Haemodynamics of large vessels by Phase Contrast MRI
Cardiovascular diseases
The cardiovascular system is the network of blood vessels with the major role in transportation of oxygen and nutrition to the tissues and the waste products from organs and tissues. The diseases of the cardiovascular system, either acquired or congenital, may result in ischemia or undersupply of major organs, which would be a threat to the overall health of an individual. Events caused by cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite improvements in the treatment and the preventive strategies of cardiovascular diseases, the social and economic burdens due to these diseases continue to grow. Further efforts, therefore,
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This thesis focuses on two diseases which are examples of acquired and congenital cardiovascular diseases: carotid atherosclerosis and univentricular heart repaired by Fontan operation.
Carotid artery atherosclerosis
The first part of the thesis is devoted to carotid atherosclerosis. Carotid arteries are the main blood suppliers of the brain. They are found on each side of the neck and they bifurcate to two arteries: internal carotid artery and external carotid artery (figure 1). Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease affecting large and medium-sized arteries including carotid arteries. It is an acquired disease which initiates at very early ages and progresses silently through decades. It is characterized by accumulation of cholesterol, calcium, lipid and other waste, also called plaques, within the inner wall of artery. The disease originates by dysfunction of endothelial cells, which are the cells forming the innermost layer of the vessel wall. Endothelial cells are semi-permeable and they control the
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Congenital heart disease occurs in approximately 1% of newborns and nearly 10% of these malformations belong to the group of univerntricular heart [Ref]. In patients with univentricular heart, the functioning ventricle receives the flow of both pulmonary and systemic circulation which causes a volume overload in the ventricle and reduces the functional ability of heart. In early 70’s, Fontan and Baudet introduced a palliative surgical technique aiming at reducing overload of heart in patients with tricuspid atresia by separating systemic and pulmonary venous return. Since the original technique was firstly introduced, it has been adapted greatly and applied to the patients with univentricular heart. Currently, the infants with univentricular heart undergo multiple consecutive operations with the final surgical operation creating so called Fontan circulation. The Fontan circulation separates systemic and pulmonary venous return by creating a direction connection between caval veins and pulmonary arteries. Two surgical approaches, which are called intracardiac lateral tunnel (ILT) [Ref] and extracardiac conduit (ECC) [Ref], are favoured to create Fontan circulation. ILT approach involves placement of an intraatrial baffle (figure 2a) while ECC approach creates anastomosis between pulmonary arteries and inferior caval vein
This chronic disease is also known as atherosclerosis and is characterized as a fatty plaque build-up in arteries which blocks the blood flow to the vital organs in ours bodies; with the heart being the main target. This potentially life-threatening blockage results in starvation and deprivation of oxygen enriched blood and vital nutrients that are necessary for the heart to maintain proper function; and that is being able to pump blood efficiently. Typically, it is said that the process of heart disease may begin during childhood years of an individual’s life. In a healthy individual; our arteries start out smooth and elastic, allowing effortless blood flow to our hearts and throughout our bodies. As this cholesterol-laden plaque begin to accumulate within the walls of blood vessels (which may be caused by a poor diet, and lack of physical activity, or simply hereditary) the vessels become inflamed. With the body’s effort in healing itself, this destructing plaque begins to release substances such as lipoprotenins, calcium, and inflammatory cells throughout the bloodstream.
|Required: |Heart |The heart and circulatory system | Coronary artery disease (narrowing of the |
The heart cannot help but break for the suffering of children who are marked by the cruelty of congenital diseases. One such disease is tetralogy of tallot which as a congenital ailment occurs at birth and involves four different kinds of cardial defects (Mayo Clinic, 2015). The incidents of tetralogy of fallot is actually quite rare with only five out of every 10,000 developing it at birth (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2011). It is still important to be familiar with. One reason for the need of understanding the disease is that of all congenital heart disorders it is the one most frequently seen, and the mortality rate is another consideration as 50% will not survive past the age of six should tetralogy of fallot be left untreated (Bhimji & Mancini, 2015). Finally, while vast improvements have been made in intervention of the disease improving survivability the condition will have an effect upon a patients throughout their lifetimes. It is because of these that it is important for early recognition, diagnosis, treatment and care of the disease be enacted to ensure not only a positive health outcome but also a good quality of life.
While most people have heard of strokes, many don't know the importance of your carotid artery in causing a stroke. It's important for everyone to understand the signs of carotid artery disease and how to reduce the risk of it leading to a stroke.
Cardiovascular diseases are diseases which involve the heart or blood vessels, they are in fact the leading causes of death and disability in the world. Cardiovascular diseases include coronary artery disease, or ischaemic heart disease (heart attack), cerebrovascular disease (stroke) and diseases of the aorta and arteries including hypertension and peripheral vascular disease (Mendis, Puska, & Norrving, 2011). They are all due to a disease known as atherosclerosis which affects arteries (George, & Johnson, 2010). There are also other cardiovascular disease that are not related to atherosclerosis, for instance, congenital heart disease caused by abnormal structures of the heart existing at birth, rheumatic heart disease due to Type II hypersensitivity reaction following streptococcal bacteria infection, cardiomyopathies (disorders of the heart muscle) and cardiac arrhythmias (disorders of electrical conduction system of the heart). Among all the cardiovascular diseases, coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease are the first two major contributors to global mortality (Mendis, Puska, & Norrving, 2011).
