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Traumatic pneumothorax may also be observed in those exposed to blasts, even when there is no apparent injury to the chest. [9] Traumatic pneumothoraces may be classified as "open" or "closed". In an open pneumothorax, there is a passage from the external environment into the pleural space through the chest wall.
The heart is a muscular organ situated in the mediastinum.It consists of four chambers, four valves, two main arteries (the coronary arteries), and the conduction system. The left and right sides of the heart have different functions: the right side receives de-oxygenated blood through the superior and inferior venae cavae and pumps blood to the lungs through the pulmonary artery, and the left ...
The heart muscle may become inflamed in a condition called myocarditis, [46] most commonly caused by a viral infection [47] but sometimes caused by the body's own immune system. [48] Heart muscle can also be damaged by drugs such as alcohol, long standing high blood pressure or hypertension, or persistent abnormal heart racing. [49]
The papillary muscles are muscles located in the ventricles of the heart. They attach to the cusps of the atrioventricular valves (also known as the mitral and tricuspid valves) via the chordae tendineae and contract to prevent inversion or prolapse of these valves on systole (or ventricular contraction).
The action potential passes along the cell membrane causing the cell to contract, therefore the activity of the sinoatrial node results in a resting heart rate of roughly 60–100 beats per minute. All cardiac muscle cells are electrically linked to one another, by intercalated discs which allow the action potential to pass from one cell to the ...
Key symptoms include sharp chest pain, difficulty breathing, low blood pressure in severe cases, and diminished breath sounds accompanied by dullness to percussion over the affected area. [20] Pneumothorax: Those who are at a higher risk of developing pneumothorax are tall, slim male smokers who have had underlying lung diseases such as ...
This is life-threatening. The increased pressure inside the chest can compress the heart and lead to a collapse of the blood vessels that drain to the heart. The veins supplying the heart are compressed, in turn decreasing venous return. [7] With the heart unable to fill, cardiac output drops. Hypotension and shock ensue.
In 2021, the American Heart Association clarified that "heart attack" is often mistakenly used to describe cardiac arrest. While a heart attack refers to death of heart muscle tissue as a result of blood supply loss, cardiac arrest is caused when the heart's electrical system malfunctions. Furthermore, the American Heart Association explains ...