Cardiac Vocab

Question 1

Active hyperemia

Answer 1

Hyperemia due to an increased afflux of arterial blood into dilated capillaries.

Question 2

Acute pericarditis

Answer 2

Acute inflammation of the pericardium.

Question 3

Air embolism

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

Anasarca

Answer 4

Generalized massive edema; all parts of the body, including the genitalia, chest wall, arms, and, rarely, the face are affected

Question 5

Aneurysm

Answer 5

Circumscribed dilation of an artery, or a blood-containing tumor connecting directly with the lumen of an artery.

Question 6

Angina pectoris

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

Angioplasty

Answer 7

Reconstruction of a blood vessel.

Question 8

Aortic stenosis

Answer 8

A narrowing of the aortic orifice of the heart or of the aorta itself.

Question 9

Arrhythmia

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

Arteriosclerosis

Answer 10

A condition marked by loss of elasticity, thickening and hardening of the arteries.

Question 11

Ascites

Answer 11

Accumulation of serous fluid in the peritoneal cavity

Question 12

Atheroma

Answer 12

The lipid deposits in the intima of arteries, producing yellow swelling on the endothelial surface; a characteristic of atherosclerosis

Question 13

Atheromatous plaque

Answer 13

A well demarcated yellow area or swelling on the intimal surface of an artery; produced by intimal lipid deposit

Question 14

Atrial septal defect

Answer 14

A defect in the cardiac septum, resulting in an abnormal communication between the opposite atria of the heart

Question 15

Berry aneurysm

Answer 15

A small saccular aneurysm of a cerebral artery, having a narrow opening into the artery. Such aneurysms frequently rupture, causing subarachnoid hemorrhage

Question 16

Buerger disease

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Calcific aortic stenosis

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Carcinoid heart disease

Answer 18

Patients with carcinoid tumors that have metastasized to the liver often display changes of the endocardium of the right side of the heart.

Question 19

Cardiac myxoma

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

Chronic passive congestion

Answer 20

Congestion caused by obstruction or slowing of the venous drainage, resulting in partial stagnation of blood in the capillaries and venules.

Question 21

Coarctation of the aorta

Answer 21

A malformation characterized by deformity of the aortic media, causing narrowing, usually severe, of the lumen of the vessel.

Question 22

Contraction band necrosis

Answer 22

A microscopic characteristic of myocardial infarcts. It is prominent in regions where blood flow persists

Question 23

Cor pulmonale

Answer 23

Heart disease secondary to disease of the lungs or of their blood vessels.

Question 24

Ebstein malformation

Answer 24

Congenital downward displacement of the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle.

Question 25

Endotoxic shock

Answer 25

Shock produced by bacterial endotoxins, especially Escherichia coli.

Question 26

Fatty Streak

Answer 26

An early lesion in atherosclerosis, characterized by accumulation of lipids in the intima

Question 27

Esophageal atresia

Answer 27

Congenital failure of the full esophageal lumen to develop.

Question 28

Fibrinolysis

Answer 28

The splitting of fibrin by enzyme action.

Question 29

Hemangioma

Answer 29

A benign tumor made up of new-formed blood vessels.

Question 30

Hemarthrosis

Answer 30

Extravasation of blood into a joint or its synovial cavity.

Question 31

Hematura

Answer 31

Any condition in which the urine contains blood or red blood cells.

Question 32

Hemoperitoneum

Answer 32

Blood in the peritoneal cavity.

Question 33

Hemoptysis

Answer 33

The spitting of blood derived from the lungs or bronchial tubes as a result of pulmonary or bronchial hemorrhage.

Question 34

Hemorrhoids

Answer 34

A varicose dilatation of a vein of the superior or inferior hemorrhoidal plexus.

Question 35

Hemothorax

Answer 35

A collection of blood in the pleural cavity.

Question 36

Hyaline arteriosclerosis

Answer 36

Reddish, homogenous appearance of arterioles showing fibrinoid necrosis.

Question 37

Intimal cell mass

Answer 37

Focal accumulation of smooth muscle cells in normal intima. It may be precursor for atherosclerotic lesions.