Cardiology Notes: Clinical Cases including ECG, Echocardiography, Cath, and MOCK Exams to sharpen your cardiology data interpretation skills. Healthcare is stressful!!! Learning cardiology shouldn't be !!!
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What Doctors And Other Health Care Workers Around the World are saying about the Reality of COVID 19
What Doctors And Other Health Care Workers Around the World are saying about the Reality of COVID 19
Healthcare workers have always been on the front lines of epidemics and pandemics. During the 2002 SARS outbreak, one-fifth of all cases were healthcare workers. In Hong Kong alone, 360 hospital workers contracted SARS – a whopping 20.5 percent of all cases on the island. In China, where the COVID-19 pandemic began, more than 3300 healthcare workers have been infected, and at least 13 have died. “We’re doctors, we signed up for this, But our biggest fear is bringing the virus home, and infecting our elderly parents.”
Acute Treatment of Hyperkalemia – A Practical, Bedside-Oriented Guide Hyperkalemia is a potentially life-threatening electrolyte abnormality that demands prompt recognition and decisive management. The danger lies not only in the absolute potassium value but in its effects on cardiac conduction, which can rapidly progress to fatal arrhythmias. Acute treatment focuses on three parallel goals: stabilizing the cardiac membrane, shifting potassium into cells, and removing excess potassium from the body. Understanding this stepwise approach helps clinicians act quickly and rationally in emergency settings. Why Hyperkalemia Is Dangerous Potassium plays a key role in maintaining the resting membrane potential of cardiac myocytes. Elevated serum potassium reduces the transmembrane gradient, leading to slowed conduction, ECG changes, ventricular arrhythmias, and asystole. Importantly, ECG changes do not always correlate with potassium levels, so treatment decisions should be based on clinical c...
2025 ESC Guidelines on INR Targets in Mechanical Valves INR Targets in Patients With Mechanical Heart Valves Updated, guideline-oriented review Mechanical heart valves are inherently thrombogenic and require lifelong anticoagulation. Vitamin K antagonists, particularly warfarin, remain the standard therapy. The international normalized ratio (INR) is used to guide anticoagulation intensity and must be individualized based on valve type, valve position, and patient-related thromboembolic risk factors. Subtherapeutic INR increases the risk of valve thrombosis and systemic embolism, whereas excessive anticoagulation increases bleeding risk. Why INR control is critical Mechanical valves promote thrombosis due to non-physiological blood flow, high shear stress, and continuous contact between blood and artificial surfaces. These prothrombotic mechanisms persist for life. Direct oral anticoagulants are contraindicated in mechanical valves; therefore, VKAs remain mandatory. The goal of I...
It is like suicide to treat COVID 19 patients without protection
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