Cardiovascular System: Heart Diseases
Every year, about one in every four people die of heart disease in the United States. The most common condition is coronary artery disease and its sequelae of myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest and heart failure. As the population ages, structural heart disease, particularly of the aortic and mitral valves, becomes ever more prevalent. Indeed, heart disease is part of the every day practice of all anesthesiologists who care for adult patients. These mini-reviews outline some of the key considerations with respect to coronary artery disease, structural heart disease and cardiac dysrhythmia along with some of the emerging technologies that are used to care for these patients. This review contains 1 table and 12 references. Keywords: aortic valve disease, cardiac ablation procedures, cardiac pacing, cardiac resynchronisation, ischaemic heart disease, infective endocarditis, mitral valve disease, coronary artery physiology