Cardiovascular disease is the disease that influences the veins which incorporate veins, corridors and vessels and the heart, overall this framework is known as the cardiovascular system. This disease is confounded for the coronary illness and comprises of plentiful issues joined with a natural methodology known as atherosclerosis; when substances develop in the dividers of the conduits. Under the cardiovascular disease flag, there are coronary diseases which influence the corridors, hear musicality issues, known as arrhythmias lastly the cogenital heart defects. The World Health Organization group cardiovascular disease into inherent coronary illness, cerebrovascular disease, coronary infection, rheumatic coronary illness, peripheral arterial disease and the profound vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.
Problems with the cardiovascular system are common — more than a sixth of Australians have some type of cardiac problem. Cardiovascular problems affect all age groups. Heart and circulatory problems are grouped into two categories: congenital, which means the problems were present at birth, and acquired, which means that the problems developed some time after
Congenital heart disease include many different types of defects. Some of these defects are simple, such as a hole in the septum. Others, are more complex and severe that include combinations of simple defects, problems with the location of blood vessels leading to and from the heart and other serious problems with the development of the heart. The different types of defects ranging from simple to complex are holes in the heart (septal defects or atrial septal defects-ASD), Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA-abnormal blood flow occurs between the aorta and pulmonary artery), Narrowed valves
Congenital heart defects have become more prevalence in infants in the United States. The causes of congenital heart defects in infants are unknown. However, several factors have been linked to prenatal factors such as maternal insulin-dependent diabetes, maternal alcoholism, maternal rubella during pregnancy, and maternal age over forty. Many infants have been diagnosed with congenital heart defects in utero and the first week of life. Congenital heart defects have been detected in utero with the use of ultrasound in obstetric care. Other congenital heart defects have been diagnosed during the first week of life with symptoms in infants such as failure to thrive, failure to grow, feeding intolerance, hypoxia, signs and symptoms of congestive heart failure. The objectives of this paper are to present overviews of the congenital heart defects and outline the surgical treatments for the congenital heart defects.
Congenital Heart Defect’s (CHD) affect about 1% of all births in the United States or about 40,000 babies per year (www.CDC.gov). Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is a CHD that accounts for an estimated 10% of these births. There are many factors that are involved in the diagnosis, treatment and quality of life for these children. The effects of the CHD vary in severity, therefore the effects it has on a child’s life vary. The etiology of TOF, how specific organs, cells, and tissues are affected, and what organ systems are affected will all be discussed and explained. . The effects vary greatly between patients this paper will focus on the average effects of this condition in order to provide a better understanding of TOF.
The IMT of common carotid artery was usually measured because of its easier accessibility and perpendicular location to the ultrasound beam, whereas carotid atherosclerosis predominantly occurs earliest downstream in the bulb (and often only in the bulb), which may not be as easily visible with B-mode ultrasound [34] (Finn et al. 2010). The standard value of common carotid IMT that indicate the presence of atherosclerotic plaque in animal model M. fascicularis have not been mentioned before. From all the parameters (size, shape, echogenicity and homogeneity changes), we determined that plaque in cynomolgus in this study was presented at the IMT at least 0,3 mm. In human, normal common carotid IMT has been established arbitrarily as approximately 0.05 to 0.11 cm; thus, values 0.11 cm are considered to indicate the presence of an atherosclerotic plaque and its correlates linearly with the number of atherosclerotic risk factors like hyperlipidemia [35] (Baldassarre et al.
The carotids are two arteries that carry blood to the head and neck. They divide into the external and internal branches. The external carotid artery supplies the neck and face, and the internal carotid artery supplies the brain, eye and other internal parts. The carotid arteries may have carotid artery disease (stenosis) or occlusions, due to atherosclerosis. This means the carotid arteries become narrow due to plaque build up in the vessel. When the carotid artery becomes narrowed or blocked, blood supply to the brain is reduced or stopped. This increases the risk of a stroke. “About 795,000 Americans each year suffer a new or recurrent stroke. That means on average, a stroke occurs every 40 seconds.” (American Stroke Association, 2015, Impact
Cyanotic congenital heart defects include; Transposition of the great arteries, Truncus arteriosus, Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection. (5)
Coronary artery disease, a scion of cardiovascular diseases, is defined as an affliction of the blood vessels supplying the heart. It is most commonly caused by deposit of fatty plaques in the lumen of the arteries; also known as atherosclerosis. Consequently, the accumulation of these fatty buildups causes hardening and narrowing of the arterial walls. Thus, this compromises the blood supply to the heart tissues causing the phenomenon known as ischemic heart disease, whereby the myocardium(heart muscles) become
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), one of the more common cardiac defects at birth, is the persistence of an opening between the pulmonary artery and the descending thoracic aorta. This opening is as a result of failure of the physiological fetus ductus arteriosus to close, which normally occurs soon after birth. This hole allows for oxygenated blood from the aorta to mix with oxygen-depleted blood from the pulmonary artery. As a consequence, significant strain is placed on the heart and pressure within the lungs’ arteries is dramatically increased.