AFib is caused by abnormal electrical impulses in the atria, which are the upper chambers of the heart. The result is a rapid and irregular pumping of blood through the atria. These chambers fibrillate, or quiver, rapidly.

Immunization Techniques

Mitral valve surgery is surgery to either repair or replace the mitral valve in your heart. Blood flows from the lungs and enters a pumping chamber of the heart called the left atrium. The blood then flows into the final pumping chamber of the heart called the left ventricle. The mitral valve is located between these two chambers. It makes sure that the blood keeps moving forward through the heart. You may need surgery on your mitral valve if: The mitral valve is hardened (calcified). This prevents blood from moving forward through the valve. The mitral valve is too loose. Blood tends to flows backward when this occurs. Minimally invasive mitral valve surgery is done through several small cuts. Another type of operation, open mitral valve surgery requires a larger cut.

10 Horrifying Things Found Living Inside a Human Body

Hodgkin lymphoma has characteristics that distinguish it from other diseases classified as lymphoma, including the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells. These are large, cancerous cells found in Hodgkin lymphoma tissues, named for the scientists who first identified them. Hodgkin lymphoma is one of the most curable forms of cancer. NHL represents a diverse group of diseases distinguished by the characteristics of the cancer cells associated with each disease type. Most people with NHL have a B-cell type of NHL (about 85 percent). The others have a T-cell type or an NK-cell type of lymphoma. Some patients with fast-growing NHL can be cured. For patients with slow-growing NHL, treatment may keep the disease in check for many years.

HPV is a different virus than HIV and HSV (herpes). HPV is so common that nearly all sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives. There are many different types of HPV. Some types can cause health problems including genital warts and cancers.

Glomerular filtration is the first step in making urine. It is the process that your kidneys use to filter excess fluid and waste products out of the blood into the urine collecting tubules of the kidney, so they may be eliminated from your body.

Intracranial pressure (ICP) is the pressure inside the skull and thus in the brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). ICP is measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and, at rest, is normally 7–15 mmHg for a supine adult.

Cerebral palsy is a disorder of movement, muscle tone or posture that is caused by damage that occurs to the immature, developing brain, most often before birth. Signs and symptoms appear during infancy or preschool years. In general, cerebral palsy causes impaired movement associated with abnormal reflexes, floppiness or rigidity of the limbs and trunk, abnormal posture, involuntary movements, unsteady walking, or some combination of these. People with cerebral palsy may have problems swallowing and commonly have eye muscle imbalance, in which the eyes don't focus on the same object. People with cerebral palsy also may suffer reduced range of motion at various joints of their bodies due to muscle stiffness. Cerebral palsy's effect on functional abilities varies greatly. Some affected people can walk while others can't. Some people show normal or near-normal intellectual capacity, but others may have intellectual disabilities. Epilepsy, blindness or deafness also may be present.

This video: Claudication is pain caused by too little blood flow, usually during exercise. Sometimes called intermittent claudication, this condition generally affects the blood vessels in the legs, but claudication can affect the arms, too. At first, you'll probably notice the pain only when you're exercising, but as claudication worsens, the pain may affect you even when you're at rest. Although it's sometimes considered a disease, claudication is technically a symptom of a disease. Most often, claudication is a symptom of peripheral artery disease, a potentially serious but treatable circulation problem in which the vessels that supply blood flow to your legs or arms are narrowed. Fortunately, with treatment, you may be able to maintain an active lifestyle without pain.

Carotid artery stenosis can be caused by cholesterol build-up in the blood vessels (atherosclerosis). Blood clots can form in this area and travel up to the brain. This condition may be present for a long time before symptoms appear. When symptoms do occur, stroke or brief stroke-like attacks are common. If this condition is discovered as a result of a stroke or stroke-like attack, cholesterol lowering medications and blood thinners may be used to improve blood flow to the brain. If the degree of narrowing is severe, surgery may be needed to open the blood vessel.

