when ventricular fibrillation occurs and prevents sudden cardiac death
• coronary angioplasty and stent placement to open blocked coronary arteries and improve blood flow
• ventricular tachycardia ablation to destroy tissue that blocks the electrical signal that travels through your heart to make it beat
• coronary bypass surgery to improve blood supply to the heart

PREVENTION

Adapting healthy lifestyle change can reduce your risk for v fib.

Quit smoking

Stay active

Eat heart healthy diet

Control high blood pressure

Maintain a healthy weight

Manage cholesterol

Atrial septal defect

by Wayne Strickland

An atrial septal defect (ASD) - oftentimes known as hole within the heart - is a kind of congenital heart defect where there's an unnatural opening up within the separating wall between the higher filling chambers in the coronary heart (the atria).

Generally ASDs are identified and dealt with properly with few or absolutely no troubles.

To comprehend this particular defect, it very first really helps to evaluate some fundamentals about the way a proper heart commonly operates.ital

The heart has 4 chambers: The 2 lower pumping chambers are known as the ventricles, and the two upper filling chambers are the atria.

In the healthy heart, bloodstream which returns from your body to the right-sided filling chamber (right atrium) is short of fresh air. This blood moves towards the right-sided pumping chamber (right ventricle), and subsequently to the lungs to get oxygen. The blood that is enriched with much needed oxygen comes back to the left atrium, then to the left ventricle. It is then moved out to the body with the aorta, a big blood vessel which carries the blood to the smaller blood vessels in your body. The right and left filling chambers are usually divided by a thin shared wall, called the atrial septum.

Children with an atrial septal defect come with an opening in the wall (septum) between the atria. Because of this, some oxygen rich blood from the left atrium runs through the hole in the septum into the right atrium, where it combines with oxygen-poor blood and boosts the entire quantity of blood that moves toward the lungs. The elevated blood circulation to your lungs creates a swishing sound, termed as a heart murmur. This heart murmur, together with other specific heart sounds which might be detected by a cardiologist, could be indications that a child has an ASD.

ASDs might be found in various places on the atrial septum, and so they might be various sizes. The signs or symptoms and medical care of the defect is dependent upon those factors. In certain rare cases, ASDs are part of more complicated forms of congenital heart disease. It is not clear why, but ASDs are usually more common in girls than in boys.

Treatment options assuming closure is required:

1) Least invasive 30 minute catheterization procedure is done percutaneously (through the skin). The device is attached to a catheter, which is inserted into a vein in the groin and advanced to the heart and through the defect, guided by X-ray and intracardiac echo. As the device is slowly pushed out of the catheter, it opens up to cover each edge of the defect, sealing it closed. Over time, tissue grows over the implant and it becomes part of the heart. This procedure requires patients to be on blood thinners for approximately six months.

What You Should Know About The Symptoms of Heart Problems

by Larry Johnson

The symptoms of heart diseases can be very varied. However, it is important to be aware of what those symptoms are so that you can get medical help right away. Heart problems, when left untreated, can lead to death. In fact, cardiovascular diseases are some of the leading killers in the world today.

Symptoms of Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases are very common today. These start out not as problems in the heart itself but on the blood vessels. When some materials block the blood vessels and makes it hard for the blood to pass through then that can cause the more serious problems. The most usual symptoms of these are chest pain, shortness of breath and numbness of weakness in the parts of the body where the affected blood vessels are located. If you feel any of these symptoms then you should seek medical attention right away. People might not get diagnosed that they have cardiovascular problems until it is too late.

Symptoms of Abnormal Heartbeats

Another common heart ailment is having an abnormal heartbeat. This can be signify a congenital disease, which means that a person has had it since birth. Sometimes this kind of condition is not detected right away and a person can reach adulthood without knowing that he has this kind of disease. Symptoms of this condition would include a fluttering feeling in the chest, very fast heartbeat, pain in the chest, shortness of breath, dizziness and fainting spells. A person who feels these symptoms should see a doctor right away because this condition can be very serious.

Heart Defects

Another type of condition that a person can be born with is having a defective heart. Normally, this condition becomes evident right after the birth of a child because of its physical symptoms. Symptoms include a grayish or bluish color of the skin, swelling on some parts of the body, shortness of breath especially during feeding time. Sometimes, if the heart defect is not too serious, it might not get diagnosed right away until later in life.

