Practice Test Geeks(BCA) Board of Certification in Anesthesiology Practice Test
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Cardiovascular Anesthesia Flashcards

7 cards from real BCA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Cardiovascular Anesthesia flashcards as text

  1. Which volatile anesthetic best preserves cardiac output in patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction?

    Answer: Sevoflurane

    Sevoflurane causes less myocardial depression and provides cardioprotection via preconditioning, making it preferred in severe LV dysfunction.

  2. A patient on cardiopulmonary bypass develops ST elevation in lead II. The most likely cause is:

    Answer: Air embolism to right coronary artery

    Air entrainment preferentially affects the right coronary artery (most anterior), causing RCA territory ischemia manifesting as inferior ST elevation.

  3. The gold standard for assessing myocardial viability in a patient with chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy prior to CABG is:

    Answer: PET scanning with FDG

    FDG-PET identifies hibernating myocardium with high sensitivity and specificity, making it the gold standard for viability assessment.

  4. During aortic valve replacement, the aortic cross-clamp time is most directly associated with:

    Answer: Degree of myocardial ischemia

    Cross-clamp time directly correlates with the duration of global myocardial ischemia despite cardioplegia, affecting postoperative ventricular function.

  5. Protamine reversal of heparin can cause pulmonary hypertension via:

    Answer: Thromboxane A2 release from pulmonary macrophages

    Heparin-protamine complexes activate complement and stimulate pulmonary macrophages to release thromboxane A2, causing severe pulmonary vasoconstriction.

  6. Which hemodynamic pattern is characteristic of cardiac tamponade?

    Answer: Equalization of diastolic pressures, low CO

    Tamponade causes equalization of right atrial, right ventricular diastolic, pulmonary artery diastolic, and pulmonary capillary wedge pressures with reduced cardiac output.

  7. In a patient with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy undergoing noncardiac surgery, which intraoperative event would MOST worsen the outflow tract obstruction?

    Answer: Tachycardia with hypovolemia

    Tachycardia decreases diastolic filling time and hypovolemia reduces preload, both worsening LVOT obstruction by allowing the hypertrophied septum to approach the anterior mitral leaflet.