Cardiovascular Fundamentals 

Welcome to the Cardiovascular Fundamentals Page! This topic page is meant to serve as a refresher for anyone interested in cardiovascular health. Check out our high yield youtube fundamental videos, suggested CardioNerds Podcast episodes, content contributors.Video topics include atrial fibrillation, acute decompensated heart failureQTc measurementhypertensive crisis, and chest pain and acute coronary syndromes with more on the way! For more in depth coverage of topics: visit our Topics & Episodes Page!

Cardiovascular Fundamentals Youtube playlist

Atrial fibrillation is reviewed by Rhanderson Cardoso, MD. Learn and review clinical presentation, ECG, definitions, workup (labs and imaging), and management (rate vs rhythm and anticoagulation). This is part of our cardionerds cardiovascular fundamentals series.  

Acute decompensated heart failure is reviewed by Balint Laczay, MD. Learn and review clinical presentation, definitions classifications, etiologies, and treatment of heart failure in the hospital setting. This is part of our cardionerds cardiovascular fundamentals series.  

Learn all you need to know about the QT interval with Nino Isakadze, MD. The basics, importance, measurements and common pitfalls are discussed in this video. 

Chest pain and acute coronary syndrome evaluation, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, triage and treatment is presented masterfully by Abdulhamied Alfaddagh, MD, cardiology fellow at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. 

The diagnosis, triage, management of hypertensive crisis is discussed by Weili Zheng, MD, internal medicine resident at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Approach to the workup of Stable Ischemic Heart Disease

Approach to Right Heart Catheterization

Right Heart Catheterization_
Right Heart Catheterization

Meet our Youtube Lecture Series Contributors!

Rhanderson Cardoso, MD

Dr. Rhanderson Cardoso graduated from medical school at the University of Goias in his home country Brazil. He then completed Internal Medicine residency and a chief year at the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Hospital. Rhanderson has diverse interests in cardiovascular diseases, including electrophysiology, imaging, and prevention. He is especially passionate about teaching and hopes to have a career in academic medicine. He is currently earning a Masters degree in Cardiovascular Epidemiology at the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health and is planning on pursuing additional imaging training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the upcoming academic year.

Balint Laczay, MD

Dr. Balint Laczay is a cardiology fellow at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He completed his internal medicine residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and prior to that completed medical school at Northwestern University. His hobbies are travel, chess, sports and trying local restaurants. He loves nerding out about cardiology and is excited about cardiac imaging, cardiac electrophysiology and medical education.

Nino Isakadze, MD

Dr. Nino Isakadze is a second year cardiovascular fellow at Johns Hopkins. She completed internal medicine residency at Emory University. Nino’s research focuses on mobile health technologies and arrhythmia detection/treatment. She is currently leading efforts in developing digital health interventions for patients with atrial fibrillation.

Weili Zheng, MD

Dr. Weili Zheng is a 3rd year resident at The Osler Medical Training Program at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Clinically he may be a bit of a masochist, as his most fond experiences as a resident have been managing cardiogenic shock. He is also fascinated by the physiology of heart-lung interactions, and is looking into a career in Critical Care Cardiology or Interventional Cardiology. He will start as a fellow at the Cleveland Clinic this year. Outside of medicine, Weili is an avid cook and a die-hard White Sox fan (although like many native Chicagoans, he has sworn off attending games until a change in ownership occurs).

Abdulhamied (Hamied) Alfaddagh, MD

Dr. Abdulhamied (Hamied) Alfaddagh earned his Medical Degree from Kuwait University Faculty of Medicine after graduating as the Valedictorian of his class in 2013. After completing his internship in Kuwait, Hamied joined the Welty Lab at Harvard Medical School as a research fellow primarily focusing on cardiovascular disease prevention research. He studied the determinants of coronary atherosclerotic plaque progression measured by coronary computed tomography angiography in patients with coronary artery disease. He then went on to complete his residency at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he continued to do research in cardiovascular prevention. Hamied is passionate about pursuing a career as an academic cardiologist and a physician-scientist in the field of coronary artery disease.