Brianna Nguyen - Aortic Stenosis

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Aortic Stenosis

Cardiac cycle: Pressure and Volume

vark study guide - kinesthetic

Cardiac cycle: Electrical Events

Treatment options

Aortic Stenosis is a condition where the aortic valve becomes obstructed or tight. The aortic valve functions to pump blood from the heart to the rest of the body, which allows for the distribution of nutrients for necessary maintenance of one's health. Narrowment or obstruction of the aortic valve restricts blood flow and increases blood pressure in the heart, which can lead to fatal symptoms.

Aortic Stenosis

Definition

Typically, during ventricle systole (contraction), the pressure in the ventricles build up to be more than the aorta. This allows blood to flow from high to low pressure from the ventricle to the aorta, then out to the body. After, the ventricle closes to prevent backflow during diastole. In aortic stenosis, the aortic valve opening becomes obstructued or narrowed, thus making it more difficult for blood to enter from the ventricle. Thus, the left ventricle must produce significantly higher pressure in order to push blood through the constricted valve. This leads to left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), where the heart muscle thickens to compensate for the increased pressure. In addition, less blood is able to exit the heart due to this obstruction.

Physiological Terms

VARK Study Guide

Kinesthetic Learning

Kinesthetic (K) in VARK is mostly associated with physical movement and "doing" things in order to fully understand and experience content. This can involve building models, creating interactive posters (like this one), or creating anything that would induce some sort of bodily movement to learn.

I decided to make an interactive poster for this assignment. This is strongly associated with a kinesthetic way of learning because it involves the receiver of information to search around and click on specific parts of a poster, thus being able to associate the relevant information to the aspect they click on.

Treatment options

• Aortic valve replacement is the main and effective long-term treatment
• Balloon Aortic Valvuloplasty (BAV): a balloon is inflated inside the valve to stretch it open
• Monitoring the disease and maintaining healthy habits are viable options for general health

Comparing Conditions - Pressure and Volume

Healthy Condition

• Typically, during ventricle systole (contraction - [valve status]), the pressure in the ventricles build up to be more than the aorta.
• This allows blood to flow from high to low pressure [pressure] from the ventricle to the aorta [blood flow] then out to the body.
• Typically, the volume of the aorta increases quickly and fully during systole

• After, the ventricle closes to prevent backflow during diastole.

Aortic Stenosis

• In aortic stenosis, the aortic valve opening becomes obstructued or narrowed, thus making it more difficult for blood to enter from the ventricle.
• Thus, the left ventricle must produce significantly higher pressure in order to push blood through the constricted valve.
• Due to the ventricle having difficulty to push blood to the aorta, not all blood is ejected. Over time, this leads to increased volume [volume] in the ventricle post-systole due to remnants of blood.
• Less blood enters the aorta per beat

Factors Aortic Stenosis affects:

• pressure
• amount of blood flow (but not direction)
• volume

Aortic Stenosis under Electrocardiogram

• Aortic Stenosis causes taller R waves and deeper S waves [electrical events] due to increased depolarizations from the left ventricle to account for the constricted valve opening.
• The QRS duration is increased due to a higher force required to pump blood, therefore taking longer to conduct
• Compared to the typical, "lub-dub", heart sound, aortic stenosis can sound more like "lub-shhhh-dub" [heart sounds]due to the blood struggling to flow through the aortic valve