Pill Edition
This class of medications helps reduce pressure inside the blood vessel lumen, making it easier for the heart to pump.
What are antihypertensives?
A patient is pulseless, and the monitor displays chaotic, erratic electrical activity with no identifiable QRS complexes or rhythm. What is the immediate treatment protocol?
What is defibrillation?
This rhythm originates in the sinoatrial (SA) node and has a heart rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute with a P wave before every QRS complex.
What is normal sinus rhythm?
Regular R-R intervals, and a P wave preceding each QRS complex. The PR interval remains consistent, typically between 0.12 and 0.20 seconds.
These congenital heart defects involve a left-to-right shunt, which increases pulmonary blood flow without causing mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.
What are acyanotic defects?
Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) Coarctation of the Aorta (COA) Pulmonary Stenosis
This condition’s risk factors include hypertension, atherosclerosis, smoking, and family history, all of which can lead to the weakening of the arterial wall
What is an aneurysm?
A nurse monitors a patient taking a medication for high blood pressure, who reports nausea, poor appetite, and an elevated potassium level. These findings suggest the patient is experiencing adverse effects from this class of medication
What are angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors?
This arrhythmia, requiring Amiodarone for rhythm control and Heparin for anticoagulation, significantly increases the risk of thrombus formation and stroke.
What is atrial fibrillation?
This arrhythmia is marked by an early, wide QRS complex without a preceding P wave, often caused by stimulants, electrolyte imbalances, or cardiac disease. It can be isolated or occur in pairs or runs.
What is a premature ventricular contraction (PVC)?
(wide QRS, no P wave, isolated vs paired)
These congenital heart defects involve a right-to-left shunt, causing unoxygenated blood to enter systemic circulation. This leads to cyanosis and changes in heart pressures due to decreased pulmonary blood flow.
What are cyanotic defects?
This condition occurs when the heart is unable to pump an adequate supply of blood to meet the body's demands, leading to symptoms like shortness of breath, fatigue, and fluid retention.
What is heart failure?
A patient with atrial fibrillation and a newly implanted pacemaker is at increased risk of stroke. This anticoagulant is commonly prescribed long-term to reduce thromboembolic events, requiring regular INR monitoring.
What is warfarin (Coumadin)?
This procedure uses synchronized electrical energy to terminate an arrhythmia and restore normal sinus rhythm, typically in cases of atrial fibrillation or stable ventricular tachycardia with a pulse, when pharmacological interventions fail.
What is cardioversion?
This condition, characterized by an abnormally fast heart rate originating above the ventricles, can cause symptoms like palpitations, dizziness, and shortness of breath, and is often treated with vagal maneuvers or medications like adenosine.
What is Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT)?
This congenital defect leads to an obstruction of the aortic lumen, resulting in increased pressure in the upper extremities and decreased pressure in the lower extremities. It is often characterized by a significant disparity in pulse and blood pressure between the arms and legs, with the potential for collateral circulation to develop over time.
What is coarctation of the aorta (COA)?
This condition occurs when the heart's ability to pump blood is severely impaired, often due to a massive myocardial infarction, leading to inadequate perfusion of tissues and organs. Symptoms include hypotension, tachycardia, cool, clammy skin, and decreased urine output.
What is cardiogenic shock?
This class of medications works by blocking sympathetic stimulation to the heart, decreasing heart rate and myocardial oxygen demand.
What are beta blockers? ( LOL)
It must be used cautiously in patients with asthma or bradycardia.
This form of cardiac arrest is characterized by the absence of electrical activity on the monitor, often requiring immediate confirmation through additional methods such as an end-tidal CO2 measurement, as the prognosis can differ from other forms of arrest.
What is asystole?
This life-threatening condition, marked by the absence of electrical activity in the heart, requires immediate CPR and epinephrine administration
What is asystole?
1 mg of epinephrine intravenously (IV) or intraosseously (IO) every 3-5 minutes during cardiac arrest until a rhythm is restored or a different intervention is determined to be necessary
This defect is a combination of four heart abnormalities and is known for cyanotic spells in children that improve in the knee-to-chest position.
What is Tetralogy of Fallot?
Comprised of four defects
H – hyperplasia of the right ventricle
I – intraventricular septal defect
P – pulmonary stenosis
O – overriding aorta
This type of heart block, also known as complete heart block, occurs when there is a complete block of signals from the atria to the ventricles, causing the atria and ventricles to beat independently. Symptoms may include bradycardia, dizziness, and syncope.
What is third-degree heart block?
A patient taking this medication develops new-onset confusion and bradycardia. Labs reveal a serum potassium of 3.0 and a drug level of 2.4 ng/mL.
What is digoxin toxicity?
Therapeutic range is typically 0.8–2.0 ng/mL, and hypokalemia increases the risk of toxicity.
When atropine fails to correct symptomatic bradycardia, this emergency intervention is used to provide an external pacing stimulus to the heart, often in cases of complete heart block or severe sinus bradycardia, until more permanent solutions are available.
What is transcutaneous pacing?
The acute management of this life-threatening arrhythmia includes synchronized cardioversion if the patient is unstable, or IV administration of amiodarone or lidocaine if stable; in pulseless cases, it requires immediate defibrillation, CPR, and epinephrine.
What is the treatment of Ventricular Tachycardia (V-tach)?
This condition, often secondary to chronic hypoxia in cyanotic heart disease, is marked by an excessive number of red blood cells and increased risk of clotting.
What is polycythemia?
abnormally high number of red blood cells in the bloodstream. secondary response to low oxygen levels (hypoxia)
This life-threatening condition, characterized by distended neck veins, muffled heart sounds, hypotension, and tachycardia, is caused by fluid accumulation around the heart that impairs its ability to pump effectively.
What is cardiac tamponade?