Bradycardia

Picture this… You are in 8th grade running around at basketball practice going through your drills when you look around and realize that one of your teammates is not at practice. You think to yourself that it is really weird because he never misses practice. That’s the last you really question it until you hear the gymnasium doors swing open. You look over to the doors and see your teammate walk through the door. You see he has wires hooked up to his chest and connected to a machine. You over hear coach yell, “What the hell is wrong with you Ethan?” This was reality for 8th grade Ethan Thompson following a visit to the hospital after a series of sicknesses. Up until this point everyone had only seen Ethan as Ethan, but now everyone saw Ethan as some sort of robot. In the moment, the coaches and players didn’t realize that their brains were making quick judgements of the situation and sometimes you must doubt what your brains tells you to think, do, or say. Ethan is now 16 he lives with his mom, dad, and little brother, William, in New Richmond Wisconsin. Ethan attends New Richmond High School as a full-time student who is in the middle of his sophomore year. As a child Ethan dreamed of being a Doctor, but now Ethan wants to pursue a job in a sports related field. He loves to play sports including baseball, basketball, and football. When Ethan was born, his mom was a teen mom having Ethan at the age of 16. Ethan’s mom, Val, remembers knowing something was different about her…

Although anorexia nervosa wreaks havoc on most major organ systems of the body, the most life-threatening injury is done to the heart. Cardiovascular complications start with the loss of heart muscle, leading to abnormal heart rhythms and low blood pressure. As the emaciated body loses muscle, the heart muscle loses mass and complications such as bradycardia and hypotension arise. Brown and Mehler (2015) have observed, “bradycardia (pulse <60) and hypotension are among the most common…

Humans and other mammals have a Diving Response, which can be also known as ‘The Mammalian Dive Response/Reflex. The Diving reflex consists of set of reflexes that are activated when our face is cooled or if we hold our breath. This is a clever psychological mechanism because it enables our bodies to manage and to tolerate a lower level of oxygen in an environment that we do not normally face every day. There are three main changes that occur in our body when our Dive reflex triggers;…

Cardiac Dysrhythmia Cardiac Dysrhythmia also known as cardiac arrhythmia is a group of of conditions where the heartbeat is irregular and or too fast or too slow. Tachycardia is known as a heart rate that is over 100 beats per minute for adults ,while Bradycardia is too slow with below 60 beats per minute. Majority of arrhythmia issues are not serious, but some predispose one to complications like heart failure or a stroke. Arrhythmia are the leading cause of sudden cardiac death, with 400,000…

and calcification of cardiac structure(3). Fetal exposure to these maternal autoantibodies can also because myocarditis creates a late onset cardiomyopathy (8). Our patient suffered from isolated CCHB without any evidence of structural damage or myocarditis. Almost CCHB can be defined at 18-28 weeks gestational age, 6 weeks after passage of maternal IgG autoantibodies, due to fetal bradycardia and its confirmation is by using fetal echocardiography. Our baby showed bradycardia at 29 gestational…

- The purpose of the Electrocardiogram test is to monitor and measure the quantity and quality of the electrical rhythm of the heart. Understanding the electrical rhythms of the heart is important because your heart's electrical system controls the timing of your heartbeat and you would have to understand how the electrical rhythm of the heart should be to know what problems may be occurring. There are three common variables that are encountered in an electrocardiogram which are the direction…

orthostatic hypotension, visual disturbances, weakness, disorientation. Nursing considerations: do not stop drug abruptly, avoid alcohol, cns depressants. IM onset 15-30min peak 60-90min. Ondansetron HCL: antiemetic, 4mg Q6hrs PRN IV. Patient is on this in order to prevent nausea from receiving chemopherapy/radiation. Side effects: headache, dizziness, constipation. Nursing considerations: monitor for toxicity/ serotonin syndrome. Morphene sulfate (Astramorph PF, Avinza, Duramorph, Infumorph,…

Atropine inhibits the action of acetylcholine at the prostaglandin sites located in the smooth muscle, secretory glands and the CNS. It is used as an antidote for anticholinesterase poisoning and used to increase heart rate and dilate pupils. It is also used to treat hypermotility in the GI tract for issues such as irritable bowel syndrome. Atropine is also used for mydriasis, and decreased secretions from glands. The recommended dose for adults via IM/IV is 0.4-0.6mg 30-60min pre-op to decrease…

even in ventilated infants. It has also been established that there occurs a significantly high stability soon after the onset of Kangaroo mother care. Although there are some apparent variations, RR responses do not exceed the clinically acceptable ranges and as such, have not triggered any physiologic compromise; consequently, kangaroo mother care is safe in regard to its impact on respirations (Susan, 2013). Clinical condition 3: Apneas and Bradycardias Baby has the following: 2 weeks old;…

experiencing an altered mental state, which is present in all patients presenting with myxedema coma, due to decreased oxygen levels and cardiac output (3). This is a result of the body’s response to decompensate after initiating prolonged compensatory mechanisms, such as vasoconstriction and central shunting (1). This accounts for the patient’s bradycardia and hypotension. Furthermore, hypothyroidism has been linked as a cause of anaemia and proved to often be the first symptom (4). The…