Common Cardiovascular Symptoms and History

Flashcards covering key terms, definitions, symptom characterizations, and diagnostic indicators from the introductory clinical medicine lecture on cardiovascular symptoms and history.

Dyspnoea

Subjective sensation of breathing discomfort.

SOCRATES

A mnemonic used to characterize pain: Site, Onset, Character, Radiation, Associated symptoms / Acuity, Timing / Time course, Exacerbating/relieving factors, and Severity.

Typical Angina

Central chest discomfort or tightness triggered by exertion, relieved by rest or nitrates, lasting $\text{less than } 15\,\text{minutes}$, which may radiate to the jaw or left arm.

Acute Myocardial Infarction

A medical emergency presenting with severe prolonged chest pain lasting $20\,\text{minutes}$, not relieved by rest, and accompanied by sweating, nausea, dyspnoea, and a sense of impending doom.

Pericarditis Chest Pain

Sharp chest pain that is worse on inspiration and worse when lying flat, but improved by sitting forward.

Aortic Dissection Pain

Sudden onset tearing pain radiating to the back, associated with severe hypertension or connective tissue disease.

Orthopnoea

Breathlessness when lying flat, assessed by asking about pillow count, which suggests left ventricular failure.

Bendopnea

Dyspnea that occurs within $30\,\text{s}$ of bending at the waist to touch one's feet, associated with heart failure, COPD, and obesity.

Paroxysmal Nocturnal Dyspnoea (PND)

A strong indicator of heart failure where a patient wakes suddenly at night with severe breathlessness, sits upright, opens windows, and experiences symptom improvement after several minutes.

Palpitations

Awareness of one's heartbeat, which may be described as racing, fluttering, skipped beats, pounding, missing a beat, or flip-flopping.

Syncope

Transient loss of consciousness due to cerebral hypoperfusion.

Syncope Red Flags

High-risk clinical signs including syncope occurring during exercise, while supine, accompanied by chest pain or palpitations, or in individuals with a family history of sudden death.

PCI

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

CABG

Coronary Artey Bypass Graft.

Premature Coronary Disease

A positive family history defined as coronary artery disease in men $< 55\,\text{years}$ or women $< 65\,\text{years}$.