How do you know if you have pneumonia? They may include: Cough. You will likely cough up mucus (sputum) from your lungs. ... Fever. Fast breathing and feeling short of breath. Shaking and "teeth-chattering" chills. Chest pain that often feels worse when you cough or breathe in. Fast heartbeat. Feeling very tired or very weak. Nausea and vomiting.

With inner ear disorders, your brain receives signals from the inner ear that aren't consistent with what your eyes and sensory nerves are receiving. Vertigo is what results as your brain works to sort out the confusion. These self-help acupressure points works with meridians to help the body regain normal healing and homeostasis.

Osteomyelitis is an infection in a bone. Infections can reach a bone by traveling through the bloodstream or spreading from nearby tissue. Infections can also begin in the bone itself if an injury exposes the bone to germs. In children, osteomyelitis most commonly affects the long bones of the legs and upper arms. Adults are more likely to develop osteomyelitis in the bones that make up the spine (vertebrae). People who have diabetes may develop osteomyelitis in their feet if they have foot ulcers. Once considered an incurable condition, osteomyelitis can be successfully treated today. Most people require surgery to remove parts of the bone that have died — followed by strong antibiotics, often delivered intravenously, typically for at least four to six weeks.

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Unlike some other viruses, the human body can’t get rid of HIV completely. So once you have HIV, you have it for life. HIV attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T cells), which help the immune system fight off infections. If left untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells (T cells) in the body, making the person more likely to get infections or infection-related cancers. Over time, HIV can destroy so many of these cells that the body can’t fight off infections and disease. These opportunistic infections or cancers take advantage of a very weak immune system and signal that the person has AIDS, the last state of HIV infection. No effective cure for HIV currently exists, but with proper treatment and medical care, HIV can be controlled. The medicine used to treat HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART. If taken the right way, every day, this medicine can dramatically prolong the lives of many people with HIV, keep them healthy, and greatly lower their chance of transmitting the virus to others. Today, a person who is diagnosed with HIV, treated before the disease is far advanced, and stays on treatment can live a nearly as long as someone who does not have HIV.

Uncontrolled hyperthyroidism during pregnancy can lead to serious health problems in the mother and the unborn baby. During pregnancy, mild hyperthyroidism does not require treatment. More severe hyperthyroidism is treated with antithyroid medications, which act by interfering with thyroid hormone production.

Permanent pacemaker insertion is considered a minimally invasive procedure. Transvenous access to the heart chambers under local anesthesia is the favored technique, most commonly via the subclavian vein, the cephalic vein, or (rarely) the internal jugular vein or the femoral vein.

Repair of post-infarction ventricular septal defect (VSD) remains a challenging procedure with a high risk of VSD recurrence. In order to reduce this risk, a double patch and glue technique was introduced in the department in 1986. This surgical technique is hereunder presented. Since 1971, ninety-three patients have been operated on early (≪15 days) after the occurrence of a post-infarction VSD. This retrospective study allows to compare the results of this double patch and glue technique to those obtained with the conventional one, in terms of hospital death and VSD recurrence. The double patch and glue technique avoids recurrence of VSD and plays a part in reducing hospital mortality.

Cardioversion is a medical procedure by which an abnormally fast heart rate (tachycardia) or cardiac arrhythmia is converted to a normal rhythm using electricity or drugs. Synchronized electrical cardioversion uses a therapeutic dose of electric current to the heart at a specific moment in the cardiac cycle.

Esophageal atresia is an abnormality, or birth defect, of the esophagus that occurs early in pregnancy, as the baby is developing. The esophagus forms in the first few months of fetal life as a long, hollow, continuous tube joining the mouth to the stomach. In newborns with this birth defect, formation of this continuous esophageal tube is interrupted. esophageal-artresia-2In most cases, two separate tubes are formed, an upper (proximal) tube connected to the mouth and a lower (distal) tube connected to the stomach. This seperated tubes are sealed off creating a pouch on either side; the gap between these pounches can be short or very long. Saliva can accumulate in the upper pouch as it cannot drain into the stomach.