Cardiac abnormalities performance

Lung biopsies performed in a small number of patients revealed a vasculitis and perivasculitis with a chronic interstitial pneumonitis. Disturbances of cardiac rhythm and conduction have also been documented. Examination of cardiac autopsy specimens has demonstrated neural lesions throughout the conduction system, similar to the neuropathology seen in skeletal muscle. Inflammatory lesions of the small coronary arteries were also present. The prevalence of cardiac abnormalities among all patients with EMS is unknown, although life-threatening rhythm disturbances appear to be uncommon. 

Continual cardiac monitoring assists the nurse in assessing the patient for adverse drug reactions. If the patient is acutely ill or is receiving one of these drugs par-enterally, the nurse measures and records the fluid intake and output. The primary health care provider may order subsequent laboratory tests to monitor the patient s progress for comparison with tests performed in the preadministration assessment, such as an ECG, renal and hepatic function tests, complete blood count, serum enzymes, and serum electrolytes. The nurse reports to the primary care provider any abnormalities or significant... 

Radionuclide angiocardiography is used to measure ejection fraction (EF), regional ventricular performance, cardiac output, ventricular volumes, valvular regurgitation, asynchrony or wall motion abnormalities, and intracardiac shunts. 

A series of pilot studies began with multisite pacing for patients with heart failure and dilated cardiomyopathy in the early 1990s [52, 105-111]. An improvement in LV function and symptoms of heart failure were demonstrated. This provided the interest in biventricular pacing for heart failure. The term cardiac resynchronization therapy was coined to refer to pacing therapies that attempt to enhance cardiac performance by using pacing to correct electrical conduction abnormalities in the heart. The most common form of this therapy is atrial-synchronous... 

Cardiovascular Effects. Three of 12 workers chronically exposed to barium carbonate dust had elevated blood pressure and 2 workers had ECG abnormalities (Essing et al. 1976). However, it is unknown whether this represented an increased incidence because no comparison with a control population was performed. Increased blood pressure and cardiac irregularities were reportedly observed in guinea pigs exposed by inhalation for an unspecified period of time to 0.06 mg barium/m/min as aerosolized barium chloride solution (Hicks et al. 1986). 

It was suggested that in patients who met the FDA criteria for cardiac valvular abnormalities on echocardiography performed soon after the withdrawal of appetite suppressants, there was a possibility (ranging from as low as 5 % to as high as 67%) that the abnormality was a naturally occurring phenomenon and not a consequence of drug use (17). However, various studies have supported earlier reports of... 

Pulmonary artery pressure and cardiac valvular status were determined in a series of 156 mostly asymptomatic patients taking fenfluramine and phentermine (59). The anorexigen was withdrawn when abnormalities were noted. Pulmonary artery pressure was estimated and valvular examination was performed using Doppler echocardiography. There was borderline or mildly elevated pulmonary artery pressure in 21 patients and 31 patients had notable valvular abnormalities. It has therefore been established that asymptomatic patients may have significant echocardiographic abnormalities, representing early lesions. 

The clinical manifestations of heart failure vary considerably and depend on many factors, including the (1) clinical characteristics of the patient, (2) extent and rate at which the heart s performance becomes abnormal, (3) etiology of the heart disease, (4) concomitant co-morbidities, and (5) distribution of the abnormal cardiac function. The severity of impairment can range from mild-— manifested clinically only during stress—to advanced, in which cardiac pump function is unable to sustain life without external support. 

If hypertension is accompanied by a focally abnormal neurologic examination (eg, hemiparesis), perform a computed tomography (CT) scan as quickly as possible. In a patient with a cerebrovascular accident, hypertension should generally not be treated unless specific complications of the elevated pressure (eg, heart failure or cardiac ischemia) are present. Consult a neurologist. 

Carnitine supplementation in these states has proven effective. For example, in cardiac diseases, the myocardium uses fatty acids as its primary source of fuel therefore, a deficiency in carnitine may have a smous impact on heart rate and stroke volume and thus cardiac output. In fact, most research on these types of cardiac patients supports the use of carnitine as a supplement and furthermore has found that abnormal fatty add metabolism is normalized. " The focus of this chapter, however, will be the effects and efficacy of carnitine supplementation in healthy populations, spedfically as a potential eigogenic aid to athletic performance. 

Keller, R.S., S.Y. Shai, C.J. Babbitt, C.G. Pham, R.J. Solaro, M.L. Valencik, J.C. Loftus, and R.S. Ross. 2001. Disruption of integrin function in the murine myocardium leads to perinatal lethality, fibrosis, and abnormal cardiac performance. American Journal of Pathology 158(3) 1079-90. 

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