Cardiovascular diseases

13 May 2018

Some arrhythmias can be expressed by more rapid beats than normally. A heart beat higher than 100 per minute is called tachycardia.

08 May 2018

Some arrhythmias may manifest themselves in a slower rhythm than usual. A heart rate slower than 60 beats per minute is called “bradycardia”

01 May 2018

There is no doubt that beyond the physical differences between men and women, these two groups differ from each other in many ways. It’s also the case for coronary artery disease in men and women.

13 January 2018

Most commonly, angina takes the form of chest pain that radiates towards the jaw and the left arm. It can also be felt in many other ways, especially as back pain, or only in the jaw or the left arm.

In 2000, more than 25% of the population in the world had high blood pressure (also called hypertension). It is estimated that this number could climb to nearly 30% in 2025.

Risk factors for the development of plaques include age, male gender, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking and obesity.

We all heard someone say that he or she had water "on" the lungs or even, water "in" the lung. What is it exactly? Should we say "on" the lungs or "in" the lung? Both situations exist.

Mitraclip is the name of a catheter procedure used to reduce severe mitral insufficiency, i.e. to reduce valve leaking in a significant way.

Installation of a pacemaker is required for patients with certain heart rhythm disorders. This installation occurs during a short hospitalization when it is a situation requiring a rapid correction of the cardiac electricity or as a short hospitalisation when it is required without urgency.

A pacemaker is an implantable device that stimulates the heart in order to generate a heartbeat. This electronic device powered by a battery that is slightly thicker than a 2-dollar coin. The pacemaker is generally implanted beneath the skin just below the left collarbone.

Sudden death is caused by the stoppage of the heart’s main function: pump. This results in a loss of consciousness, respiratory arrest and death if resuscitation manoeuvres are not done quickly.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation can save lives. The author of this story acknowledges that if he can eat every night with his family, it is thanks to these people who knew what to do.

Une chirurgie cardiaque suscite bien des interrogations, des inquiétudes et pour certain, de l'angoisse. Ces sentiments sont bien naturels. Cette peur de l'inconnu peut être apaisée. Voici un texte rassemblant les interrogations de nombreux patients.

In the case where the clot partially obstructs the coronary artery or one of its branches, the cardiac muscle it feeds still receives oxygen, but in potentially limited quantity. This situation is unstable, this is unstable angina, now called NSTEMI.

In the case where a clot completely obstructs a coronary artery, the underlying cardiac muscle suffers and it is painful. It is a “heart attack”. This is a medical emergency!

Coronary angiography is an examination that allows the professional to visualize the arteries of the heart known as the coronaries. As a result, it is possible to demonstrate the presence of obstructions like the presence of atheromatous plaques in these arteries.

Coronary angioplasty, commonly known as coronary dilatation, is the procedure to repair coronary arteries with blockages. This repair follows an examination called coronarography, which allows visualization of coronary strictures.

Coronary stents have been around for about 3 decades. The purpose of this article is to provide answers to questions frequently asked by patients and their family members.

An almost universal and highly relevant question is asked over and over again after a dilation procedure in an artery of the heart is: "How long is it good for?" Somewhere in the answer to this question, you will hear the term "restenosis" and you will want to know more about it.

Coronary artery bypass surgery is a cardiac surgery performed to supply blocked arteries with atheroma plaques. It consists in making vascular bridges over partial or total obstructions of the arteries of the heart, because bridges help us cross obstacles.

Overnight, you found yourself in a hospital room and were told that you had a heart attack. What happened to you, how to live after this event.

Returning home after undergoing coronary artery dilatation (coronary angioplasty) and stent insertion may cause concern to the patient. Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions.

A SCAD is, as the name implies, a tear in the wall of a coronary artery that occurs suddenly without any identified cause.

Being told that I needed cardiac surgery came as a total shock to me. I would like to share my experience with you, hoping that it will help you navigate through this procedure. I also intend to touch on some of the issues you might be worrying about, as well as address questions you are probably wrestling with.

More than half a million of people suffer from heart failure in Canada

The title is striking and a little disturbing. Do not get me wrong. A non-cancerous chronic disease such as heart failure has two treatment phases. The first is well known. It is the standard or “active” care. The second, palliative care, focuses on patient comfort.

