Myocardial Infarction and the effect on fluid and electrolyte imbalances

RNin2007 · Mar 28, 2006

hello to anyone and everyone who can help me! i am a nursing student currently undertaking a case study looking at a client experiencing a myocardial infarction. now, the question i pose is how does the myocardial infarction effect the fluid and electolyte balances and why is it an important diagnosis/intervention following a mi? also, what would be critial nursing interventions for dealing with fluid and electrolyte imbalances relating to mi's? what makes these intervention critical? i have researched this topic extensively but am having alot of trouble identifying clear examples and reasons for this imbalance. it is quite a confusing subject and would greatly appreciate any assistance with this !!!! thankyou for you help... hope to hear some advice soon!- regards- claire

mi can be a pre-renal cause of arf (acute renal failure). remembering the normal fx of the kidneys, acid-base balance being one of them...if the kidneys are not working correctly this can rapidly lead to imbalances. sodium, potassium & magnesium levels are also impacted if the kidneys are not functioning properly. just recall the loop of henle, proximal/distal convuluted tubules & how they absorb/excrete...google it and i am sure you will find more info.

~j

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2006

when a patient has an m.i. one of the electrolytes looked with the heart is potassium. however, it is also important to understand the physiology of the heart and it's electrical system. potassium has a direct effect on the electrical system of the heart. in addition, sodium and calcium are crucial to the muscular activity of the actual heart beat. so these three electrolytes are most important. you need to look at the cellular physiology of the heart and the heart muscle to get a better understanding of why these electrolytes are the most important when the heart is infarcting. these are the electrolytes that are looked at in the acute stages and brought back into balance as soon as possible. among the drugs used to treat will be potassium and calcium channel blockers.

here is a short tutorial on potassium.

http://www.nursewise.com/courses/k_hour.htm

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/conditions/heart_attack.html - a discussion about heart attacks from lab tests online. make sure you click at the bottom of the page to get to all pages and note the listing of all the relevant lab tests ordered for someone suspected of having an m.i.

electrolytes important in the functioning of the heart:

http://www.muschealth.com/heart/health_info?pageid=p01769 - blood tests to evaluate heart disease

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/potassium/glance.html - potassium

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/calcium/glance.html - calcium

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/magnesium/glance.html - magnesium

just in case you need a tutorial on the electrical pathway of the heart, here is a great site to help understand that:

http://www.gwc.maricopa.edu/class/bio202/cyberheart/cardio.htm - cyberheart - tutorials for basic heart anatomy, physiology and ekgs from professor crimando at gateway community college

here is some information on heart attack and electrolytes

http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/cvmhighlight?file=/mrkshared/mmanual/section16/chapter206/206a.jsp%3fregion%3dmerckcom&word=hypokalemia&domain=www.merck.com#hl_anchor

information on myocardial infarction:

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1567.htm

http://www.fpnotebook.com/cv31.htm - physician guidelines for immediate management of myocardial infarction

http://sprojects.mmi.mcgill.ca/mvs/pathos/mi.htm

http://www.heartinfo.org/ - is the main site and the next link is more specifically on heart attacks

http://heart.healthcentersonline.com/cholesterol/heartattack.cfm - may need to register (it's free) in order to view entire text of articles and videos - this site is more for patients, but i like it because it has great animated videos of all kinds of heart anatomy and heart related procedures