Question | Answer |
Hypertension | High Blood Pressure |
Hypotension | Low Blood Pressure |
Auscultation | Listening to sounds within body by using stethoscope |
Palpitations | Pounding, racing heartbeat |
Murmur | Abnormal heart sound |
Stethoscope | Instrument for listening to body sounds, such as chest, heart, or intestines |
Plaque | Yellow, fatty deposit of lipids in artery |
Stent | Stainless steel tube placed within blood vessel or duct to widen lumen |
Holter Monitor | Portable ECG monitor worn by patient for a period of a few hours to a few days to assess heart and pulse activity as person goes through activities of daily living |
Cardioverter | Shocking someone |
Bradycardia | Slow heart |
Tachycardia | Fast heart |
Angina Pectoris | Severe chest pain with sensation of constriction around heart |
Congestive Heart Failure | Pathological condition of heart in which there is reduced outflow of blood from left side of heart; results in weakness, breathlessness, and edema |
Coronary Artery Disease | Insufficient blood supply to heart muscle due to obstruction of one or more coronary arteries |
Cardiac Arrest | When heart stops beating and circulation ceases |
Bundle Branch Block | Occurs when electrical impulse is blocked from traveling down bundle of His or bundle branches; results in ventricles beating at a different rate than atria; also called heart block |
Heart Valve Prolapse | Cusps or flaps of heart valve are too loose and fail to shut tightly, allowing blood to flow backwards through valve when heart Chambers contract; most commonly occurs in mitral valve, but may affect any of heart valves |
Stenosis | An abnormal narrowing or contraction of a duct or canal |
Thrombus | Blood clot |
Embolus | Obstruction of blood vessel by blood clot that moves from another area |
Fibrillation | Abnormal quivering or contractions of heart fibers |
Aneurysm | Weakness in wall of artery that results in localized widening of artery |
Lymphnodes | Small organs in lymphatic system that filters bacteria and other foreign organisms from body fluids |
Axillary | Armpits |
Inguinal | Groin |
Cervical | Neck |
Mediastinal | Chest |
Septicemia | Having bacteria in blood stream |
Leukemia | Cancer of WBC-forming bone marrow; results in large number of abnormal WBCs circulating in blood |
Hemophilia | Hereditary blood disease in which there is a prolonged blood clotting time |
Thalassemia | Genetic disorder in which person is unable to make functioning hemoglobin; results in anemia |
-penia | Abnormal decrease, too few |
-cytosis | More than the normal number of cells |
-poiesis | Formation |
-pexy | Surgical fixation |
-otomy | Cutting into |
-plasty | Surgical repair |
-ectomy | Surgical removal |
Hemostasis | To stop bleeding or stagnation of circulating blood |
Coagulate | Convert liquid to gel or solid, as in blood coagulation |
Polycythemia vera | Production of too many red blood cells in bone marrow |
Hemologous transfusion | Replacement of blood by transfusion of blood received from another person |
Autologous transfusion | Procedure for collecting and storing a patient's own blood several weeks prior to the actual need |
Anaphylactic shock | Life threatening condition resulting from ingestion of food or medications that produce severe allergic response |
Antihistamine | Substance that acts to control allergic symptoms by counteracting histamine |
Thrombolytic | Able to dissolve existing blood clots |
C&S | Culture and sensitivity |
Hematocrit | Blood test to measure volume of red blood cells within total volume of blood |
Pro time (PT) | Measurement of time it takes for sample of blood to coagulate |
CSD | Congenital septal defect |
Bpm | Beats per minute |
HTN | Hypertension |
BP | Blood pressure |
GVHD | Graft versus host disease |
PCP | Pneumocystis pneumonia |
KS | Kaposi's sarcoma |
ELISA | Enzyme-linked immunosorbent essay |
Endocardium | The inner layer of the heart |
Myocardium | Muscular middle layer of the heart |
Epicardium | The outer layer of the heart |
Sinoatrial node | Pacemaker |
Pulmonary artery | Large artery that carries deoxygenated blood from right ventricle to lung |
Pulmonary vein | Large vein that returns oxygenated blood from lungs to let atrium |
Aorta | Largest artery in body; located in mediastinum and carries oxygenated blood away from left side of heart |
Vena cava | The large vein that drains directly into the heart after gathering incoming blood from the entire body |
Arterial | Pertaining to artery |
Arteriole | Smallest branch of arteries; carries blood to capillaries |
Venule | Smallest veins; received deoxygenated blood leaving capillaries |
Cardiomegaly | Abnormally enlarged heart |
Myocardial | Pertaining to heart muscle |
Hemorrhage | Blood flow, escape of blood from a blood vessel |
Leukocyte | White blood cell |
Erythrocyte | Red blood cell |
Throbocyte | Also called platelets; play critical part in blood-clotting process by agglutinating into small clusters and releasing thrombokinase |
Splenomegaly | Enlargement of spleen |
AB blood | Universal recipient |
O blood | Universal donor |