Abstract This paper discusses how physicians can screen for the cardiac defect 'total anomalous pulmonary venous return'. It examines the research of treating the problem and it suggests managing the disease through teamwork with a pediatric cardiologist, a cardiac surgeon and neonatologist.
From the Paper "Total anomalous pulmonary venous return is a congenital heart defect. Caused by the abnormal development of a fetus's heart during the first eight weeks of pregnancy, the vessels that feed blood that has traveled back from the heart to the lungs are improperly connected. During the middle of this fetal development period, the tricuspid valve does not develop properly - ventricular development is influenced by blood flowing through it, and since no blood is able to pass through the tricuspid valve, the right ventricle remains small.In a normal heart, oxygen-poor, or blue, blood returns to the right atrium after it has circulated through the body, travels to the right ventricle and then is pumped through the pulmonary artery into the lungs where it is enriched with oxygen. That oxygen-rich, or red, blood returns to the left atrium from the lungs through four pulmonary veins. It then passes into the left ventricle and is then pumped back out for circulation throughout the body."
Abstract Deep veins in the legs and pelvis join to form a large vein in the back of the abdomen, known as the inferior vena cava, which carry blood from the lower part of the body to the heart. This paper explains how the inferior vena cava is usually a single large vein that forms from many smaller veins in the early stages of development of a human embryo. The importance of this vein is discussed and an examination of health risks if this vein is damaged.
From the Paper "The superior vena cava, which is one of the largest veins in the body, works to return blood back to the right atrium from the upper part of the body. The inferior vena cava is important for carrying the blood back to the right atrium from the lower part of the body. The inferior vena cava is a large vein--about as big as a broom handle--in the abdomen and chest. It drains most of the blood from the legs and abdomen and takes it to the heart. The heart then pumps then pumps it into the tiny vessels of the lungs to get fresh oxygen and then out again into the general circulation."
Abstract Catheterization as a medical technique has been in practice for more than two millennia. While it first began as an experimentation with animals, it gradually became part of human treatments. The procedure of cardiac catheterization in humans was first put to clinical use more than five decades ago and has undergone many changes since then. What was once a purely experimental technique is now one of the most common invasive medical procedures in Europe and North America, with more than eighty-percent of those procedures performed to diagnose suspected heart disease. Animal cardiac catheterization was first accomplished in 1844 with a horse. The characterization of the human heart was first accomplished by a German medical student in 1929. By the 1940's, the practice had become improved and was starting to become common practice in a few hospitals in North America and Europe. By entering a catheter through an arm vein, surgeons were able to reach the atrium of the heart. Today, cardiac catheterization is accomplished with a great deal of skill and technology, but is much easier and less dangerous than when it first was being used. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the history of cardiac catheterization and its import to medicine today.
Abstract This paper discusses the notion that architects and artists working in medieval Europe borrowed ideas from all the cultures surrounding the Mediterranean or coming across the central European mountain ranges. The paper presents examples of this cross-culturalism, with a focus on Islam being the most influential of the cultural donors to medieval art and architecture. The paper contends that, although these examples do not definitively trace any single aspect of Islam into Western ecclesiastical art, they do serve as an indication that it is impossible to consider any medieval art, no matter how isolated we think Europe of the Middle Ages must have been, without considering the very substantial trade, not to mention wars and incursions, that made the traditions of one culture available to the others.
From the Paper "In addition, the precursors of Islamic art and architecture?elements that continued to inform their vision throughout their expansion into Spain and later, via their export to "corporate" Europe by returning Crusaders?cannot be surgically removed from any consideration of so-called Islamic influences on medieval European art and architecture. Rather, they must be viewed as a substrate that upheld the Islamic vision by virtue of continuous adherence in the society in which Islam was born, and therefore as an unbroken line into the monastic traditions of medieval Europe. It was, moreover, the monastic tradition that formed the bedrock on which all other medieval art and architecture achievements were based; the monasteries were the repositories, after all, of the learning that would otherwise have been lost."
Abstract This paper discusses how CPR administration methods since the 1950's have largely remained unchanged, although medical understanding of how the human body reacts to sudden cardiac reperfusion has greatly advanced. The writer describes a recent change in CPR procedure by the American Heart Association, and the use of advanced external defibrillators (AED's). The writer explains some of the medical advances in cardiac reperfusion methods, such as total liquid ventilation (TLV), and describes studies that were carried out to find the best reperfusion techniques. This paper contains a table.
From the Paper "First responders are always trained to provide the latest protocol for administering CPR. However, most people fall into three categories: never trained in CPR, fully trained and current, or fully trained but not current. A lot of people are turned off by the nature of administering CPR instead opting to do nothing rather than face a possible lawsuit if it is done improperly. Still others fear getting a disease from contact with mucus/saliva or blood born pathogens. With all of the infectious diseases carried throughout our society it is little wonder that a person would hesitate to perform resuscitation on a total stranger. As to the liability issue of performing CPR, most if not all states have a "Good Samaritan" law which precludes anyone receiving CPR from suing if they are injured as a result of the act. Chest compressions during CPR almost always result in broken ribs even when administered by first responders who do it for a living."
