ELECTROCARDIOLOGY

  1. A spindle shaped or sac-like bulging of the wall of vein or artery, due to weakening of the wall by disease or an abnormality present at birth.
    Aneurysm (an'u-rizm)
  2. Literally means chest pain. A condition in which the heart muscle receives an insufficient blood supply, causing pain in the chest, and often in the left arm and shoulder. Commonly results when the arteries supplying the heart muscle (coronaries) are narrowed by atherosclerosis.
    Angina Pectoris (an'jin-ah pek'to-ris)
  3. Literally, no oxygen. This condition frequently occurs when the blood supply to a part of the body is completely cut off. This results in the death of the affected tissue. For example, a specific area of the heart muscle may die when the blood supply (oxygen supply) has been blocked, as by a clot in the artery supplying that area.
    Anoxia (an-ok'se-ah)
  4. The main trunk artery which receives blood from the lower left chamber of the heart. It originates from the left ventricle, arches up over the heart like a cane handle, and passes down through the chest and abdomen in front of the spine. It gives off many lesser arteries which conduct blood to all parts of the body except the lungs.
    Aorta (a-or'tah)
  5. An improper closing of the valve between the aorta and the lower left chamber of the heart admitting a backflow of blood.
    Aortic insufficiency
  6. A narrowing of the valve opening between the lower left chamber of the heart and the aorta. The narrowing may occur at the valve itself or slightly above or below the valve. Aortic stenosis may be the result of scar tissue forming after a rheumatic fever infection, or may have other causes.
    Aortic stenosis (ste-no'sis)
  7. Valve at the junction of the aorta and the lower left chamber of the heart. Formed by three cup shaped membranes called semilunar valves, it allows the blood to flow from the heart into the artery and prevents a backflow.
    Aortic valve
  8. The blunt rounded end of the heart directed downward, forward, and to the left.
    Apex (a'peks)
  9. An abnormal rhythm of the heart.
    Arrhythmia (ah-rith'me-ah)
  10. Oxygenated blood. The blood is oxygenated in the lungs, passes from the lungs to the left side of the heart via the pulmonary veins. It is then pumped by the left side of the heart into the arteries which carry it to all parts of the body.
    Arterial blood
  11. The smallest arterial vessels (about .02 mm, or 1/125 inch in diameter) resulting from repeated branching of the arteries. They conduct blood from the arteries to the capillaries.
    Arterioles (ar-te're-ols)
  12. Commonly called hardening of the arteries. This is a generic term which includes a variety of conditions which cause the artery walls to become thick and hard and lose elasticity.
    Arteriosclerosis (ar-te-re-o-skle-ro-sis)
  13. Blood vessels which carry blood away from the heart to the various parts of the body. They usually carry oxygenated blood except for the pulmonary artery which carries unoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs for oxygenation.
    Artery (ar'ter-e)
  14. Sometimes called interatrial septum or inter-auricular septum. Muscular wall dividing left and upper chambers of the heart which are called atria.
    Atrial septum (sep'tum)
  15. Also called Bundle of His, auriculo-ventricular bundle, or A-V bundle. A bundle of specialized muscle fibers running from a small mass of muscular fibers (A-V node) between the upper chambers of the heart down to the lower chambers of the heart. It is the only known direct muscular connection between the upper and the lower heart chamber, and serves to conduct impulses for the rhythmic heartbeat from the A-V node to the heart muscle.
    Atrio-ventricular bundle
  16. A small mass of special muscle fibers at the base of the wall between the two upper chambers of the heart. It forms the beginning of the Bundle of His which is the only known direct muscular connection between the upper and lower chamber of the heart. The electrical impulses controlling the rhythm of the heart are generated by the pacemaker, conducted through the muscle fibers of the right upper chamber of the heart to the atrio-ventricular node, and then conducted to the lower chambers of the heart by the Bundle of His.
    Atrio-ventriclular node
  17. The two valves, one in each side of the heart, between the upper and lower chamber. The one in the right side of the heart is the tricuspid valve and the one in the left side is the mitral valve.
    Atrio-ventricular valves
  18. One of the two upper chambers of the heart. Also called auricle, although this is generally used to describe only the very tip of the atrium. The right atrium receives unoxygenated blood from the body. The left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the lungs. Capacity in adults is about 57 cc.
    Atrium
  19. The upper chamber in each side of the heart. Also called atrium.
    Auricle (aw're-kl)
  20. Sometimes called inter-auricular septum or inter-atrial septum. Muscular wall dividing left and right upper chambers of the heart which are called atria.
    Auricular septum
  21. The act of listening to sounds within the body, as with a stethoscope.
    Auscultation (aws-kul-ta'shun)
  22. Usually called mitral valve. A valve of two cusps or triangular segments located between the upper and lower chambers in the left side of the heart.
    Biscuspid valve
  23. The pressure of the blood in the arteries.
    1. Systolic pressure-when the heart muscle is contracted (systole).
    2. Diastolic pressure-when the heart muscle is relaxed between beats. blood pressure is generally expressed by two number, as 120/80, the first representing the systolic and the second is the diastolic pressure.
    Blood pressure
  24. Abnormally slow heart rate. Generally, anything below 60 beats per minute is considered bradycardia.
    Bradycardia (brad-e-kar'de-ah)
Author
shaketarenae
ID
147076
Card Set
ELECTROCARDIOLOGY
Description
HEART TERMS A AND B
Updated