Learn › Cardiovascular
Cardiovascular
Heart, blood vessels, blood pressure, rhythm, stroke risk.
30 posts in this body system.
Full-text search across every page — patient-education library, /pulse news commentary, and site pages. Try statin, TGA peptides, insomnia.
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Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest: BLS, ALS, and the GP's role in Australia
How to respond to cardiac arrest using DRSABCD, when the AED makes the difference, and the GP's role in clinic preparedness and secondary prevention.
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Aortic dissection
Aortic dissection: recognising the tear that kills — the AU GP framework
Sudden tearing chest or back pain may be aortic dissection — a time-critical emergency. Recognise, transfer, and manage long-term.
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Inherited primary arrhythmia syndromes
Inherited arrhythmia syndromes: long QT, Brugada, CPVT and ARVC
Long QT, Brugada, CPVT and ARVC — recognising red flags, cascade family screening, and the AU general practice role in inherited heart rhythm conditions.
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Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: recognition, family screening, and GP management
HCM is the most common monogenic cardiac disease. How Australian GPs recognise it, coordinate family screening, and manage obstructive symptoms.
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Infective endocarditis
Infective endocarditis: recognition, prophylaxis, and the GP role
When fever meets a heart murmur — the GP approach to recognising IE, taking blood cultures before antibiotics, prophylaxis rules, and urgent referral.
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Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)
POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome): diagnosis and management
POTS causes dizziness, fatigue and racing heart on standing, predominantly in young women. AU general practice diagnostic guide and management overview.
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Atherosclerotic carotid stenosis
Carotid stenosis: stroke risk, medical therapy, and when surgery helps
Carotid stenosis — what it is, how your GP assesses and manages it, when surgery is beneficial, and AU secondary prevention.
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Postural (orthostatic) hypotension
Postural hypotension: dizziness on standing, falls, and GP management
Postural (orthostatic) hypotension — why it happens, how your GP measures it, the medication review that matters most, and what helps.
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Cardiac murmur evaluation
Heart murmur evaluation: innocent or pathological in Australian general practice
How to classify a heart murmur by timing and grade, separate innocent from pathological, and decide who needs an echocardiogram in Australian general practice.
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Pericarditis and myocarditis
Pericarditis and myocarditis: recognition and GP management
Sharp chest pain after a viral illness, ECG changes, and troponin — the AU general practice approach to pericarditis and myocarditis.
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Chronic venous insufficiency
Chronic venous insufficiency and varicose veins: the AU GP approach
Varicose veins and leg oedema from CVI — CEAP staging, ABI check before compression, and when to refer for endovenous ablation in AU general practice.
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Pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism: risk-stratify, anticoagulate, escalate — the AU GP approach
Pulmonary embolism — how to risk-stratify with Wells score and D-dimer, when to call 000, and which DOAC to start in Australian general practice.
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Syncope
Syncope: classify the mechanism, exclude cardiac causes, counsel on driving
Syncope: classify vasovagal vs cardiac causes, recognise red flags, manage orthostatic hypotension and POTS, and document Austroads driving restrictions.
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Abdominal aortic aneurysm
Aortic aneurysm: AU screening, surveillance and repair thresholds
Aortic aneurysm — who needs a one-time ultrasound screen, surveillance intervals, when repair is indicated, and optimal medical therapy in AU general practice.
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Undifferentiated chest pain
Chest pain workup in general practice: ruling out the killers
How GPs approach undifferentiated chest pain — ruling out ACS, dissection, PE, and pneumothorax with the HEART score and serial high-sensitivity troponin.
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Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy: aspirin, BP targets, and postnatal care
Pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension — risk stratification, aspirin prophylaxis, BP management, and long-term cardiovascular follow-up.
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Supraventricular tachycardia and palpitations
SVT and palpitations: diagnosis, acute management, and when to ablate
Palpitations in general practice — distinguishing benign causes from SVT, the modified Valsalva, adenosine, and catheter ablation as a curative option.
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TIA and secondary stroke prevention
TIA & secondary stroke prevention: the AU general practice framework
TIA — why it is a stroke emergency, the 21-day dual antiplatelet regimen, and the prevention bundle that cuts recurrence by up to 80%.
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Valvular heart disease
Valvular heart disease: murmur evaluation, aortic stenosis, and GP role
How to evaluate a heart murmur, when to echo, intervention thresholds for AS and MR, TAVR, and modern endocarditis prophylaxis — the AU GP framework.
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Statin intolerance / statin-associated muscle symptoms
Statin intolerance (SAMS): the AU general practice rechallenge approach
Statin-associated muscle symptoms — nocebo evidence (SAMSON/StatinWISE), rechallenge protocol, PBS ezetimibe and PCSK9 inhibitors, rhabdomyolysis red flag.
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Chronic heart failure
Chronic heart failure: four-pillar GDMT approach in Australian general practice
Chronic heart failure — how GPs diagnose HFrEF vs HFpEF, the four-pillar drug strategy, PBS access, and when to escalate in Australia.
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Venous thromboembolism
Venous thromboembolism (DVT and PE): the Australian GP framework
Wells scoring, D-dimer, DOAC choice, anticoagulation duration and special populations — VTE management for Australian general practice.
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Ischaemic heart disease / stable angina / ACS
Ischaemic heart disease and stable angina: the AU GP approach
Ischaemic heart disease in Australian general practice — diagnosis, antianginal therapy, secondary prevention, and when to call 000.
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Dyslipidaemia
Dyslipidaemia and cardiovascular risk: the AU general practice approach
Cholesterol management in Australian general practice — absolute CVD risk, when to start statins, familial hypercholesterolaemia, and treatment targets.
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Peripheral arterial disease
Peripheral arterial disease: the AU general practice approach
Peripheral arterial disease — how to diagnose with the ankle-brachial index, prevent cardiovascular events, manage claudication, and when to refer urgently.
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Chronic heart failure
Heart failure: the four-pillar approach and what SGLT2 inhibitors changed
Heart failure — HFrEF vs HFpEF, the four-pillar therapy, SGLT2 inhibitors across the spectrum, and the AU general-practice pathway.
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Atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation: stroke prevention first, symptom control second
Atrial fibrillation — anticoagulation eligibility (CHA₂DS₂-VA), DOACs vs warfarin, rate vs rhythm control, and the AU primary-care pathway.
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Breath work and autonomic regulation
Breath work: what slow-breathing trials show for BP, anxiety, and HRV
Breath work — what slow-breathing trials show for blood pressure, anxiety, and heart-rate variability, and where it fits in AU general practice.
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Stroke prevention
Stroke risk in Australia: what the modifiable risk factors actually change
Stroke risk in Australia — modifiable risk factors, the AU absolute risk calculator, and how Australian general practice manages prevention.
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Hypertension
High blood pressure (hypertension): what the evidence actually says
Plain-English guide to high blood pressure, from an AU integrative GP. Diagnosis thresholds, why targets matter, lifestyle first, what your GP will likely do.