USMLE Step 1 · Cardiovascular

Every heart question starts with a tracing.

Follow the algorithm from the symptom, the EKG or the murmur. Tap any diagnosis for the mechanism, the findings, the exact way Step 1 asks it, and the trap that costs points. Built from real practice-exam patterns, not a textbook table of contents.

0conditions, each with its trap
0decision algorithms
0practice items analyzed
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Choose an algorithm

Seven ways into the heart.

Each algorithm opens one branch at a time. Click a question to see where it leads; click a diagnosis for the full card.

Exam yield

What the practice exams actually ask.

How many of the 4,171 practice items we analyzed involve each condition (the lighter number is how often it is the keyed answer). Bigger bar, bigger payoff. Tap a bar to open the card.

Case solver

Enter the findings. Watch the differential rank itself.

Click every clue in the stem: vitals, EKG, sounds, labs, context. Each condition is scored on what fits, and penalized for what contradicts.

Differential
Pressure-volume loop lab

Change the load. Watch the loop.

Pick a physiologic change or a valve lesion. The left ventricular loop redraws with its end-diastolic volume, stroke volume, ejection fraction and pressures. The dashed loop is normal; the lines are the end-systolic (ESPVR) and end-diastolic (EDPVR) pressure-volume relationships.

Reading a loop. Bottom-right corner = end-diastole (EDV). Up the right edge = isovolumetric contraction (mitral closes, S1). Across the top = ejection. Down the left edge = isovolumetric relaxation (aortic closes, S2). Width = stroke volume; area = stroke work.
EKG & sound atlas

Forty-six tracings, every one a diagnosis.

EKG strips and heart-sound diagrams are drawn in code for this chart: each one shows the one feature Step 1 wants you to notice. Tap a tracing to see what it means, or test yourself.

Side by side

The pairs Step 1 loves to confuse.

Every row is a discriminator. Tap a column header to open that condition, or build your own comparison.

Drill

See the clue. Name the diagnosis.

Cards come weighted toward what the exams test most. Mark what you know; it is saved in this browser.

Live RAG

Ask the books anything about the heart.

Your question searches our Step 1 library (First Aid, Pathoma, Goljan, MedSchoolBro, Secrets in Color and more) and returns a short grounded brief with its sources. Great for the "why" behind a card.

Reference shelf

The tables you keep re-making.

The cardiac cycle, hemodynamic formulas and normals, murmur maneuvers, syndromes and embryology, plus every cardiac drug. All interactive.

The cardiac cycle

Seven phases, every sound and wave.

Tap a phase to light it up across pressure, volume, EKG and sounds.

Hemodynamics

Move the sliders. Read the numbers.

Heart rate, volumes and pressures give stroke volume, ejection fraction, cardiac output and systemic vascular resistance.

Bedside maneuvers

What makes the murmur louder?

Preload and afterload decide it. Right-sided sounds follow inspiration; HCM and MVP are the odd ones out.

Embryology

Where each structure and defect comes from.

Tap a structure to expand it; colored chips open the matching diagnosis.

Associations

Syndromes and the heart lesions they bring.

Tap a row to open the lesion.

Pharmacology

Cardiac drugs, mechanisms, toxicities and antidotes.

Built by IvyMed from our analysis of 4,171 practice-exam items and cross-checked against First Aid, Pathoma, Goljan, Secrets in Color and high-yield notes.
EKG and heart-sound illustrations are original drawings. For exam preparation only, not medical advice.
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