Cardiovascular System: Diagnostic Terms
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30 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 acute coronary syndrome (ACS) | signs and symptoms indicating an active progress of atherosclerotic plaque buildup or formation of a thrombus, or spasm within a coronary artery, causing a reduction or loss of blood flow to myocardial tissue; includes unstable angina and other pathological events leading to myocardial infarction (MI); early diagnosis and rapid treatment are critical to avoid or minimize damage to heart muscle |
| arrhythmia/ dysrhythmia | any of several kinds of irregularity or loss of rhythm of the heartbeat |
| bradycardia | slow heart beat (less than 60 beats/minute) |
| fibrillation | chaotic, irregular contractions of the heart, as in atrial or ventricular fibrillation |
| premature ventricular contraction (PVC) | a ventricular contraction preceding the normal impulse initiated by the SA node (pacemaker) |
| tachycardia | fast heart rate (greater than 100 beats/minute) |
| bacterial endocarditis | a bacterial inflammation that affects the endocardium or the heart valves |
| cardiac tamponade | compression of the heart produced by the accumulation of fluid in the pericardial sac, as results from pericarditis or trauma, causing rupture of a blood vessel within the heart (tampon = plug) |
| cardiomyopathy | a general term for disease of the heart muscle, such as alcoholic cardiomyopathy (damage to the heart muscle caused by excessive consumption of alcohol) |
| congenital anomaly of the heart | malformations of the heart that are present at birth (congenital = born with; anomaly = irregularity) |
| atrial septal defect (ASD) | an opening in the septum separating the atria |
| coarctation of the aorta | narrowing of the descending portion of the aorta, resulting in a limited flow of blood to the lower part of the body |
| patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) | an abnormal opening between the pulmonary artery and the aorta caused by failure of the fetal ductus arteriosus to close after birth (patent = open) |
| ventricular septal defect (VSD) | an opening in the septum separating the ventricles |
| congestive heart failure (CHF) | failure of the left ventricle to pump an adequate amount of blood to meet the demands of the body, resulting in a "bottleneck" of congestion in the lungs that may extend to the veins, causing edema in lower portions of the body |
| cor pulmonale/ right ventricular failure | enlargement of the right ventricle, resulting from chronic disease within the lungs, that causes congestion within the pulmonary circulation and resistance of blood flow to the lungs (cor = heart) |
| coronary artery disease (CAD) | a condition affecting arteries of the heart that reduces the flow of blood an the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the myocardium; most often caused by atherosclerosis |
| hypertension (HTN) | persistently high BP |
| essential/primary hypertension | high BP attribute to no single cause; risks include smoking, obesity, increased salt intake, hypercholesterolemia, and hereditary factors |
| secondary hypertension | high BP caused by the effects of another disease (e.g., kidney disease) |
| mitral valve prolapse (MVP) | protrusion of one or both cusps of the mitral valve back into the left atrium during ventricular contraction, resulting in incomplete closure and backflow of blood |
| myocardial infarction (MI) | heart attack; death of myocardial tissue (infarction) caused by ischemia (loss of blood flow) as a result of an occlusion (pluggin) of a coronary artery; usually caused by atherosclerosis; symptoms include pain in the chest or upper body (shoulders, neck, and jaw), shortness of breath, diaphoresis, and nausea |
| myocarditis | inflammation of myocardium; most often caused by viral or bacterial infection |
| pericarditis | inflammation of the pericardium |
| rheumatic heart disease | damage to heart muscle and heart valves by rheumatic fever (a streptococcal infection) |
| sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) | the abrupt cessation of any cardiac output (CO), most commonly as the result of ventricular fibrillation; causes sudden death unless defibrillation is initiated immediately) |
| deep vein thrombosis (DVT) | formation of a clot in a deep vein of the body; occurring most often in the femoral and iliac veins |
| phlebitis | inflammation of a vein |
| thrombophlebitis | inflammation of a vein associated with a clot formation |
| varicose veins | abnormally swollen, twisted veins with defective valves; most often seen in the legs |
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