Diagnosis & Treatment

Question 1

Removal or destruction. In cardiac ablation, a catheter is used to destroy a portion of the heart’s conduction pathway to correct an arrhythmia

Answer 1

ablation

Question 2

A procedure that reopens a narrowed vessel and restores blood flow; commonly accomplished by surgically removing plaque, inflating a balloon within the vessel, or installing a device (stent) to keep the vessel open

Answer 2

angioplasty

Question 3

A battery-operated device that generates electrical impulses to regulate the heartbeat; it may be external or implanted, may be designed to respond to need, and may have the capacity to prevent tachycardia

Answer 3

artificial pacemaker

Question 4

Restoration of cardiac output and pulmonary ventilation after cardiac arrest using artificial respiration and chest compression or cardiac massage

Answer 4

cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)

Question 5

Correction of an abnormal cardiac rhythm; may be accomplished pharmacologically, with antiarrhythmic drugs, or by application of electric current (see defibrillation)

Answer 5

cardioversion

Question 6

Radiographic study of the coronary arteries after introduction of an opaque dye by means of a catheter threaded through blood vessels into the heart

Answer 6

coronary angiography

Question 7

Surgical creation of a shunt to bypass a blocked coronary artery; the aorta is connected to a point past the obstruction with another vessel or a piece of another vessel, usually the left internal mammary artery or part of the leg’s saphenous vein

Answer 7

coronary artery bypass graft (CABG)

Question 8

Method for visualizing vessel-narrowing calcium deposits in coronary arteries; useful for diagnosing coronary artery disease in people at moderate risk or those who have
undiagnosed chest pain; also known as a heart scan

Answer 8

coronary calcium scan

Question 9

Enzyme released in increased amounts from cardiac muscle cells following myocardial infarction (MI); serum assays help diagnose MI and determine the extent of muscle damage

Answer 9

creatine kinase MB (CK-MB)

Question 10

Computed tomography scan used to visualize vessels in the heart and other organs; requires only a small amount of dye injected into the arm; can rule out blocked coronary arteries that may cause a myocardial infarction (heart attack) in people with chest pain or abnormal stress tests

Answer 10

CT angiography (CTA)

Question 11

Use of an electronic device (defibrillator) to stop fibrillation by delivering a brief electric shock to the heart; the shock may be delivered to the surface of the chest, as by an automated external defibrillator (AED), or directly into the heart through wire leads, using an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD)

Answer 11

defibrillation

Question 12

A noninvasive method that uses ultrasound to visualize internal cardiac structures

Answer 12

echocardiography

Question 13

A compound of protein with lipid; lipoproteins are classified according to density as very low-density (VLDL), low-density (LDL), and high-density (HDL); relatively higher levels of
HDLs have been correlated with cardiovascular health

Answer 13

lipoprotein

Question 14

Dilatation of a sclerotic blood vessel by means of a balloon catheter inserted into the vessel and then inflated to flatten plaque against the arterial wall

Answer 14

percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA)

Question 15

A small metal device in the shape of a coil or slotted tube that is placed inside an artery to keep the vessel open, for example, after balloon angioplasty

Answer 15

stent

Question 16

Evaluation of physical fitness by continuous ECG monitoring during exercise; in a thallium stress test, a radioactive isotope of thallium is administered to trace blood flow through the heart during exercise

Answer 16

stress test

Question 17

A protein in muscle cells that regulates contraction; increased serum levels, primarily in the forms TnT and TnI, indicate recent myocardial infarction (MI)

Answer 17

troponin (Tn)