There is a variety of heart diseases, which often have many different causes. Inflammations, injuries and changes in age can change and damage the heart.
Classification of heart diseases
In the following you will find the most common diseases of the heart divided into:
- Structural changes of the heart
- Vascular diseases of the heart
- Infectious heart disease
- Disturbances of the excitation propagation of the heart
- Congenital heart disease
- Other heart diseases
When listening to the heart, one can normally only hear so-called heart sounds. These reflect different actions of the heart and should be heard rhythmically and clearly. A heart murmur, on the other hand, is a sound that does not belong to the normal heartbeat.
Heart murmurs can exist without a disease value, but they can also indicate a heart defect or a disease of the heart valves. There are four heart valves in total, each of which can be damaged by different causes in two directions. The four heart valves ensure that the heart chambers fill sufficiently during the relaxation phase and that the blood can be pumped in the right direction during the ejection phase.
Ultimately, they are practically there to ensure that the blood is only pumped in one direction. Their function is impaired if there is stenosis (obstruction of outflow) or insufficiency (incomplete valve closure). The aortic valve is located on the left ventricle.
Blood is pumped past it to reach the aorta and the rest of the body. There are several reasons for aortic valve stenosis or insufficiency. The result of the stenosis is an obstruction in the flow of blood at the valve, which is often reflected in a heart murmur.
In aortic valve insufficiency, the valve does not close completely, allowing blood to flow from the aorta back to the heart, which places additional stress on the heart. There are various causes for structural changes in the mtral valve. The most common forms include mitral valve stenosis, prolapse and insufficiency.
In stenosis and prolapse (protrusion of the valve), the flow of blood in the heart is impeded. Mitral valve insufficiency leads to incomplete closure of the valve, which usually allows blood to flow in the wrong direction and causes the heart to be more active. The term cardiomyopathy generally describes damage to the heart muscle.
Further subdivisions can be made regarding the cause of the disease, such as whether the result is a thickening of the heart muscle or some other structural change. In most cases, there is an impairment of the heart function. Further information on this topic can be found at Cardiomyopathy, heart muscle weakness and thickening of the heart muscle.
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a condition in which the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle with oxygen and important nutrients are narrowed. The blood flow in the coronaries is reduced, so that the heart is less well supplied. The most common cause of coronary heart disease in industrialized countries is atherosclerosis (so-called arteriosclerosis) of the coronary arteries.
The term angina pectoris stands for a feeling of tightness in the chest, which is accompanied by severe acute pain. The trigger for the attack is a reduced blood supply to the heart, a so-called ischemia. Angina pectoris is considered a cardinal symptom of coronary heart disease (CHD).
Myocardial infarction (myocardial infarction) is defined as the death of heart muscle cells due to an oxygen deficiency (ischemia) of the heart or a circumscribed region of the heart. In more than 95% of cases, the cause of the disease lies at the bottom of coronary heart disease. The most common symptom in the acute situation is a sudden, severe pain behind the sternum (angina pectoris).
By definition, a circulatory weakness (hypotension) is present when the systolic blood pressure value (the value that is usually named first or above) is less than 105 mmHg. The second value, called diastolic blood pressure, is usually below 65 mmHg in people with hypotension. The result is that the brain is not supplied with enough blood for a short period of time, which results in feeling weak and dizzy.Occasionally, especially after getting up quickly, a fainting fit can occur.
An aortic aneurysm is a bagging of the vessel wall or vessel walls. At least one layer must be affected to meet the definition. Generally, 3 types of aortic aneurysm can be distinguished, the aneurysm verum, dissecans and spurium.
Aortic isthmus stenosis is a narrowing of the aortic vessel in the region of the isthmus aortae. The aorta makes an arch after it exits the heart (aortic arch). The narrowing is located at the point of transition to the descending branch of the arch, the descending branch of the aorta.
This is also where the fetal ductus arteriosus Botalli enters the aorta. Myocarditis describes the inflammation of the heart muscle. The causes can be manifold.
