Atrial myxoma was first documented as a simple vascular growth in the heart by TW King in 1845. Now, over a hundred seventy years later, it can be describe as a benign tumor of connective tissue typically in the atrium. Although it possesses characteristic of cancerous cells and is generally included in cardiac cancer because of their similarities, it is often not considered cancer because it is benign. Heart tumors and cancers are very rare, accounting for only 0.2% of tumors found in the body, due to the fact that heart cells divide mostly while we are still fetuses. Once the heart is developed they divide less frequently leaving fewer opportunity for failure in the cell cycle. Because they are rare, there are still numerous unknown …show more content…
attributions to the conditions. Of the problems that arise in the heart, atrial myxomas are the most common of cardiac benign tumors at 50% of cases and of primary tumors (tumors starting in the heart). It would make sense for most primary tumors to be developed/ found in younger children, but oddly, more diagnoses of atrial myxoma go to patients of thirty to sixty years old.
Overall though, atrial myxoma has a one in two thousand ratio of incidence and females of sex are more liking to be diagnosed by 75%. It is estimated that one in every ten occurrences are familial myxoma (hereditary) but this tends to be evenly distributed between sexes. These nicknamed “family myxomas” can even occur in multiple places of the heart at once but the patient tends to show symptoms at a younger age.
In normal circumstances, generic symptoms are reported. Things like orthopnea, chest pains and tightness, dizziness, palpitations, and rapid weight loss are reported. For severer cases clubbing of fingers, bluish tents, fainting, and dyspnea are expected. Different symptoms can be associated with different locations of the myxoma. For example, in the left atria, more patients experience head pain and pulmonary edema with the myxoma, while in the right atria, they have greater symptoms of right heart failure. It has also been expressed that changes in body position and fast movements can bring on symptoms. Symptoms can be experienced in a few different ways. Some people report having them continually everyday whiles others come and
go. The majority of symptoms are caused by the blockage of blood caused by the mass. As it grows, the blood can force the atria to swell in tricuspid stenosis. I believe the space created between cells in swelling assists the cells to divide more frequently through contact inhibition. As the cells divide to fill the space, the lack of early dividing encourages the cells to just keep dividing causing the growth. Atrial myxomas are also related to atrial fibrillation. In this situation I believe that the sporadic and chaotic impulses provide more energy opportunities during a cells preparation for dividing. The easier energy can be obtained the faster cells are able to divide. Of known cases, 95% of myxomas are found in the atriums (75% in left and 20% in right) while only 5% are found in the ventricles. It starts as a small flab and eventually expands into an oval shape mass. The growth can start on any wall inside the heart although it is typically on the atrial septum ( 90% of the time). There are a few accounts of extreme cases where the mass stretched through the septum into both the right and left atrium. There are many ways of checking for atrial myxoma that are constantly evolving. Doctors will ordinarily check in a blood test for mild anemia and a rise in ESR. They may also try chest x-rays, Echocardiograms, Doppler studies, ECGs, CT scans, a heart MRI, and heart angiographies. Atrial myxomas are dangerous because if it is positioned close enough to the tricuspid or mitral valve and grows to a decent size, the mass can cover the valve and block all blood from traveling to the connecting ventricle. In 30% to 40% the tumor breaks a part travels in the blood stream. The embolism ends up setting in places like the limbs, brain, and eyes, where for unknown reason, the tumor will start to grow again and become malignant. Granted that they are alarming, atrial myxomas are rarely life threatening with an 8% mortality most of which comes from surgery complications. Nearly all myxomas require heart surgery to ensure removal and in serious cases mitral and tricuspid valve replacement. In some surgeries involving complications, the patient claimed to have symptoms of tricuspid stenosis starting only after surgery. Generally, in operations that go well, there is only a 2% chance of recurrence. After surgery the mass can be different colors (grays, whites, browns, and reds) and hardnesses. The myxoma can even be up to ten centimeters at its longest dimension. There is little known specific information about the correlation between lifestyle and atrial myxoma, besides that avid drinking impacts the size of the tumor, but doctors do recommend just keeping your heart healthy.
On the afternoon of 24th August 79 AD, a volcano called Mt. Vesuvius erupted, which resulted in destroyed lives of citizens, it was estimated that there were 10 to 12 thousand people who occupied the city .The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and a few others were severely affected by the eruption. The cities are well known for its beautiful landscapes and its temperate climate.Pompeii is based in the south, close to Naples in the region of Campania in Italy.The eruption started a series of events such as pumice,rocks and ashes falling down and caused hot volcanic gases to rise high in the sky, people from around 100 miles away could see the event unfolding.The remains of Pompeii and other cities was frozen in time due to the pyroclastic surges
Cardiomyopathy, by definition, means the weakening of the heart muscle. The heart is operated by a striated muscle that relies on the autonomic nervous system to function. Cardiomyopathy is diagnosed in four different ways based on what caused the illness and exactly what part of the heart is weakened. The four main types of cardiomyopathy are dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, restrictive cardiomyopathy, and arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. One other category of cardiomyopathy that is diagnosed is “unclassified cardiomyopathy.” Unclassified cardiomyopathy is the weakening of the heart that does not fit into the main four categories.
Marfans occurs evenly in men and women and can be inherited from just one parent. Marfan syndrome is also referred to as...
