This is a video of Congestive Heart failure.


Heart Attack(Myocardial Infarction):
To the right is a video of what causes the common heart problem, clogged arteries, which can lead to a heart attack. This video goes through a step by step process of what happens to cause a heart attack and also some preventative measures for people with a family history of heart problems, heavyweight people, and other people with a high risk of heart attack. After this video, you should understand what happens in the heart and the body when a heart attack occurs, and how you can stay healthy to avoid this common problem in America today.



















CASE STUDY:

This video is not for the "faint of heart"

Pericarditis

Causes

The most common cause is viral infection, especially by Coxsackie virus. Bacterial infection, especially by the Tuberculosis bacillus, fungal. Immunologic conditions including Lupes erythematosus it is more common among women.

Clinical Presentaion

Pericarditis typically occurs between the ages of 20 and 50. Fever and chest pain are frequent symptoms. Pericarditis pain is located over the center of the left side of the chest, and may extend to the neck or left shoulder. Patients describe the pain as piercing or "knife-like" and say that breathing worsens it. Chest pain, radiating to the back and relieved by sitting up forward and worsened by lying down, is the classical presentation. In contrast pain from a myocardial infarction is described as crushing. Although the two conditions are different, the diagnosis of myocardial infarction and pericarditis is sometimes confused. Other symptoms of pericarditis may include dry cough, fever, fatigue and anxiety. Pericarditis can be misdiagnosed as myocardial infarction (heart attack), and vice versa. The classic sign of pericarditis is a friction rub, a cracking or scraping sound heard with a stethoscope that is caused by the movement of the inflamed pericardial layers against each other. The inflammation results in the loss of the serous membranes.

Treatment

The treatment in viral or idiopathic pericarditis is with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Severe cases may require pericardiocentesis, antibiotics, steroids, colchicine. Surgical therapy (LV reduction, myosplint, acron device.) Transplantation limited by donors, total artificial heat hopefully soon to come.

Effects of Valvular
Structural damage do to the heart valves can impair blood circulatory and lead to serious health problems.

Valvular insufficiency, also termed valvular incompetence, occurs when one or more of the cardiac valves leaks because the valve leaflets do not close tightly enough. Inflammation or disease may cause the free edges of the valve leaflets to become scarred and constricted, allowing blood to regurgitate back through the valve. As the heart works to overcome the effect of the back flow, blood forced through the valve openings may actually cause further heart enlargement.

Valvular Stenosis, is scarring of the valve leaflets so that they become rigid or partially fused and cannot open completely. A stenotic valve is narrowed and presents resistance to the flow of blood. So that output from the affected chamber decreased. Often the affected chamber hypertrophies and dilates both conditions that may have deleterious consequences. A primary cause of valvular stenosis is rheumatic heart disease.

Rhematic heart disease, may follow a streptococcal infection of the throat. It results when antibodies produced to kill the bacteria cross-react with the body's own connective tissue, thereby initiating an autoimmune disease. All parts of the heart are subject to injury, but the endocardium, the valve leaflets, and the left AV valve are typically the most significantly affected.

Significantly scarred and narrow valves must be surgically repaired or replaced. Patients with a history of rheumatic heart disease must take antibiotics before undergoing dental or medical procedures that are likely to introduce bacteria into the blood stream.

Mitral Stenosis, One cause of Mitral Stenosis is Rhematic heart disease. This is a heart valve disorder that causes a narrowing or even a blockage of the opening to the mitral valve which causes less blood to flow between the left atrium and left ventricle. As the valve closes, more blood can not flow forward and this causes blood and pressure to build in the upper chamber. The blood can then flow back into the lungs causing pulmonary edema. In most cases, a childhood rheumatic fever causes the mitral valve opening to harden and calcify. Rheumatic fever is now fairly uncommon in developed countries, but is seen is undeveloped countries. Symptoms can begin by atrial fibrillation and by other stresses on the body such as pregnancy, heart disorders and heart and/or lung infections. These symptoms include fatigue, chest discomfort and difficulty breathing.