weekWEEK4 PJ’s symptoms are consistent with what diagnosis? What education would you provide to PJ? PJ’s symptoms are consistent with stable angina
... [Show More] also known as angina pectoris (McCance and Huether, 2014). Stable angina is caused by stiffening of the walls of the coronary arteries which do not allow the arteries to dilate during periods of exertion. This leads to decreased blood flow to the myocardium which causes anaerobic respiration and a buildup of lactic acid. The buildup of lactic acid is what causes the classic substernal chest pain (McCance and Huether, 2014). Once myocardial oxygen demand decreases by the patient resting, the pain subsides as the heart is now receiving adequate oxygen and no permanent damage is done (McCance and Huether, 2014). Nitroglycerin helps alleviate the symptoms of stable angina. This works by nitroglycerin being metabolized into nitric oxide which is a potent vascular smooth muscle relaxer (Boden, Finn, Patel, Peacock, and Thadani, 2012). This causes the coronary arteries to dilate which increases the amount of oxygenated blood that the heart receives. Nitroglycerin is not specific to coronary arteries, it also dilates the peripheral veins which reduces preload and afterload which in turn reduces the workload of the heart (Boden, Finn, Patel, Peacock, and Thadani, 2012). The most important education that I would give to PJ is about cardiac rehabilitation. The goal of cardiac rehabilitation is to slow the progression of coronary artery disease by reducing the impact of modifiable risk factors for angina which include smoking cessation, weight control, lipid management, diabetes management, and diet and nutrition counseling (Boden, Finn, Patel, Peacock, and Thadani, 2012). If PJ attends cardiac rehab and reduces his modifiable risk factors as well as being compliant with his prescribed medications, PJ’s quality of life will increase by being able to be more active without getting chest pain. According to the ECG findings, what is the differential diagnosis? According to the ECG findings, PJ has suffered an acute ST elevation myocardial infarction also known as a STEMI (McCance and Huether, 2014). [Show Less]