If the disease is caused by bacteria and viruses, it is called infectious myocarditis. If, however, toxic substances are possible causes, it is the toxic form of the disease. Inflammation of the heart valves (endocarditis) is a potentially life-threatening disease, usually caused by microbial pathogens (i.e. viruses, bacteria or fungi).
It is not uncommon for structural damage to the heart valves to be the result, accompanied by a functional defect. Pericarditis is an inflammation of the pericardium, which limits the heart to the outside. Every year, there are probably 1000 cases per million inhabitants, so the disease is not so rare.
However, the disease is often not detected because it often runs its course without symptoms and often heals on its own within one to two weeks. A cardiac dysrhythmia (also called arrhythmia, “unrhythmic”) is a disturbance of the normal heartbeat sequence, caused by abnormal processes in the formation and conduction of excitation in the heart muscle. The disorder can manifest itself in many different clinical pictures.
Cardiac dysrhythmia can be life-threatening and can occur as a result of heart disease or other conditions. However, they also occur in organically healthy individuals and can have no disease value whatsoever. Tachycardia refers to a whole group of different cardiac dysrhythmias.
What they have in common is an unreasonably fast pulse of more than 100 beats per minute and an origin of the arrhythmia above the ventricles. Mostly younger patients are affected, women more often than men. A pacemaker is an artificial clock for the heart.
It is used for patients who have a heart that beats too slowly (bradycardia) or that frequently pauses. The device emits electrical impulses at regular intervals, which stimulate the heart muscle and thus cause it to contract (contract). The term asystole is a medical term.
It describes the complete absence of electrical and mechanical action of the heart, i.e. the heart stops. Asystole is fatal within a very short time if left untreated and requires immediate medical intervention. An asystole can be recognized in the ECG.
Clinically, it is indicated by a missing pulse, among other things. The Fallot ́sche Tetralogy is a congenital heart defect. It is one of the most common cyanotic heart defects.
Cyanotic means that the heart defect has a negative effect on the oxygen content of the blood. The blood, which is pumped from the heart to the organs, therefore contains too little oxygen. This type of heart defect has a so-called right-left shunt.
There is therefore a normally non-existent connection between the right and left heart. A heart defect is a congenital or acquired damage to the heart or individual heart structures and adjacent vessels that can lead to a functional impairment of the cardiovascular system or the heart-lung system. One speaks of cardiac insufficiency (or, in general, cardiac insufficiency) when the heart is no longer able to pump the necessary amount of blood through the circulation.
This is mainly due to the fact that the two chambers of the heart no longer have sufficient strength to maintain stable circulatory function. As a result, physical resilience is reduced, fatigue and weakness attacks occur. In medical jargon, Broken Heart Syndrome is usually referred to as Takotsubo Syndrome or Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.The disease is a sudden, temporary pumping weakness of the heart that occurs after particularly stressful events and is clinically similar to a heart attack.
and heart attack. Pericardial effusion is an increased accumulation of fluid (from about 50 ml) in the pericardium (=pericardium). A small effusion often causes no discomfort.
If the effusion slowly increases over time, symptoms are usually felt from a volume of 300 ml. These may consist of shortness of breath, high blood pressure or palpitations. In addition, those affected usually feel physically weak and occasionally feel pain behind the breastbone.
and water in the pericardium. With the term heart stabbing, many patients describe a sudden, stabbing pain in the chest area. This pain can have many different causes, so there is no universal answer to the danger of a cardiac stabbing.
Further information, such as previous illnesses or the circumstances under which the pain occurred, and signs of a heart attack are decisive for the assessment of a danger. Heart pain is a technical term in medicine called angina pectoris. Literally translated, the term describes a tightness or anxiety that can be felt in the chest.
Many people feel this feeling like a strong pressure on the breastbone. However, this is perceived differently by each person and can radiate into other parts of the body or be accompanied by other symptoms. and angina pectoris.
