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Query: UMLS:C0018799 (heart disease)
 34,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

When cardiovascular disease in women is considered, the cardiovascular physiology and diseases related to pregnancy are clearly unique, particularly to young women. Toxemia and its associated hypertension are the major cardiovascular disorders arising during and secondary to pregnancy and may well increase in prevalence as women undertake childbearing at older ages. Although its pathophysiology is unknown and its outcome may be grave to both mother and child, toxemia is preventable, treatable, and curable. This is unlike the three other forms of heart disease occurring in pregnancy discussed here. Aortic dissection, pulmonary hypertension, and peripartum cardiomyopathy are not preventable and are unpredictable, difficult to treat, and incurable. These latter disorders carry on indefinitely for the duration of the patient's life and seriously limit future options, including those for more pregnancies. Among the disorders of the heart in pregnancy, toxemia and peripartum cardiomyopathy are the subjects of especially active investigation at present. Major advances in understanding these disorders could minimize cardiovascular risk to the pregnant woman.
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PMID:Heart disease arising during or secondary to pregnancy. 264 40

A 66-year-old man presented with myocardial infarction. Chest X-ray showed a large mediastinal mass. Aortic dissection was suggested by a past history of chest trauma, but the mass was in a very atypical site. Dissection of an abnormally placed right-sided descending aorta was confirmed by computed tomography. The aortic arch lay on the left side. This rare combination of congenital and acquired heart disease led to diagnostic difficulty.
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PMID:Dissecting aneurysm of a right-sided descending aorta with a left-sided aortic arch. 334 80

Although aortic dissection is rare in children, it does occur, particularly in those with congenital heart disease, connective tissue disorders or severe trauma. Prompt diagnosis is essential. Aortic dissection should be considered in children and adolescents with severe abdominal pain, especially pain that migrates. The patient is often much more uncomfortable than can be explained on the basis of physical findings. Criteria have been established for choosing medical or surgical therapy.
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PMID:Aortic dissection in adolescence. 375 41

Aortic dissection is uncommon in young women and is associated with clinical conditions such as pregnancy and Marfan's syndrome. Owing to the low incidence, diagnosis of acute aortic dissection in young women might be missed or delayed in patients who have neither risk factors nor typical clinical manifestations. We report the case of a 28-year-old postpartum woman with aortic dissection. The patient complained of abdominal discomfort, transient back pain, and general malaise at our emergency department 1 week after delivery of a healthy baby. She had no history of hypertension, connective tissue disease or congenital heart disease. Cardiovascular insult was not considered until the patient developed shock. Myocarditis or peripartum cardiomyopathy with left ventricular dysfunction was diagnosed based on imaging studies and cardiac enzyme levels. Finally, computed tomography revealed acute aortic dissection after hemodynamic collapse occurred. This case suggests that acute aortic dissection can be associated with left ventricular dysfunction, and non-specific clinical symptoms in young, normotensive, and postpartum women. A high index of clinical suspicion and alertness are needed to identify this condition.
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PMID:Acute aortic dissection associated with left ventricular dysfunction in a postpartum and normotensive young woman. 1287 72

Aortic dissection occurs when blood penetrates the aortic intima and forms an expanding hematoma within the vessel wall, separating the intima and media to create a so-called false lumen. Aortic dissection has been estimated to cause one of every 10,000 hospital admissions. The survival rate of untreated patients with aortic dissections is dismal, with a 2-day mortality of up to 50%. The medical conditions predisposing a patient to aortic dissection are hypertension, advanced age, sex, Marfan syndrome and some forms of congenital heart disease. Pregnancy and delivery are not considered major risk factors for the disease. We report here two consecutive cases of type A aortic dissection (Stanford classification) in young puerperal patients after elective caesarean section.
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PMID:Two consecutive cases of type A aortic dissection after delivery. 1758 25

Aortic dissection is characterised by a tear in the intimal and medial layers of the endovascular aortic wall which propagates distally. Here, we discuss the case of a 35-year-old woman who was 37 weeks pregnant and presented with dizziness and blurred vision. She had a history of a neonatal end-to-end repair of a coarctation of aorta, a known bicuspid aortic valve and a dilated ascending aorta under surveillance. A transthoracic echocardiogram revealed an ascending aortic dissection. An emergency CT aortogram was performed which confirmed the diagnosis. The patient underwent emergency caesarean section and aortic surgery, with a good outcome for mother and baby. The case highlights the atypical nature of presentation and the absence of haemodynamic instability. Atypical and unexplained symptoms on a background of congenital heart disease should trigger a referral to cardiology with thorough investigation, often with echocardiography, to exclude rare and life-threatening complications.
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PMID:Ascending aortic dissection in a pregnant patient with neonatally repaired coarctation of aorta and bicuspid aortic valve. 3188 10