Blood pressure target (based on clinic readings) for patients < 80 years – 140/90 mmHg Hypertension: diagnosis and management NICE published updated guidelines for the management of hypertension in 2011. Some of the key changes include: classifying hypertension into stages …
NICE do not recommend any further investigation for patients with an estimated coronary artery disease risk of greater than 90%. This includes all men over the age of 70 years who have typical symptoms. Chest pain: assessment of patients with …
ACE inhibitors have reduced efficacy in black patients and are therefore not used first-line Hypertension: diagnosis and management NICE published updated guidelines for the management of hypertension in 2011. Some of the key changes include: classifying hypertension into stages recommending …
Electrical activity of the heart Myocardial action potential Phase Description Mechanism 0 Rapid depolarisation Rapid sodium influx These channels automatically deactivate after a few ms 1 Early repolarisation Efflux of potassium 2 Plateau Slow influx of calcium 3 Final repolarisation …
Prosthetic heart valves – antithrombotic therapy: bioprosthetic: aspirin mechanical: warfarin + aspirin Prosthetic heart valves The most common valves which need replacing are the aortic and mitral valve. There are two main options for replacement: biological (bioprosthetic) or mechanical. Biological …
Acute coronary syndrome: management NICE produced guidelines in 2010 on the management of unstable angina and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). They advocate managing patients based on the early risk assessment using a recognized scoring system such as GRACE (Global …
Atrial fibrillation: rate control – beta blockers preferable to digoxin This question reiterates an important point which frequently comes up in exams – digoxin is no longer first-line for rate control in atrial fibrillation. Her shortness-of-breath is likely to be …
ACE inhibitors have reduced efficacy in black patients and are therefore not used first-line Hypertension: diagnosis and management NICE published updated guidelines for the management of hypertension in 2011. Some of the key changes include: classifying hypertension into stages recommending …
This patient has atrial fibrillation. As a consequence he has had a number of transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs) and hence needs to be anticoagulated with warfarin. In patients who’ve had an ischaemic stroke the guidelines recommend waiting two weeks before …
A prolonged PR interval is seen in around 20-40% of patients Myotonic dystrophy Myotonic dystrophy (also called dystrophia myotonica) is an inherited myopathy with features developing at around 20-30 years old. It affects skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscle. There are …