Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Evidence-based management of CHF

when heart is failing its role

Exploring A Medical Career

self evaluation before joining medical school & not after joinning medical school :-p

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

revised Chain of Survival

CPR meant to provide layperson as well as healthcare staff with the necessary skills to be the first responder in any case of collapsed patient.

*making sure you and patient not in danger zone
therefore DR should be added as suffix to ABC
D: danger
R: response

if everything alright, proceed with conventional

Airway : head tilt chin lift / jaw trust / oropharyngeal airway / making sure no foreign body
Breathing : rise and fall of the chest wall
Circulation : feeling / palpating the major vessel pulse ie carotid pulse
Defibrillation: Automated External Defibrillator

previously chest compression : breathing ratio was 15:2
latest changes in CPR guidelines is 100 chest compressions per minute. When doing rescue breaths, you should breathe into the victim for about one second, until the chest clearly rises. The current ratio is 30 compressions to 2 breaths.

Reference:
Personal Training
American Red Cross, CPR/AED tor the Professional Rescuer, 2007

p/s: (primary vs secondary survey)
1) identify whether this is shockable wave (VT/VF) or not (PEA)
2) remember your 6Hs & 5Ts for PEA.
3) after 1st shock continue with CPR, after 2nd shock give 1mg of iv adrenaline and continue with CPR. If still not reverted and shockable wave, shock and then give iv amiodarone 300mg bolus or lignocaine 1%. If torsades de pointes, give iv MgSO4.
4) maximum iv atropine can be given is 3mg.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

heart pain






Acute Coronary Syndrome or better known as ACS consist of a spectrum of thrombotic coronary artery disease ranging from unstable angina to both STEMI and nonSTEMI.

ECG: T wave tenting or inversion, ST elevation or depression (including Jpoint elevation in multiple leads) and pathologic Q waves. 


Troponin I or T is the most sensitive determinant of ACS

Marriott's Criteria
Epicardial injury is diagnosed when Jpoint elevated by 1 mm or more in two or more limb leads or precordial leads v4 to v6 or by 2mm or more in two or more precordial leads v1 to v3. Serial cardiac marker determines confirm myocardial injury or infarction in more than 90% of patient with Jpoint elevation in the limb leads.

Significant Q wave = > 0.04 sec in duration & at least 1/4 of the corresponding R wave height.

Isolated small Q wave II, III and aVF & lead I and aVL frequently normal (these small Q waves are known as septal Q waves because of the origin of the initial vector in ventricular depolarization)

from 1 - 4% patients ultimately proven to have ACS are sent home from ED.