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The following are medications commonly prescribed cardiac pharmaceutical agents. The specificity of the following medications is highly variable, and often are not particularly specific to a given class. As such, they are listed as are commonly accepted.
Preload is related to the ventricular end-diastolic volume; a higher end-diastolic volume implies a higher preload. However, the relationship is not simple because of the restriction of the term preload to single myocytes. Preload can still be approximated by the inexpensive echocardiographic measurement end-diastolic volume or EDV.
Antiarrhythmic agents, also known as cardiac dysrhythmia medications, are a class of drugs that are used to suppress abnormally fast rhythms (tachycardias), such as atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia and ventricular tachycardia.
Calcium channel blockers are used as antihypertensive drugs, i.e., as medications to decrease blood pressure in patients with hypertension. CCBs are particularly effective against large vessel stiffness, one of the common causes of elevated systolic blood pressure in elderly patients. [4]
Afterload is largely dependent upon aortic pressure. Afterload is the pressure that the heart must work against to eject blood during systole (ventricular contraction). Afterload is proportional to the average arterial pressure. [1] As aortic and pulmonary pressures increase, the afterload increases on the left and right ventricles respectively.
Atrial fibrillation [18] or atrial flutter is another indication. The initial bolus should be 0.25 mg/kg, intravenous (IV). Because of its vasodilatory effects, diltiazem is useful for treating hypertension. Calcium channel blockers are well tolerated, and especially effective in treating low-renin hypertension. [19]
Digoxin (a mildly positive inotrope and negative chronotrope), once used as first-line therapy, is now reserved for control of ventricular rhythm in patients with atrial fibrillation; or where adequate control is not achieved with an ACEI, a beta blocker and a loop diuretic. [13]
The most common indications for digoxin are atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter with rapid ventricular response, [12] [13] especially in older or less active patients, [14] though beta blockers and/or calcium channel blockers may be preferred in some patients, such as younger more active ones, or those without heart failure or hemodynamic instability.