Pulsus Alternans

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Critical care nurses care for patients with various degrees of illness. Unfortunately, a critical illness may be masked by the signs and symptoms of a secondary abnormality, for example, severe abdominal pain masking heart failure. Good assessment skills and clinical knowledge are required to ensure that important findings are not overlooked. One physiological finding that may be overlooked is pulsus alternans.

Torq 2.0 keygen. Pulsus alternans is a cardiovascular phenomenon characterized by alternating strong and weak pulse pressures during a sinus rhythm. This alternation is evident predominantly in the arterial waveform because the amplitude of the systolic beat differs with every other beat. No changes are apparent on electrocardiograms or in diastolic filling time.1,2 Pulsus alternans may indicate severe ventricular failure.3

Pulsus alternans occurs in aortic and mitral valve stenosis, hypertrophic and congestive cardiomyopathy, effusive pericarditis, and instances in..

Copyright © 2003 by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
  1. As promised in my last post, I found a friend who uses RFID technology in a medical setting in real life. Roy is a junior doctor who did his internship at one of the many branches of the Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital, one of a few healthcare facilities around the world that uses RFID wristbands to assist with patient identification.
  2. Pulsus alternans describes a regular pulse that has alternating strong and weak beats (Fig.
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Pulsus alternans is a cardiovascular phenomenon characterized by alternating strong and weak pulse pressures during a sinus rhythm. This alternation is evident predominantly in the arterial waveform because the amplitude of the systolic beat differs with every other beat. No changes are apparent on electrocardiograms or in diastolic filling time. Pulsus alternans was described by Traube in 1872. 1 The proposed mechanism for pulsus alternans includes variation in the basic inotropic state of the myocardium; alternation in the number of cardiac fibers contributing to each systole could thereby induce this phenomenon.

pulsus

[pul´susParadoxusPulsus Alternans] (

Pulsus Alternans

L.)
pulsus alter´nansalternating pulse.
pulsus bisfe´riens a pulse characterized by two strong systolic peaks separated by a midsystolic dip, most commonly occurring in pure aortic regurgitation with stenosis.
pulsus dif´ferens inequality of the pulse observable at corresponding sites on either side of the body.
Pulsus alternans definition
pulsus par´vus et tar´dus a small hard pulse that rises and falls slowly.
Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

al·ter·nat·ing pulse

mechanical alternation; a pulse regular in time but with alternate beats stronger and weaker, often detectable only with the sphygmomanometer or other pressure measurement and usually indicating serious myocardial disease.
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

pulsus alternans

Pulsus Alternans Cardiology A pulse occurring at regular intervals which there is rhythmic attenuation of the pulse pressure heights–eg, every other beat; sustained PA is associated with severely depressed left
ventricular function, accompanied by an altered blood flow in the aorta, left ventricular and systolic pressures, and often a 3rd ventricular sound Prognosis Poor
McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

al·ter·nat·ing pulse

(awl'tĕr-nāt-ing pŭls)
Mechanical alternation, a pulse regular in time but with alternate beats stronger and weaker, often detectable only with the sphygmomanometer and usually indicating serious myocardial disease.
Synonym(s): pulsus alternans.
Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012

pulsus alternans

Alternating strong and weak pulse beats. Pulsus alternans is a sign of failure of the left side of the heart (left ventricular failure).
Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005

pul·sus al·ter·nans

(pŭlsŭs awltĕr-nanz)
Heartbeats that alternate between strong and weak.
Synonym(s): alternating pulse.
Medical Dictionary for the Dental Professions © Farlex 2012

Pulsus Alternans Echo


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Pulsus Alternans Defined