From the Greek: Syn: together & kopein: to cut – referring to a block in blood supply from the body to the brain, most often due a drop in systemic blood pressure. It is defined as (1) temporary and transient (2) a form of loss of consciousness…
As a resident doctor, you will often be called about patients with raised blood pressure (BP) in secondary care. This differs from chronic hypertension in primary care for which the treatment is summarised expertly by NICE. Here we look at the assessment and management of hypertension in acute care, with a focus on hypertensive emergencies
Heart Failure is not a diagnosis in itself, rather a collection of symptoms that require investigation to find the underlying cause. Heart failure syndrome is the term used to describe the collection of symptoms such as; breathlessness and fatigue, and signs such as fluid retention. As an FY1 you will likely encounter patients with heart
AF is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia you will encounter. In this article, we focus on the management of it. Identification of atrial fibrillation is usually fairly easy due to the irregularly irregular pattern (using the RR intervals), typically narrow QRS complexes & the lack of P waves. If you need a quick refresher
As a resident doctor, you will also often assess patients complaining of chest pain in the acute admissions setting and on the wards. Reviewing a patient with chest pain can be daunting whatever stage of training you are at. The seriousness of chest pain varies from less concerning pain (i.e musculoskeletal pain) to life-threatening events.
RCEMÂ has published some clear and comprehensive information which is well worth a read. Below we include a very quick summary as a refresher. Causes Impaired cardiac function e.g., MI, arrhythmia and sepsis. Beware particularly cardiac patients who have recently been given IV fluids. Fluid overload- this can occur even in patients with a normal heart
