What conditions contribute to turbulent blood flow or heart murmurs. Turbulent blood flow occurs as blood moves through narrowed or leaking valves producing a swooshing sound over the precordium and a high heart rate combine with narrowing, causing the heart to handle a larger amount of blood flow than normal; the basis is increased blood velocity, structural valve malfunction, or atypical chambers. Some pathological causes of heart murmurs are anemia, high blood pressure, overactive thyroid,…
revealed a high pulse pressure of 70 mm Hg, mid-systolic murmur and an occasional mid-diastolic sound suggestive of structural heart abnormalities. Question: What is an echocardiogram and how is it used diagnostically? Generate: Echocardiography is a modality that uses sound waves to visualize the structures of the heart. In general, a transducer emits high-pitched ultrasound waves (4-30 MHz) which bounce off different parts of the heart; the echoed sound waves are then used to generate a…
Physiology Murmurs are the product of intense blood flow across inflexible, calcified valves; faulty valves that permit reverse blood flow (regurgitation); faulty (deviant openings) in the septum, aorta, or pulmonary artery; or abnormally high velocity of blood flow through a normal structure. Supposedly blood generally flows soundlessly through the heart; yet, these conditions can generate tumultuous blood flow resulting in auscultation of swooshing or gusty sound over the precordium (Weber &…
vessels is a heart condition that is present in infants at birth and often known as a congenital heart defect or the more common term is the transposition of the great arteries(TGA). TGA is when the two main arteries, the pulmonary artery and the aorta, are switched in position, or "transposed". As a normal heart, deoxygenated blood returning to the heart from the body is pumped from the right side of the heart through the pulmonary artery to the lungs and to the left side of the heart then back…
Defects and Arterial Aneurysms According to Maternal Child Nursing Care, 5th Edition, Chapter 47 – Cardiovascular Dysfunction, congenital heart defects occur in about 5 to 8 of every 1000 live births, and 2 to 3 of those affected will be symptomatic within the first year of life (Hockenberry, 2014). When looking at the different pathophysiologies of congenital heart defects, the most common form of defect is the ventricular septal defect or VSD and there are genetic and environmental factors…
Assessing Heart and Neck Vessels Physiology Blood usually flows through the heart silently, but when there is a swooshing or blowing sound heard upon auscultation it is referred to as turbulent blood flow (Weber & Kelley, 2014). This occurs in a variety of conditions such as increased blood velocity, structural valve defects, valve malfunctions, and abnormal chamber openings (Weber & Kelley, 2014). The heart has four chambers two atria, which are the upper chambers of the heart and two…
ultrasound provides medical professionals with images of the heart and captures high-quality images that allow doctors to evaluate the health of a patient’s heart. The most common type of cardiovascular ultrasound is simple for the patient and is completely non-invasive. A technician will apply gel to the patient’s chest and use the transducer to pass over the chest are. The sound waves then bounce to create a live image of the patient’s heart and valves. It uses the exact same technology that…
Valve Stenosis Mitral valve stenosis is a narrowing of the mitral valve. This is the valve between the upper chamber (atrium) and lower chamber (ventricle) of the left side of the heart. Mitral valve stenosis is often discovered when your health care provider hears an abnormal sound (heart murmur) while listening to your heart. This condition can range from mild to severe. CAUSES This condition is caused by: • Rheumatic fever, which is a complication of strep infection. • Buildup of calcium…
ascending aorta and the left ventricle (LV) [1-2]. The tunnel bypasses the aortic valve and may lead to aortic insufficiency (AI), cardiomegaly, LV dilatation, and congestive heart failure [1-3]. Surgery remains the best definitive treatment option [2-3]. ALVT is exceedingly rare representing 0.001% of all congenital heart defects [2-3], and…
Prolapse, also known as MVP, which affects about 2-6% of Americans. It is a disorder of the bicuspid valve, which causes backflow of blood from the left ventricle back into the left atrium (Sims & Miracle, 2007). MVP can also be identified as click-murmur syndrome, floppy mitral valve, and Barlow syndrome (Kornusky & Cabrera, 2014). In past studies, it was known that MVP affected mainly women, however recent studies show that it equally affects men as well (Sims & Miracle, 2007). In roughly 19%…