Nusrat Binta Nizam/Dr. Ashley Beecy - Week 02

6/10/24 - 6/14/24

Week 2:

The week began with a consult session with Dr. Beecy and Dr. Mohan. They discussed various patients with diverse health conditions, considering potential tests and medications for each case. I gained valuable insights into different diagnostic approaches for heart failure. Initially, doctors recommend an ECG, as it is a straightforward and accessible test. However, if more severe symptoms are observed, they suggest an echocardiogram, which is the gold standard for measuring left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). During a consulting session with Dr. Beecy, I learned about managing low LVEF. She explained that low LVEF indicates the heart is not pumping blood as effectively as it should, potentially leading to heart failure and other cardiovascular issues. Dr. Beecy mentioned that medications are often the first line of treatment. ACE inhibitors or ARBs help relax blood vessels, lower blood pressure, and reduce the heart's workload. Beta-blockers are also used to lower heart rate and blood pressure, improving the heart's efficiency. Diuretics can alleviate fluid buildup in the body, easing the heart's burden, while aldosterone antagonists help reduce fluid retention. In some cases, digoxin is prescribed to strengthen heart contractions and control irregular heartbeats. For more severe cases, Dr. Beecy discussed medical devices and procedures. An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) can regulate and correct life-threatening heart rhythms. Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) uses a special type of pacemaker to help the heart's ventricles pump in sync. A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a mechanical pump that aids the heart in pumping blood. If blocked arteries contribute to heart failure, procedures like coronary angioplasty or bypass surgery might be necessary.

On Tuesday, I attended our weekly meeting on “ChatGPT Beginner's Guide.” The talk was fascinating, exploring how ChatGPT can assist in understanding complex radiological concepts, interpreting imaging results, and staying updated with the latest advancements in the field. Later, Dr. Beecy provided me with a small dataset related to cardiac amyloidosis that includes information from PYP scans. Cardiac amyloidosis is characterized by the abnormal deposition of amyloid proteins in the heart tissue. These misfolded proteins can accumulate in various organs, disrupting their normal function. When deposited in the heart, they cause the heart walls to become stiff and less able to relax properly between beats. This stiffness impairs the heart's ability to fill with blood and pump effectively, leading to symptoms of heart failure such as shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling in the legs, and irregular heartbeats. Diagnosing this type of cardiac abnormality with an echocardiogram is challenging. It is a slow-progressing disease. Additionally, I analyzed a dataset of Chest CT scans from NYP, trying to find a correlation and predict the possibility of cardiac amyloidosis by developing a deep learning algorithm.

On Thursday, I visited the imaging facilities at WCM with Dr. Matthew. He showed me around and gave a brief introduction to the available facilities. Although my CT reading session was rescheduled for next week, I plan to attend some MRI and CT image reading sessions with radiologists. We have a MRI lecture on Friday afternoon. Also, I have a plan to attend a MRI reading session on the same day. Additionally, I aim to learn from a team working on cardiac amyloidosis using ECGs. I am looking forward to these learning opportunities.

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