Cardiomyopathy

This is the condition where the muscle tissues of the heart thicken. Initially this condition would have no serious symptoms, but as the condition progresses, the person will start to feel the signs. Symptoms would include getting tired easily, shortness of breath, bloating of the abdomen because of fluid, irregular breathing and dizziness.

Heart Infections

Like other parts of the body, the heart is also prone to infections. When it becomes infected, the person will start to feel a whole range of symptoms. Those symptoms could include, fever, shortness of breath, getting tired easily and dry cough that is very persistent.

Like most other diseases, heart problems are a lot easier to treat during the early stages. This is the reason why early detection is very important. The moment you start feeling any of the symptoms, seek medical help right away.

Congenital Heart Disease and Physical Therapy

by Ron Ayalon

Congenital heart diseases refers to the structural (anatomical) or physiological defects in the normal functioning of the heart as a result of birth defects that may be diagnosed soon after birth or may take years to produce full blown cardiac insufficiency. Valvular heart defects form the most common variety of congenital cardiac defect that is associated with high morbidity and mortality in adult years if no management options are employed.

This is because the metabolic demands of the body increase with growth and development that poses more pressure on the heart leading to cardiac failure or circulatory deficits. With overall prevalence of 26.6%, it was suggested that only 12.1% cases can be detected by clinical evaluation. Among the most prevalent congenital cardiac defects, ventricular septal abnormalities comprise 17.3% of all congenital anomalies followed by atrial septal defects (6.0%) and other less common cardiac diseases. The mortality is highest with cyanotic heart diseases.

According to the research statistics reported by Julien I.E Hoffman, over 1 million patients were born with congenital heart defects (during 1940 to 2002). Considering the quality of medical services and surgical/ medical advancements, Hoffman suggested that the total number of survivors with mild heart disease (who may reach well into adulthood) is 750,000 with mild heart disease, 400,000 with moderate heart disease and 180,000 with severe disease (with treatment). Without any management or treatment the survival rate may fall to 400,000 with mild disease, 220,000 with moderate disease, and 30,000 with severe heart disease, suggesting very high mortality.

Congenital heart diseases are also associated with stunted growth and development in children marked by poor weight gain, failure to thrive and frequent hospitalizations while growing up. In addition, these children also develop frequent episodes of shortness of breath, rapid heart rate (also known as tachycardia) and attacks of fatigue associated with decreased exercise endurance.

Physical therapy and mild exercises are helpful in the growth and development of children born with congenital heart disease. It is extremely important not to initiate exercise therapies in these children without seeking the guidance from registered physical therapists who work in coordination with the pediatric cardiologist to deliver best exercise regimens in order to optimize health without overloading the heart. Generally, children and adults can perform moderate static exercises of mild intensity without any complications; however, healthcare providers strongly restrict weight lifting in pediatric aged children and even in adults born with cardiac defects. 

Caution should be maintained to avoid lifting weight of more than 25 pounds in children and more than 50 pounds in adults. Physical therapist and pediatric cardiologist must assess every child individually and advice customized exercises and treatments according to the severity of illness and overall physical health. Treadmill test, bicycling and echocardiography are mainly used as assessment tools as the risk of sudden death increases if vigorous activity is attempted in children born with aortic stenosis, cyanotic heart diseases and coarctation of the aorta.

Hardcore or traditional gym exercises increase cardiac output that may overload the heart and may increase the risk of complications or sudden cardiac death. On the contrary, exercises performed under the guidance of physical therapists serve multiple benefits. Exercise or physical activities are needed in order to build stamina and maintain exercise endurance especially in school going children who engage in physical activities with peers. Physical therapy improves the pace of mental and physical development that allows children to develop healthy social relationships with peers, muscle and motor coordination and mental concordance. 

Physical therapy and periodic assessments are also needed in order to know the physical capacity of child and to track worsening of cardiac defect with age (in order to avoid accidents or unwanted incidents at schools) by restricting excessive physical activity. In some children, healthcare providers delay surgery until the child crosses some developmental milestones; however, it is very important that until then child stays in best possible physical shape to lessen the risk of surgical complications.

