Question

Differentiate between pulsus paradoxus and pulsus alternanas

Answer 1

Step 1

The cardiac cycle can be defined as the performance of the human which occurs due to the ending of one heartbeat to the beginning of the next one. It also consists of two periods, one during which the heart muscle relaxes and it gets filled with the blood, called diastole which follows a period of robust contraction and result in the pumping of blood, dubbed systole.

A single cycle of cardiac activity can be divided into two basic phases - diastole and systole.

The diastole cycle represents the period of time when the ventricles are in the relaxed position, not in the state of contracting. The flow of blood occurs from the left atrium (LA) and right atrium (RA) into the left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle (RV).

Systole depicts the time during which the contraction of the left and right ventricles occurs and it results in the ejection of blood into the aorta and pulmonary artery. During systole, the aortic and pulmonic valves open in order to allow the ejection into the aorta and pulmonary artery.

Step 2

Pulsus paradoxus can be defined as the paradoxic pulse or paradoxical pulse, which occurs due to the large decline in the rate of stroke volume, systolic blood pressure, and pulse wave amplitude during inspiration. The drop-in, the pressure is less than 10 mmHg, but when the drop in pressure is more than 10 mmHg, then it is referred to as pulsus paradoxus.

Cause of Pulsus paradoxus

When a person has a serious condition of asthma attack parts of their airway start to tighten and swell which results in the inflammation of the lungs that creates the extra pressure on the veins which carry unoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs.

As a result, blood backs up in the right ventricle which is the lower right part of the heart. This will result in the generation of extra pressure to build up on the right side of the heart, which creates presses against the left side of the heart finally this situation leads to pulsus paradoxus.

Pulsus alternans can be defined as the physical finding along with arterial pulse waveform which shows alternating strong and weak beats. It always indicates the left ventricular systolic impairment and responsible for poor prognosis.

Cause of Pulse alternans

Pulsus alternans during pulse palpation results in the alternation of one strong and one weak beat without creating a change in the length of the cycle that occurs most commonly in heart failure due to enhanced resistance to LV ejection, as occurs in hypertension,

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