NURS 6051 Knowledge Check: Cardiovascular And Respiratory Disorders Scenario 1: Myocardial Infarction

 

CC: “I woke up this morning at 6 a.m. with numbness in my left arm and pain in my chest. It feels tight right here (mid-sternal).” “My dad had a heart attack when he was 56-years-old and I am scared because I am 56-years-old.”

HPI: Patient is a 56-year-old Caucasian male who presents to Express Hospital  Emergency Department with a chief complaint of chest pain that radiates down his left arm. He states this started this morning and has been getting worse, pointing to the mid-sternal area, “it feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest and having a hard time breathing”. He rates the pain as 9/10. Nothing has made the pain better or worse. He denies any previous episode of chest pain. Denies nausea, or lightheadedness. Nitroglycerin 0.4 mg tablet sublingual x 1 which decreased pain to 7/10.

Lipid panel reveals Total Cholesterol 424 mg/dl, high density lipoprotein (HDL) 26 mg/dl, Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) 166 mg/dl, Triglycerides 702 mg/dl, Very Low-Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) 64 mg/dl

His diagnosis is an acute inferior wall myocardial infarction.

Question:

Which cholesterol is considered the “good” cholesterol and what does it do?

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is also called the “good” cholesterol, while low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is called “bad” cholesterol. HDL absorbs cholesterol in the blood and transports it back to the liver. The liver then flushes the cholesterol from the body. High levels of HDL cholesterol lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. HDL has a diverse protein and lipid composition, contributing to its atheroprotective function (Jomard & Osto, 2020). In the vessel wall, HDL undergoes transcytosis through endothelial cells into the sub-endothelial space, where it efflux cholesterol from foam cells, preventing plaque formation. In addition, HDLs have other beneficial properties, like nitric oxide production stimulation, anti-oxidant capacity, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic actions.

 

 

Scenario 1: Myocardial Infarction

CC: “I woke up this morning at 6 a.m. with numbness in my left arm and pain in my chest. It feels tight right here (mid-sternal).” “My dad had a heart attack when he was 56-years-old and I am scared because I am 56-years-old.”

HPI: Patient is a 56-year-old Caucasian male who presents to Express Hospital  Emergency Department with a chief complaint of chest pain that radiates down his left arm. He states this started this morning and has been getting worse, pointing to the mid-sternal area, “it feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest and having a hard time breathing”. He rates the pain as 9/10. Nothing has made the pain better or worse. He denies any previous episode of chest pain. Denies nausea, or lightheadedness. Nitroglycerin 0.4 mg tablet sublingual x 1 which decreased pain to 7/10.

Lipid panel reveals Total Cholesterol 424 mg/dl, high density lipoprotein (HDL) 26 mg/dl, Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) 166 mg/dl, Triglycerides 702 mg/dl, Very Low-Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) 64 mg/dl

His diagnosis is an acute inferior wall myocardial infarction.

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