hypotension

Examples of hypotension in the following topics:

• Extremes in Blood Pressure

  • Chronically elevated blood pressure is called hypertension, while chronically low blood pressure is called hypotension.
  • Blood pressures above this are classed as hypertension and those below are hypotension, both considered medical conditions.
  • Hypotension is a medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is reduced below 100/60 mmHg.
  • Hypotension is best understood as a physiological state rather than a disease and is often associated with shock, though not necessarily indicative of it.
  • For some people who exercise and are in top physical condition, hypotension is a sign of good health and fitness.

• Hantavirus

  • The symptoms of HFRS can be split into five phases: febrile, hypotensive, oliguric, diuretic, and convalescent.
  • The hypotensive phase occurs when the blood platelet levels drop, and can lead to tachycardia and hypoxemia.
  • Paraphrase the causes of hantavirus and the phases of symptoms: febrile, hypotensive, oliguric, diuretic and convalescent

• Types of Shock

  • Septic shock is the most common cause of distributive shock and is caused by an overwhelming systemic infection that cannot be cleared by the immune system, resulting in vasodilation and hypotension.
  • Anaphylactic shock is caused by a severe reaction to an allergen, leading to the release of histamine that causes widespread vasodilation and hypotension.
  • Neurogenic shock arises due to damage to the central nervous system, which impairs cardiac function by reducing heart rate and loosening the blood vessel tone, resulting in severe hypotension.

• Measuring Blood Pressure

  • Low blood pressure, or hypotension, is indicated when the systolic number is persistently below 90 mmHg.

• Adrenal Gland Disorders

  • If not treated, adrenal insufficiency may result in severe abdominal pains, diarrhea, vomiting, profound muscle weakness and fatigue, depression, extremely low blood pressure (hypotension), weight loss, kidney failure, changes in mood and personality, and shock (adrenal crisis).
  • Symptoms may also include weakness, tiredness, dizziness, low blood pressure that falls further when standing (orthostatic hypotension), cardiovascular collapse, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

• Noncholera Vibrios

  • Medical therapy consists of the following: prompt initiation of effective antibiotic therapy (doxycycline or a quinolone), intensive medical therapy with aggressive fluid replacement, vasopressors for hypotension and septic shock, early fasciotomy within 24 hours after development of clinical symptoms in patients with necrotizing fasciitis, early debridement of the infected wound, expeditious and serial surgical evaluation and intervention to prevent rapid deterioration, especially in patients with necrotizing fasciitis or compartment syndrome.

• Classic Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers

  • Manifestations of VHF often also include flushing of the face and chest, petechiae, frank bleeding, edema, hypotension, and shock.

• Plague

  • Septicemic plague is a deadly blood infection; symptoms include hypotension, hepatosplenomegaly, delirium, seizures in children, shock, lethargy, and fever.
  • Symptoms include fever, chills, coughing, chest pain, dyspnea, hemoptysis, lethargy, hypotension, and shock.

• Pericarditis

  • Other physical signs include a patient in distress, positional chest pain, diaphoresis (excessive sweating), and possibility of heart failure in form of precardial tamponade causing pulsus paradoxus, and the Beck's triad of hypotension (due to decreased cardiac output), distant (muffled) heart sounds, and JVD (jugular vein distention).
  • This can be seen in patients who are experiencing the classic signs of pericarditis but then show signs of relief, and progress to show signs of cardiac tamponade which include decreased alertness and lethargy, pulsus paradoxus (decrease of at least 10 mmHg of the systolic blood pressure upon inspiration), hypotension (due to decreased cardiac index), JVD (jugular vein distention from right sided heart failure and fluid overload), distant heart sounds on auscultation, and equilibration of all the diastolic blood pressures on cardiac catheterization due to the constriction of the pericardium by the fluid.

• Syncope

  • Syncope, the medical term for fainting, is defined as a transient loss of consciousness and postural tone characterized by rapid onset, short duration, and spontaneous recovery due to global cerebral hypoperfusion that most often results from hypotension.