Category Archives: Uncategorized

*Now ✨updated✨ with the 2022 ACC/AHA/HFSA Guidelines* Now that we’ve gotten a clearer grasp on what systolic heart failure is in our heart failure talk, let’s talk about how we classify these patients, how these patients present, and then focus on treatments for these patients in the outpatient setting. How do we classify heart failureContinue reading “Treatment of Chronic Systolic Heart Failure (HFrEF)”

I hope everyone had a very great and safe COVID-friendly holiday season. Happy 2022. Here’s to hoping for some brighter days in healthcare. Today we’re going to talk about a very integral hormone system our body possesses that is at the heart (get it 😏😏) of understanding cardiology. And before we start talking treatment ofContinue reading “The Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System (RAAS)”

Today’s a simple talk but it’s an important one to nail down. What is heart failure? How would you define it? When I ask learners to define “heart failure” I often get some version of: “Well, it’s when people either have reduced ejection fraction or preserved ejection fraction.” But hold on – that can’t justContinue reading “Heart Failure – Why it’s an ☂️ term”

Pat yourself on the back – you’ve made it to the last ACS post. Today we’re going to discuss “guideline directed medical therapy” (GDMT) post ACS. But you’re not just going to memorize what your patients should be on – your going to understand why we give these meds (well, hopefully). Also, some recs mayContinue reading “ACS Part ✋: Let’s Get Our Patients Home on Good Meds”

Today we’re going to be talking about reperfusion strategies. Reperfusion is defined as restoration of blood flow to a previously ischemic organ or tissue – and in the case of ACS (and this blog) we are talking about the heart. Let’s start with STEMIs. As discussed before, STEMIs are the worst type of MIs andContinue reading “ACS Part 4️⃣: Reperfusion Strategies”

Now that we talked about pathophys and diagnosis, let’s finally talk about meds and treatment (after all, as a clinical pharmacist, I’m the meds person on the team 🤓). Today we are going to talk about meds that you should initiate ASAP. I don’t know about you, but when I was in school I learnedContinue reading “ACS Part 3 – ED Management”

Now that we talked all about the pathophysiology of ACS, let’s get into some basics of diagnosis (NOTE: I’m a clinical pharmacist therefore am by no means qualified to diagnose patients, but I do think a basic understanding of diagnoses is integral to understand the full picture…afterall how can I be recommending meds to treatContinue reading “ACS Part ✌️: Presentation and Diagnosis”

Despite primary prevention strategies, heart disease is still the #1 cause of death in the United States. Every 25 seconds, an American will have a coronary event. Which means that – in the time since I started writing this post – someone has already experienced an event. Let that sink in. Which alsooooo means….that ACSContinue reading “Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) – Pathophys”

I don’t know about you, but looking back to when I took cardiology in school, I’m pretty sure I had no real grasp on what preload or afterload really meant. They were words that were tossed around a lot, and I remember memorizing different meds and knowing which ones decreased preload, which ones decreased afterload,Continue reading “Preload and Afterload”

Now that we re-oriented the structure and anatomy of the heart, let’s get into some of the basics of hemodynamics. ***students everywhere shudder**** It really won’t be that bad, I promise. I’ve found a lot of fear of hemodynamics comes from the basic terms never being clearly explained, and, luckily for you, I’m here toContinue reading “Hemodynamics – The Basics”