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Does Dehydration Or Drug Cause Drop In Blood Pressure ?
My 16 year old son was born with pulmonary steno sis which caused him to have to have a angioplasty at the age of 2. He continues his annual cardiology appointments and we still have a murmur to watch. When he was 14 he passed out from apparent dehydration and the ambulance emts had to take him to the hospital because they couldn t get an IV line in him (his veins were flattened) and they couldn t get his blood pressure up. How does any drop in blood pressure whether from dehydration, drugs etc effect what s happening with his heart?
Mon, 23 Dec 2013
Dear mom,
Thanks for the question. Dehydration decreases the preload, or volume that gets to the heart to be ejected with each heartbeat; as a compensatory mechanism, especially in the young and healthy, the nervous system contracts the veins to literally squeeze blood back into the heart, and thus, peripheral veins may be difficult to find.
Hope this helps, wish you both the best,
Dr Brenes-Salazar MD
Mayo Clinic MN
Cardiology
Thanks for the question. Dehydration decreases the preload, or volume that gets to the heart to be ejected with each heartbeat; as a compensatory mechanism, especially in the young and healthy, the nervous system contracts the veins to literally squeeze blood back into the heart, and thus, peripheral veins may be difficult to find.
Hope this helps, wish you both the best,
Dr Brenes-Salazar MD
Mayo Clinic MN
Cardiology
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