Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from February, 2022

How pacemakers and implantable defibrillators are implanted and used

The heart is a four-chambered pump with its own electrical system. When the electrical system is faulty or in need of repair, a cardiac device, such as a pacemaker or defibrillator, is implanted. A pacemaker keeps the heart from beating too slowly. When the heart's own electrical system misses a signal to stimulate the heart to beat, a pacemaker sends the signal to replace it. A defibrillator, or ICD, corrects fast heart rhythms from the ventricles, or lower chambers of the heart. Most defibrillators have built-in pacemakers. A biventricular system is a pacemaker or defibrillator with two leads in the lower chambers or ventricles. This system helps the heart beat more efficiently and is often used to treat a condition called heart failure. Cardiac devices are small, lightweight, electronic devices that hold a battery and tiny computers. Typically, they are placed under the skin, just below the collarbone. Insulated wires, or leads, are threaded through large veins, ending up in the...

The Cardiac Cycle, Animation

The cardiac cycle refers to the sequence of events that occur and repeat with every heartbeat. It can be divided into 2 major phases: systole and diastole, each of which subdivides into several smaller phases. Systole and diastole, when not specified otherwise, refer to ventricular contraction and relaxation, respectively. Reminders: - Blood flows from higher to lower pressure. - Contraction increases the pressure within a chamber, while relaxation lowers the pressure. - AV valves open when atrial pressures are higher than ventricular pressures and close when the pressure gradient is reversed. Similarly, semilunar valves open when ventricular pressures are higher than aortic/pulmonary pressures, and close when the reverse is true. The cycle is initiated with the firing of the SA node that stimulates the atria to depolarize. This is represented by the P-wave on the ECG. Atrial contraction starts shortly after the P-wave begins, and causes the pressure within the atria to increase, forci...

Heart attack (myocardial infarct) diagnosis:

  It's really important that Myocardial Infarcts, that heart attacks, are diagnosed as soon as possible. The reason for this is that the longer that the heart goes without getting the proper supply of oxygen it needs, then the more the heart muscle is going to die. This principle is actually so important that in medicine there is a saying that goes, "Time is muscle." That really serves to underscore the importance that the faster you diagnose a heart attack and sort of localizing where on the heart the infarct has happened the faster you can treat it. Right, and the faster that you treat it, that means there is the best chance for a good outcome after having a Myocardial Infarct. Time is muscle. Let's say our friend Vinay had a heart attack and he gets himself, or somebody brings him to the hospital. When he gets to the hospital what is going to happen? What are the diagnostic steps that are going to take place? Well, it's an emergency, right? A suspected Myocardi...