Cardiac Vocab Flashcards
Active hyperemia
Hyperemia due to an increased afflux of arterial blood into dilated capillaries.
Acute pericarditis
Acute inflammation of the pericardium.
Air embolism
The presence of bubbles of a gas in the vascular system; occurrence is related to the entry of air into the venous circulation following trauma or surgery.
Anasarca
Generalized massive edema; all parts of the body, including the genitalia, chest wall, arms, and, rarely, the face are affected
Aneurysm
Circumscribed dilation of an artery, or a blood-containing tumor connecting directly with the lumen of an artery.
Angina pectoris
A paroxysmal thoracic pain, with a feeling of suffocation and impending death, due, most often, to anoxia of the myocardium and precipitated by effort or excitement.
Angioplasty
Reconstruction of a blood vessel.
Aortic stenosis
A narrowing of the aortic orifice of the heart or of the aorta itself.
Arrhythmia
Absence of rhythm, applied especially to any variation from the normal rhytym of the heart beat. The various forms of arrhythmia include sinus arrhythmia, extrasystole, heart block, atrial fibrillation, flutter, pulsus alternans, and paroxysmal tachycardia.
Arteriosclerosis
A condition marked by loss of elasticity, thickening and hardening of the arteries.
Ascites
Accumulation of serous fluid in the peritoneal cavity
Atheroma
The lipid deposits in the intima of arteries, producing yellow swelling on the endothelial surface; a characteristic of atherosclerosis
Atheromatous plaque
A well demarcated yellow area or swelling on the intimal surface of an artery; produced by intimal lipid deposit
Atrial septal defect
A defect in the cardiac septum, resulting in an abnormal communication between the opposite atria of the heart
Berry aneurysm
A small saccular aneurysm of a cerebral artery, having a narrow opening into the artery. Such aneurysms frequently rupture, causing subarachnoid hemorrhage
Buerger disease
Inflammation of the entire wall and connective tissue surrounding medium-sized arteries and veins, especially of the legs of young and middle-aged men; associated with thrombotic occlusion and commonly resulting in gangrene
Calcific aortic stenosis
Most common type of aortic stenosis, occurring usually in elderly men, in which the cusps contain calcified fibrous nodules on both surfaces; the causes include rheumatic fever and atherosclerosis.
Carcinoid heart disease
Patients with carcinoid tumors that have metastasized to the liver often display changes of the endocardium of the right side of the heart.
Cardiac myxoma
A primary cardiac neoplasm arising most commonly in the left atrium as a soft polypoid mass attached to a stalk to the septum; it may resemble an organized mural thrombus, and the symptoms may include cardiac murmurs, which change with alteration of body position, and signs of mitral stenosis or insufficiency.
Chronic passive congestion
Congestion caused by obstruction or slowing of the venous drainage, resulting in partial stagnation of blood in the capillaries and venules.
Coarctation of the aorta
A malformation characterized by deformity of the aortic media, causing narrowing, usually severe, of the lumen of the vessel.
Contraction band necrosis
A microscopic characteristic of myocardial infarcts. It is prominent in regions where blood flow persists
Cor pulmonale
Heart disease secondary to disease of the lungs or of their blood vessels.
Ebstein malformation
Congenital downward displacement of the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle.