According to the scientific peer-reviewed journal- American Family Physician there are 5 stages of physical activity recommendations of Physical Activity in Children with CHD, ranging from no restriction to extreme limitation of physical activity (wheel chair bound).

Without any physical therapy, the progression into the severe disability is fairly high. It is the duty of parents to promote healthy physical activity but make sure to prevent contact sports or vigorous activities that may affect cardiac functioning.

Pulmonary Heart Disease

 by Alexis Kenne

pulmonary heart disease

Pulmonary heart disease - is a very serious form of heart disease. If there is a change in the structure of the right ventricle located in the heart, due to respiratory problems. Pulmonary heart disease affects nearly 1 million people a year. Many things can increase your risk for developing pulmonary heart disease such as smoking, obesity or poor sleeping habits. Pulmonary heart disease (cor pulmonale) occurs when pulmonary arterial pressure is elevated secondary to dysfunction of the lungs and its vasculature and produces right heart failure.

Pulmonary heart disease is historically known as a chronic condition that has in most instances proved to be incurable and results in a very low survival rate. Today though, there are some new treatment options available that seem to have generally improved the prognosis for pulmonary heart disease. Pulmonary heart disease you are talking about is pulmonary edema. It can occur without any reason or cause, but the most common reason is heart problem, which lasted for a long time and was left untreated. Pulmonary heart disease includes pulmonary valve stenosis and pulmonary valve regurgitation. Both these lesions are rare although pulmonary regurgitation is more common than pulmonary stenosis.

Pulmonary heart disease in clinical practice is often seen as Heart Zang disease with chronic changes in lungs, chest cavity, pulmonary artery, which causes an obstruction of lung circulation. Those changes result in high pressure in pulmonary artery and enlargement of the right half of heart combined with failure of the right half of heart. Pulmonary heart disease occurs when the blood flow into the lungs is slowed or blocked because of lung problems. This circumstance increases the pressure on the lungs and the heart requires working harder to oppose this added pressure, which in the end can become pulmonary heart disease.

Pulmonary heart disease is a change in structure and function of the right ventricle of the heart as a result of a respiratory disorder. Exactly that is a complication of lung disorders where the blood flow into the lungs is slowed or blocked causing increased lung pressure. Pulmonary heart disease includes pulmonary valve stenosis and pulmonary valve regurgitation. Both these lesions are rare although pulmonary regurgitation is more common than pulmonary stenosis.

Coronary heart disease occurs when plaque develops within the arteries that pump blood into the heart. The disease progresses over time, and symptoms are often non - existent until the condition manifests itself in the form of a heart attack. Cor pulmonale may lead to congestive heart failure (CHF), with worsening of respiration due to pulmonary edema, swelling of the legs due to peripheral edema and painful congestive hepatomegaly. This situation requires diuretics (to decrease strain on the heart), sometimes nitrates (to improve blood flow) and occasionally inotropes (to improve heart contractility). Coronary heart disease is the most frequent type of heart disease of all, and is also the leading reason of heart attacks. Coronary heart disease is a term that refers to damage to the heart that happens because its blood supply is decreased, and what happens here is that fatty deposits build up on the linings of the blood vessels that provide the heart muscles with blood, resulting in them narrowing.

Signs vary greatly, depending on the extent to which the lung is involved. Simple, uncomplicated embolism produces such cardiopulmonary signs as dyspnea, tachypnea, persistent cough, pleuritic pain and hemoptysis. Sign up and add some content to the process. This link describes the obvious advantages of opening participation to interested parties.

Treatment is also aimed at the underlying condition that is producing cor pulmonale. Common treatments include antibiotics for respiratory infection; anticoagulants to reduce the risk of thromboembolism; and digitalis, oxygen, and phlebotomy to reduce red blood cell count. Treatment includes bed rest, medications such as digitalis, control of excess salt and water retention, and elimination of the underlying cause. See also congestive heart failure. Treatment is not always successful.

Symptoms and causes of TOF

by Miguel Carlos

• The most common cause of Blue Baby Syndrome; and 
• The most common cyanotic heart defect.

The condition was named after Etienne-Louis Arthur Fallot, a French physician. TOF is more common in men than in women.

