NWU Nursing Animate

🔴 Aortic Branches: A Structural Overview 🔴

How do you tell hyperacute T waves from hyperkalemia?

🔶 Hyperacute T-wave (ischemia / OMI clue)
No single “hard” definition, mostly pattern recognition
Wide base / bulky T-wave
Quick bedside tip: if you can “fit the QRS inside the T-wave” one of your thoughts should be ischemia

🟣 Hyperkalemia
“Pointy” T waves (sharp enough you wouldn’t want to sit on them)
Peaked T wave = symmetrical + narrow based
Often paired with flattening P waves and PR prolongation as it progresses. No reliable way to accurately determine potassium level by just the ECG.

✅ Takeaway: Always check the shape (base + symmetry), not just the height.
Not all T waves are created equal!

Understanding common suffixes like -tomy, -ectomy, -ostomy, -plasty, and -pexy helps in interpreting medical procedures quickly and accurately.
Perfect for nursing students, NORCET aspirants, and anyone brushing up on medical terminology. 💉📚

Keep learning, keep growing! 🤍

How about Heart Sounds?

Aneurysm Types
Fusiform ↔️: Symmetrical dilation, often abdominal aorta.
Saccular 🎈: One-sided bulge, "berry" shape.Dissecting 🩸: Tear in inner layer, false lumen.
False 🩹: External clot, appears as bulge.

The 12-Lead ECG & the Heart 🫀 🔹V1-V2: Look for septal changes. 🔹V3-V4: Detect issues in the anterior wall. 🔹I, aVL, V5-V6: Evaluate the lateral wall. 🔹II, III, aVF: Assess the inferior wall. #Cardiology #ECG #MedicalEducation #healthandwellness #HeartHealth ❤️

📢 Call for Papers!
We’re inviting submissions to a special collection on “Arterial Function Research in Africa” in Artery Research.

Showcase your work on vascular health, arterial stiffness, and cardiovascular risk across African populations.

🩺 Submit by 29 June 2026

A pilot observational study found that performing chest compressions slightly to the left of the sternum (instead of the standard lower half of the sternum) was associated with significantly higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) during adult cardiac arrest. Key findings: Patients receiving compressions “left of sternum” achieved a mean SBP of 108.5 mmHg versus 66.7 mmHg for standard lower-sternum location. End-tidal CO₂ (ETCO₂), another proxy for perfusion, did not differ significantly between the two groups. The implication: targeting the left ventricle (which lies more leftward) may improve hemodynamics during CPR. Source : https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circ.150.suppl_1.Sa1007

Understanding Systolic Heart Failure — The Heart That Can’t Keep Up Imagine your heart as a strong, muscular pump. Its job? To send blood (and the oxygen it carries) out to every part of your body. But what happens when that pump starts to lose its strength? That’s systolic heart failure, and here’s what you need to know. The Squeeze Is the Problem In systolic heart failure, the left ventricle (the heart’s main pumping chamber) can’t contract hard enough. The “systolic” part refers to systole, the phase when the heart squeezes to push blood out. But in this condition, the heart muscle is weakened, often enlarged, and just can’t generate the force needed to push out enough blood. The Body’s Response is a Double-Edged Sword When the heart starts failing, your body tries to compensate, but those “fixes” often make things worse over time: Sympathetic Nervous System Activation The body releases adrenaline to increase heart rate and tighten blood vessels. This keeps blood pressure up… for now. RAAS Activation (Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System) The kidneys retain salt and water to boost blood volume — but this adds fluid overload to a struggling heart. Heart Remodeling The heart gets bigger and thicker to try and squeeze harder, but this leads to stiff, dysfunctional chambers. Common Signs and Symptoms Shortness of breath, especially when lying down Fatigue and exercise intolerance Swollen legs and ankles Crackles in the lungs on auscultation Jugular venous distension (JVD)