An Approach to Diagnosing Supraventricular Tachycardias on the 12-Lead EC

Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is a general term describing a group of arrhythmias whose mechanism involves the atria and atrioventricular nodal tissue for its initiation and maintenance. SVT is a common entity in clinical practice with a prevalence of 2.25 cases per 1000 in general population. Atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter are the most common presentations of SVTs. Of the remaining subtypes of SVT, atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia (AVNRT) accounts for 60% of the cases. The atrioventricular re-entrant tachycardia (AVRT) and atrial tachycardia (AT) represent approximately 30 and 10% of the cases, respectively. The mechanisms of different forms of SVT have been elucidated and are caused by either re-entrant circuit, increased automaticity or triggered activity. This chapter provides an overview of how to systematically approach a narrow complex tachycardia

Should Canadian Medical Schools Implement a Widespread 3 Year Medical Curriculum?

Background: This paper addresses the potential costs and benefits of implementing a widespread 3 year medical curriculum across the country.Methods: We compared differences in curriculum, costs, workforce production, competency, exposure to experiences, timing of career choices, and maturity of students and physicians between 3 and 4 year programs.  We accessed this information from 5 school’s online course outlines and by performing a broad search of the literature.Results- Three and four year medical programs have very similar curricular content.  The most significant cost savings in a 3 year medical program are due to these students entering the workforce a year earlier.   A 3 year program would add more physicians to our workforce initially; however, more doctors are produced over the long term by expanding class sizes.  Test scores of graduates from 3 year programs in Canada and the US are similar to graduates from 4 year medical programs.  A shorter program could limit the exposure of students to extra curriculars and force them to make earlier career decisions; however, time spent in electives appears to be similar.Conclusions: We do not find enough compelling evidence to advocate switching all medical schools in Canada to a 3 year medical program. 

Current and emerging therapeutic options for the treatment of chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy

Chagas’ disease is an endemic disease in Latin America caused by a unicellular parasite (Trypanosoma cruzi) that affects almost 18 million people. This condition involves the heart, causing heart failure, arrhythmias, heart block, thromboembolism, stroke, and sudden death. In this article, we review the current and emerging treatment of Chagas’ cardiomyopathy focusing mostly on management of heart failure and arrhythmias. Heart failure therapeutical options including drugs, stem cells and heart transplantation are revised. Antiarrhythmic drugs, catheter ablation, and intracardiac devices are discussed as well. Finally, the evidence for a potential role of specific antiparasitic treatment for the prevention of cardiovascular disease is reviewed

Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy precipitated by alcohol withdrawal

A 57 year-old woman with no history of cardiac disease presented to the emergency department with confusion and seizures secondary to alcohol withdrawal. Elevated troponin levels and an electrocardiogram demonstrating global T-wave inversions prompted coronary angiography, which revealed coronary vessels free of significant disease. An echocardiogram showed both hypokinesis of the left-ventricular mid-segments with apical involvement and a hyperkinetic base consistent with tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM). Several clinical conditions have been reported as triggers of TCM. We report a case of TCM in a post-menopausal woman that was precipitated by alcohol withdrawal. (Cardiol J 2012; 19, 1: 81–85

Towards limiting QT interval prolongation and arrhythmia risk in citalopram use

N/A (Commentary

Genetics Bases of Cardiac Sodium Channel Mutations linked to Inherited Cardiac Arrhythmias

Não se aplic