CARDIOLOGY
The engine of the human body. It beats 100,000 times a day, pumping 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of vessels. It never rests. When it stops, everything stops.
The heart is in diastole. Blood is passively filling the atria and ventricles.
Reading the Rhythm
The heart doesn't just squeeze randomly. It is a highly coordinated, two-stage pump driven by its own internal electrical grid.
An ECG is simply a camera watching that electricity flow. By reading the bumps on the paper, a cardiologist can see exactly which part of the heart is misfiring, blocked, or damaged.
Core Competencies
Cardiac Anatomy
The 4-chambered pump. Understanding the flow from Vena Cava to the Aorta, and the valves that prevent backflow.
Electrophysiology
The SA Node pacemaker, AV Node delay, and Purkinje fibers. The electrical current that drives the pump.
Hemodynamics
Cardiac Output, Stroke Volume, and Blood Pressure. The physics of moving fluid through closed pipes.
Cardiac Pathology
Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attacks), Arrhythmias, Heart Failure, and structural valve diseases.
Clinical Cases
Commotio Cordis
A blunt impact to the chest at the exact millisecond the heart resets, triggering sudden cardiac arrest.
W.P.W. Syndrome
An accessory pathway bypasses the AV node, creating a slurred Delta Wave and terrifying infinite feedback loops.
Vitals Decoder
Systolic (pressure when ventricles squeeze) over Diastolic (pressure when heart relaxes). Measured in mmHg.
The rate of the SA node firing. Tachycardia is >100 bpm. Bradycardia is <60 bpm.
The percentage of hemoglobin in the blood saturated with oxygen. Below 90% is clinical hypoxia.