Tetralogy of Fallot Signs & Symptoms

Infants with TOF usually develop cyanosis during their first year of life. This includes:

• The lips, mucous membranes and the skin inside the mouth as well as the nose feature a noticeable dusky blue color.
• Infants with severe obstruction of the "right ventricle outflow" turning blue at night.
• If pulmonary stenosis is mild or if the ventricular septal defect is so small or even both, children with TOF never turn blue.
• Children whose cyanosis is subtle, the disease may go undetected for years. 

Symptoms of TOF are:

• A slower growth and development, especially if there is severe pulmonary stenosis. Even puberty can get delayed if left untreated.
• Child gets tired easily and starts panting at the slightest exertion. After playing for a very short time, the child will sit or lie down.
• When the child starts walking, he or she may assume a squatting position just to catch his or her breath before he resumes physical activity. This is since squatting can increase the pressure in the aorta as well as left ventricle transiently. If this is done, less blood flow will move to the left ventricle and more from the pulmonary artery towards the lungs. 
• During the first two to three years of life, the child may show episodes of extreme blue coloring. This is also referred to as "tet spells" or "hypercyanosis". During this stage:
• The child may feel a difficulty in breathing; he or she may turn blue; and he or she may become faint or extremely irritable. 
• These spells are usually experienced by 20% to 70% of children with TOF.
• These spells usually happen during crying, feeding, straining or during waking in the morning.
• These spells can last for a few minutes an even a few hours.

Tetralogy of Fallot Causes

TOF is perceived to be a result of genetic or environmental factors. There are times when it is a combination of these two factors. The condition is also associated with the DiGeorge syndrome and with chromosome 22 deletions. This also includes: NKX2-5, JAG1, ZFPM2 and VEGF.

(Tetralogy of Fallot is a combination of four congenital abnormalities. The four defects are a ventricular septal defect (VSD), pulmonary stenosis, a misplaced aorta and a thickened right ventricular wall (right ventricular hypertrophy). They usually result in an insufficient amount of oxygenated blood reaching the body.--Mayo Clinic Medical)

How a Congenital Heart Defect Develops

 by Josephine Osborn

How big is your heart?

The size of one's heart is roughly the size of one's fist. Whether as an infant or as one grows into adulthood, the size proportion is roughly the same. The heart is an essential organ of the body that one must take care of. Exercise, a clean lifestyle, a healthy diet and weight will go a long way in keeping your heart fit. There are instances though when one is born with a heart abnormality or, in medical parlance, a congenital heart defect.

What is a Congenital Heart Defect?

A congenital heart defect is an abnormality in the heart's structure that is present at birth. It may cause the blood flow to slow down, go in the wrong direction, go to the wrong place, or it may block the flow completely. Sometimes, they are referred to as cyanotic heart disease or congenital cardiovascular malformations.

Common Congenital Heart Defects

Heart defects are the most common of abnormalities at birth. About 35,000 infants are born with it each year in the United States. They may be simple defects with no symptoms to complex ones with life-threatening symptoms In fact, they are the leading cause of birth defect-related deaths. 

Simple congenital heart diseases include Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), Patent Ductus Arteriosus and narrowed valves. On the other hand, the most common complex heart defect is tetralogy of Fallot. It is a condition wherein not enough blood is able to reach the lungs to get oxygen, and oxygen-poor blood flows to the body. 

Causes

Environment and genes are contributory factors to developing a heart defect. More often than not though, the real cause is not identified. Drinking alcohol, smoking and use of cocaine during pregnancy can lead to heart defects. Other possible causes are medication, viral infections and chronic illnesses such as diabetes, phenylketonuria (PKU) and deficiency in the B vitamin folic acid. Heredity or genetic defects can also be predisposing factors. 

Prevention

Pregnancy is critical in the first trimester. The heart, like some other body organs, starts to develop shortly after conception. Chances of abnormal development or complications causing heart defects may happen.

Caution is advised when taking drug medication during pregnancy. Many drugs contain chemicals or substances that could potentially harm the fetus. Caution has been issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) against usage of antidepressants among pregnant women. According to the FDA, studies showed that women who took Paxil during the first trimester of pregnancy were about 1.5 to two times as likely to have a baby with a heart defect as women who received other antidepressants. The issue of pre-natal drug medication, like the Paxil birth defect, is one that should not to be cast aside by any pregnant woman.