Bedside Ultrasonography in Deep Vein Thrombosis

OverviewIntroductionVenous thrombosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and a frequent cause of presentation in many emergency departments (EDs). The sequelae of deep vein thromboses (DVTs) range from the more common chronic venous stasis to the most serious pulmonary emboli (PEs).[1]...

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Aortitis

BackgroundAortitis is literally inflammation of the aorta, and it is representative of a cluster of large-vessel diseases that have various or unknown etiologies. While inflammation can occur in response to any injury, including trauma, the most common known causes are infections or connective tissue disorders....

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Vertebral Artery Dissection

Practice EssentialsVertebral artery dissection (VAD) is a relatively rare but increasingly recognized cause of stroke in patients younger than 45 years. Although the term spontaneous VAD is used to describe cases that do not involve significant blunt or penetrating trauma as a precipitating factor, many patients...

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Anticoagulants and Thrombolytics in Pregnancy

OverviewOutline of antithrombotic agentsAlthough the formation of a thrombus or clot within a blood vessel is important for maintaining hemostasis, pathological thrombosis can occur and cause deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), stroke, or myocardial infarction (MI). The images below show an overview...

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Aortic Regurgitation

BackgroundAortic regurgitation (AR) is the diastolic flow of blood from the aorta into the left ventricle (LV). Regurgitation is due to incompetence of the aortic valve or any disturbance of the valvular apparatus (eg, leaflets, annulus of the aorta) resulting in the diastolic flow of blood into the left ventricular...

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Libman-Sacks Endocarditis

BackgroundLibman-Sacks endocarditis (otherwise known as verrucous, marantic, or nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis) is the most characteristic cardiac manifestation of the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus. Libman and Sacks first published a description of the atypical, sterile, verrucous vegetations...

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Thoracic Aneurysm

BackgroundThoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) is a life-threatening condition that causes significant short- and long-term mortality due to rupture and dissection. Aneurysm is defined as dilatation of the aorta of greater than 150% of its normal diameter for a given segment. For the thoracic aorta, a diameter greater...

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Mitral Valve Prolapse

Practice EssentialsMitral valve prolapse (MVP) is the most common valvular abnormality, affecting approximately 2-6% of the population in the United States. MVP usually has a benign course, but it occasionally leads to serious complications, including clinically significant mitral regurgitation, infective endocarditis,...

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Pulmonic Regurgitation

BackgroundThe pulmonic valve is normally a thin tricuspid structure that prevents blood from regurgitating into the right ventricle once ejected into the low-pressure pulmonary circulation. Pulmonic regurgitation refers to retrograde flow from the pulmonary artery into the right ventricle during diastole. Physiologic...

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Rheumatic Fever

BackgroundAcute rheumatic fever (ARF) is an autoimmune inflammatory process that develops as a sequela of streptococcal infection. ARF has extremely variable manifestations (see the image below) and remains a clinical syndrome for which no specific diagnostic test exists. Persons who have experienced an episode...

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