When the throat muscles are affected, this causes problems with speech, swallowing , and chewing. Patients may choke easily and their speech is often nasal due to the weakness of the velar muscles. The arm and leg muscles may weaken affecting activities like lifting or walking, with some patients appearing to wobble. There may be a loss of balance and an uncoordinated walk. It would be difficult to hold or grab on to objects with weakened arm muscles. Approximately 15% of MG patients have a thymoma. In most cases the tumour is not harmful and can be treated. Breath...
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Effects on Young Athletes Alyssa Trimm 130568370 Wilfrid Laurier University Dr. Kalmar KP 122 Section A
Cardiac dysrhythmias come in different degrees of severity. There are heart conditions that you are able to live with and manage on a daily basis and those that require immediate attention. Atrial Fibrillation is one of the more frequently seen types of dysrhythmias (NIH, 2011). The best way to diagnosis a heart condition is by reading a cardiac strip (Ignatavicius &Workman, 2013). Cardiac strips play an chief part in the nursing world allowing the nurse and other trained medical professionals to interpret what the heart is doing. In a normal strip, one can clearly identify a P wave before every QRS complex, which is then followed by a T wave; in Atrial Fibrillation, the Sinoatrial node fires irregularly causing there to be no clear P wave and an irregular QRS complex (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013). Basically, it means that the atria, the upper chambers of the heart, are contracting too quickly and no clear P wave is identified because of this ‘fibrillation’ (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013).
The most common symptoms of mesothelioma are difficulty in breathing, chest pain, or both. Occasionally, a patient may not have mesothelioma symptoms at diagnosis. Other less common symptoms include weight loss, fever, night sweats, cough, and a general feeling of not being well. Mesothelioma symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma may include swelling, pain due to accumulation of fluid in the abdomen cavity, weight loss, and a mass in the abdomen. Other mesothelioma symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma may include bowel obstruction, blood clotting abnormalities, lowered red blood cell count, and fever.
Symptoms that occur when a person contracts Myasthenia Gravis often begin with the drooping of the eyelids. Clinical Reference Systems (2010) state that as the disease progresses, blurred vision and difficulty in maintaining a steady gaze begin to happen due to further weakness in eye muscles. Face paralysis is common, as well as slurred speech and difficulty of breathing, chewing, or swallowing due to weakness in the face and throat. This often leads to gagging, drooling, or...
There are numerous risk factors for breast cancer. Genetics or family history of breast cancer in a one first-degree relative with breast cancer doubles a woman’s risk. Having two first degree relatives rises a woman’s risk by three times. A person’s personal history who have had one breast with cancer is three to four times as likely of developing a new cancer. White women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than are African-American women, but African-American women are more likely to die from this cancer. However in women under 45 years of age, breast cancer is more common in African-American women.
Coronary heart disease or coronary artery disease affects 16.8 million people in the United States and causes more than 607,000 deaths annually (Lemone, chap.30). It is caused by atherosclerosis which is the accumulation of fatty deposits in the arteries causing impaired blood flow to the myocardium. CAD or coronary artery syndrome is usually without symptoms but may induce heart attack, angina and acute coronary syndrome if not properly treated. There are many risk factors associated with CAD like obesity, high cholesterol diet, hereditary, physical inactivity, just to name a few. Patients with CAD may be unable to identify and manage their risks factors. It is imperative for nurses to educate the patient about CAD and measures to enhance their health.
Most often the disease starts in the left ventricle, and then often spreads to both the atrium and right ventricle as well. Usually there will also be mitral and tricuspid regurgitation, due to the dilation of the annuli. This regurgitation will continue to make problems worse by adding excessive volume and pressure to the atria, which is what then causes them to dilate. Once the atria become dilated it often leads to atrial fibrillation. As the volume load increases the ventricles become more dilated and over time the myocytes become weakened and cannot contract as they should. As you might have guessed with the progressive myocyte degeneration, there is a reduction in cardiac output which then may present as signs of heart failure (Lily).
Oxygen was first admitted to the client with chest pain over 100 years ago (Metcalfe, 2011). Chest pain is a large bracket that can contain many different conditions, but for the purpose of this analysis it is focused manly upon a myocardial infarction. A myocardial infarction is mainly referred to as a heart attack, and occurs when one or more coronary arteries leading to the heart reduce or completely stop blood flow (Tuipulotu, 2013 ). Administering high concentrations of oxygen to patients with chest pain is now embedded in guidelines, protocols and care pathways, even with a lack of clear supporting evidence (Nicholson, 2004 ). High concentration of oxygen means that up to 60% is administered (Knott, 2012). More recent research has suggested that the use of oxygen in this scenario is unnecessary and can lead to unwanted side effects, especially in normoxic cardiac patients (Moradkham & Sinoway, 2010 ). The aim of this comparative analysis is to dismantle and understand both the benefits and risks of the commonly known practice of administration of oxygen to the client with chest pain. Through completing this analysis using recent and appropriate evidence a more improved practice can be given and understood.
The process of a drop of blood to go from the heart, to the body, and back to the heart is called the Cardiac Cycle. When the heart pumps blood throughout the body, there are a lot of factors that help it happen and influence how well it happens. It is a very quick cycle, occurring every .8 seconds, which means it happened about 70 times per minute. Systoles, diastoles, and blood pressure all are the main components of what make a cardiac cycle occur.
Different characteristics of tumours may point to malignancy in some organs but in other locations may indicate a benign growth. For example, Thieme indicates that “an echopenic halo suggests metastasis in the liver but suggests a...