Cardiovascular examination geeky medics

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Youll be expected to pick up the relevant clinical signs using your examination skills. This cardiovascular examination OSCE guide provides a clear concise, step by step approach, to examining the cardiovascular system, with an included video demonstration. General Inspection Bedside treatments or adjuncts? Shortness of breath at rest? Malar flush plum red discolouration of cheeks may suggest mitral stenosis Inspect chest - scars or visible pulsations? Jugular venous pressure 1. Ensure the patient is positioned at 45 2.

Cardiovascular examination geeky medics

Introduce yourself, confirm the patient's name and date of birth. Explain the purpose of the examination, and obtain consent. Ask the examiner to act as a chaperone and then proceed to wash hands. Begin the examination by inspecting the patient from the end of the bed. The patient should be exposed from the waist up. Offer a blanket to maintain their dignity and inform women that they may keep their undergarments on. Ask the patient to expose their legs as well, as there may be some obvious oedema or venous ulceration. Ask the patient if they are in any pain and are comfortable. Look out for the following signs which will give you a good indication of the state of the patient at rest. Increased work of breathing: This can be due to several cardiac pathologies ranging from pericarditis to congestive heart failure. Cyanosis: This suggests low tissue oxygen saturation and needs to be promptly addressed. Cardiac causes of cyanosis are usually congenital in nature due to right-to-left cardiac shunting or a result of abnormal haemoglobin. Note any paraphernalia around the bedside, looking for clues such as oxygen and ECG leads.

It is good practise to localise the apex beat after having palpated it. Ask the examiner to act as a chaperone and then proceed to wash hands. Everyone info.

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Youll be expected to pick up the relevant clinical signs using your examination skills. This cardiovascular examination OSCE guide provides a clear concise, step by step approach, to examining the cardiovascular system, with an included video demonstration. General Inspection Bedside treatments or adjuncts? Shortness of breath at rest? Malar flush plum red discolouration of cheeks may suggest mitral stenosis Inspect chest - scars or visible pulsations? Jugular venous pressure 1.

Cardiovascular examination geeky medics

Federal government websites often end in. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site. The site is secure. NCBI Bookshelf. Although technology has a high profile in cardiology, clinical examination remains a central tool, especially for the generalist. Many clues to the cardiac condition can be detected with a simple visual inspection. In the acutely unwell patient, cyanosis, pallor, and sweatiness can all be signs of impending danger — does the patient "look" ill? In nonacute patients, cachexia is perhaps the most important feature to note on general inspection since it is an important prognostic sign in heart failure. Palpation is essential to confirm that girth is excess fluid pitting edema. Certain physical appearances should always prompt an awareness of cardiac abnormalities see Table 1.

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Inspect the face malar flush , eyes pallor, corneal arcus, xanthelasma and mouth central cyanosis, poor dentition. If not, gently palpate the sacrum for sacral oedema. You do not want the patient to be constantly changing position as this is both uncomfortable and unnecessary. Can be caused by tuberculosis. Auscultate the lung bases. Xanthelasma: Yellow deposits of fat under the skin near the eyelids. Ideally you would want to do this in both arms, as aortic dissection would present with a difference in blood pressure, and also when patient is both sitting and standing, as a difference would be found in postural orthostatic hypotension. In healthy patients, this should be no greater than 4 cm. Signs include hypertension in the upper limbs with corresponding hypotension in the lower limbs , a scapular murmur weak femoral pulses and radio-femoral delay. It is good practise to localise the apex beat after having palpated it.

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Uploaded by Jahangir Alam. Inspection of the hands should be done in an intentional and noticeable way. Say you would. Mitral Stenosis Mitral Stenosis. Sorry to have caused any confusion. Inspect the face malar flush , eyes pallor, corneal arcus, xanthelasma and mouth central cyanosis, poor dentition. Axillary thoracotomy scar: Usually located at the 5th intercostal space in the anterior axillary line. Not sure if you are already aware. Inspect the tongue and palate. Therefore be sure to check the entire knee, leg and ankle for scars due to saphenous vein harvesting. I would like to formally assess blood pressure and radio-femoral delay. The developer provided this information and may update it over time. Inspect the eyes for pallor anaemia , corneal arcus dyslipidaemia , xanthelasma dyslipidaemia and Kayser—Fleischer rings Wilson's disease.