Cardiology in review
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Hypertension is a common chronic medical condition affecting over 65 million Americans. Uncontrolled hypertension can progress to a hypertensive crisis defined as a systolic blood pressure >180 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure >120 mm Hg. Hypertensive crisis can be further classified as a hypertensive urgency or hypertensive emergency depending on end-organ involvement including cardiac, renal, and neurologic injury. ⋯ Sodium nitroprusside should be used with caution because of its toxicity. The risk factors and prognosticators of a hypertensive crisis are still under recognized. Physicians should perform complete evaluations in patients who present with a hypertensive crisis to effectively reverse, intervene, and correct the underlying trigger, as well as improve long-term outcomes after the episode.
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Cardiology in review · Mar 2010
ReviewManagement of pulmonary arterial hypertension in the neonatal unit.
This review article discusses the pathophysiology and management of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in the newborn unit. The discussion revolves around 2 aspects: persistent pulmonary hypertension in the newborn, which is seen in the first few weeks of life, and PH associated with chronic lung disease in the post neonatal period of infancy. Although the etiopathogenesis as well as prognosis for infantile PH differ from older children and adults, the basic principles of management are similar. Inhaled nitric oxide, intravenous prostacyclin and its analogs, and oral medications like sildenafil and endothelin receptor blockers play a very important role in PH management in the newborn unit, in addition to ventilation strategies and acid-based balance management.
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Cardiology in review · Mar 2010
ReviewPulmonary arterial hypertension in connective tissue diseases.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an entity that is known to complicate connective tissue diseases (CTD). PAH in CTD is a very important diagnosis which greatly affects treatment and prognosis. The most commonly affected CTD is scleroderma, although lupus, inflammatory myopathies such as poly and dermatomyositis, and mixed CTD are also associated with PAH. ⋯ These differences are most notable in scleroderma. In this section we will discuss the features of PAH as they appear in CTDs, and in particular, scleroderma. The focus of this article is an approach to the diagnosis and treatment of PAH in CTD, and how this setting might differ from idiopathic and other forms of PAH.
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Cardiology in review · Mar 2010
Historical ArticleHistory of right heart catheterization: 100 years of experimentation and methodology development.
The development of right heart catheterization has provided the clinician the ability to diagnose patients with congenital and acquired right heart disease, and to monitor patients in the intensive care unit with significant cardiovascular illnesses. The development of bedside pulmonary artery catheterization has become a standard of care for the critically ill patient since its introduction into the intensive care unit almost 40 years ago. ⋯ Nevertheless, the right heart catheter is an important diagnostic tool to assist the clinician in the diagnosis of congenital heart disease and acquired right heart disease, and moreover, when catheter placement is proximal to the right auricle (atria), this catheter provides an important and safe route for administration of fluids, medications, and parenteral nutrition. The purpose of this manuscript is to review the development of right heart catheterization that led to the ability to conduct physiologic studies in cardiovascular dynamics in normal individuals and in patients with cardiovascular diseases, and to review current controversies of the extension of the right heart catheter, the pulmonary artery catheter.