Active therapy has two elements that always go hand-in-hand. On one hand, there is the pharmaceutical therapy, or a treatment consisting of pills to be taken regularly. The combination of these drugs varies from one patient to another.

Successful treatment of a severe chronic condition such as terminal heart failure depends largely on the implementation of an "individualized action plan". This plan includes tips for dealing with a particular situation and / or changes to the medication during this period.

Supportive treatment should be considered as soon as a diagnosis of severe heart failure is made and not at the end of one’s life when the disease progresses. Early palliative care has shown to improve the patient's quality of life, reduce the frequency of hospitalization and even prolong life expectancy.

Heart failure requires regular health follow-ups, which are in fact regular medical monitoring in an external clinic. The frequency of these follow-ups varies according to the evolution of your symptoms and the progression of the disease.

The Takostubo syndrome is a heart disease from the cardiomyopathies family. It is also called the broken heart syndrome or more figuratively, apical ballooning syndrome or acute stress-induced cardiomyopathy. There are different types of damage but it is usually the tip of the heart (apex) that is weakened.

When it is possible to assume that the patient is likely to have only a few months to live allows the patient and his family to be prepared adequately for a peaceful and dignified departure in the chosen healthcare facility or at home. Imminent end-of-life signs ...

The goal of this type of treatment is to provide maximum comfort to the patient, both physical and psychological. Active Listening is part of the comfort care therapy and is more than likely its most useful component at this stage.

Thank you for letting me into your home. I would like to tell you about my first experience with the medical world. I am 52 years old and had never been sick in my entire life, until the eye-opening incident that happened to me recently.

An athlete’s heart includes all cardiac changes secondary to repeated, high-intensity physical activity. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a disease in which the heart muscle thickens. It is one of the changes that can be observed.

Cardiomyopathies are diseases of the heart muscle. One of them is called Arrhythmia-Induced Cardiomyopathy, where the main heart muscle, the left ventricle, weakens due to abnormal heart rhythms. This condition is potentially reversible.

AF is an arrhythmia characterized by chaotic cardiac beats which are irregularly irregular.

A problem with the rhythm, or arrhythmia, is a problem with the electric system that makes the heart beat. There are two main categories of problems: stimulation disorders and conduction disorders.

Defects of electrical conduction by the two specialized branches of the ventricles can occur. One calls these conditions bundle branch blocks - right if it affects the right branch and left if it affects the left branch.

Breathing in causes the lungs to inflate and creates a rush of blood to the heart through the vena cava or large veins. The increase in blood volume accelerates the rhythm of the sinoatrial node, resulting in faster heartbeats.

The electrical system can be overexcited.The extrasystoles are supplementary heartbeats, either extras or premature, or before their time, pulses. The extrasystoles may be a consequence of an overexcited system at the atrium and/or ventricle levels.

Atrial flutter is an arrhythmia characterized by a very fast, but regular heartbeat. It can climb beyond 150 beats per minute.

Inappropriate tachycardia affects more than 1% of the population. However, it is not considered an arrhythmia, but is rather a condition where the heart rate at rest is faster than normal and where there is an inappropriate acceleration of the heart rate when a minimal effort is done.

The supraventricular tachycardia is a type of arrhythmia characterized by rapid, sustained palpitations that start and stop abruptly.

An automated external defibrillator, better know by its abbreviation "AED", is a device that assists you when helping a person who has collapsed to the ground. It may save his or her life. This small, battery-operated, device is easily transportable and simple to use. Anyone can use it, with or without cardiovascular resuscitation (CPR) training.

My heart started skipping beats that night. I admit that my cardiologist tried to reassure me. This is easier said than done, I was still worried that my heart would let me down, no matter what. It was only some time later that I realized that my doctor was right.

Commotio Cordis is not a disease. Rather, it is a complication of a fatal arrhythmia that occurs accidentally in an individual with no known pre-existing heart defect of any kind. The name Commotio Cordis translates from Latin and means "agitation of the heart", in connection with the sudden destabilization of the synchronization of the heart's electrical system. It is called ventricular fibrillation, a lethal arrhythmia.