Cardiovascular disorders
Cardiovascular disorders are prevalent in primary care. Many of the disorders
develop over several years, due to the risk
... [Show More] factors to which individuals have been
exposed. For each disorder covered in this unit, a discussion of risk factors will be
included. For the concepts covered below, clinical application of each disease will be
provided so that students can understand the importance of pathophysiology in
diagnosing and treating the disease.
Prerequisite knowledge:
For this content, you should have a basic knowledge of cardiac anatomy; know the
differences between the right and left sides of the heart, in terms of structure and
function. You should also possess solid knowledge of the unidirectional blood flow
through the heart. For example, deoxygenated blood arrives to the right side of the
heart, travels to the pulmonary arteries to release CO2 and pick up oxygen. At this
point, the oxygenated blood is carried from the lungs through the pulmonary veins to
the left side of the heart where it eventually reaches the aorta to carry oxygenated
blood out to the body organs. The cellular physiology related to cardiac contraction is
another important basic concept to know, as electrolytes (sodium, potassium and
calcium) play a major role in muscle contraction. Finally, the concepts of preload,
afterload, and contractility are essential to understand, as all of these can be affected
in some way when a person has cardiovascular disease.
What is Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)?
CAD is considered the leading cause of death in the United States (U.S.). It is the
result of longstanding atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis begins with damage to the endothelium. It is the endothelium, under
normal functioning that maintains balance between the vasoconstrictive and
vasodilation actions, prevents platelets from aggregating and control of the
production of fibrin. When the endothelium becomes damaged, our familiar
inflammatory processes occur. Macrophages attach to the endothelium, setting up
phagocytosis; plaque formation and vasoconstriction also occurs marking the
beginning of atherosclerosis. The plaque lesions located in the vessels become
enlarged which allows the plaque to progress within the enlarged vessel lumen. The
plaque lesion disrupts normal blood flow and causes thrombus formation which can
be triggered by cardiac risk factors such as elevated LDL, cholesterol, smoking and
diabetes [Show Less]