Cardiophile MD

Investigations Blood tests Full blood count to exclude anaemia and leucocytosis as an indicator of infection, urea and electrolytes, fasting glucose and a fasting lipid profile are the usual blood tests considered. ECG For patients with intermittent chest pain, ECG is often normal between episodes of pain. Look for changes suggesting coronary artery disease like [...]

Differential diagnosis of chest pain Angina pectoris / myocardial infarction Pericarditis Aortic dissection Pleurisy Pneumothorax Oesophageal spasm / oesophagitis Musculoskeleta / Costochondritis Bornholm disease – Devil’s grip, epidemic pleurodynia Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) Unstable angina Angina at rest or lowering of threshold for angina NSTEMI (Non ST elevation myocardial infarction) Angina at rest ECG changes [...]

High density lipoprtein (HDL) has its main protective effect on cardiovascular disorders by way of reverse cholesterol transport which removes cholesterol from peripheral tissues to liver for metabolism and excretion. In addition to this HDL is thought to have additional cardiovascular protective effects by several mechanisms like: – Prevents LDL oxidation and aggregation – Anti [...]

Systemic hypoperfusion due to cardiac dysfunction can cause cerebral hypoperfusion and subclinical brain injury. Researchers evaluated over 1500 participants in the Framingham Offspring Cohort with brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cardiac MRI, neuropsychological profile and laboratory profile. They found a positive correlation between cardiac index derived from cardiac MRI and total brain volume and information [...]

Alpha blockers should be avoided in hypertensives with heart failure as they can cause retention of salt and water. Number needed to treat in heart failure trials is lower for carvedilol compared to other beta blockers. Stroke risk in atrial fibrillation increases when they develop heart failure and calls for anticoagulation. But dose titration may [...]