My approach to heart murmurs

February 17, 2024 Andrew To

3D echo image of mitral valve prolapse with flail of P2 scallop

Murmurs could be benign, up to 10% of adults, 30% of children, and could be exacerbated by conditions such as anaemia, pregnancy, fever, hyperthyroidism. Murmurs could also pathological, including valvular lesions and structural abnormalities.

Here is my approach.

Frailty and Cardiovascular Disease

February 7, 2024 Andrew To

Clinical Frailty Scale from Dalhousie University

Frailty is relevant to cardiology because the disease process predispose to physical impairments that ultimate worsen the cardiovascular illness.

The phenomenon of increased vulnerability to stressors due to decreased physiological reserves leads to poor clinical outcomes after cardiovascular insults. Equally CVD worsens frailty due to hospitalisation, debilitation, immobility, systemic illness that underpins physiological deterioration in physical frailty. In cardiology, frailty is highly prevalent in patients with heart failure, valvular heart disease, but also myocardial infarction.