Canadian Medical Guide > Diseases > Cardiovascular Diseases > Heart Diseases Terms and Definitions
Heart Diseases
Medical Definition: | |
Guide Notes: | usually dis of function: differentiate from MYOCARDIAL DISEASES, dis of myocardial tissue (see note there); cyanotic heart dis is probably HEART DEFECTS, CONGENITAL & not CYANOSIS unless especially discussed; parasitic dis of the heart: coord PARASITIC DI |
Arrhythmia - Any variation from the normal rhythm or rate of the heart beat. | |
Cardiac Output, High - A state of elevated cardiac output. Conditions that lower peripheral vascular resistance, such as anemia, arteriovenous fistulas, thyrotoxicosis, and pregnancy, are among the most important factors augmenting the venous return and therefore elevating cardiac output. Increased cardiac output also occurs in muscular exercise, fever, and severe anoxia. | |
Cardiac Output, Low - A state of subnormal or depressed cardiac output, usually seen in patients with heart failure secondary to coronary artery, hypertensive, primary myocardial, valvular, or pericardial disease. | |
Cardiac Tamponade | |
Cardiomegaly - Hypertrophy or enlargement of the heart. | |
Endocarditis - Exudative and proliferative inflammatory alterations of the endocardium, characterized by the presence of vegetations on the surface of the endocardium or in the endocardium itself, and most commonly involving a heart valve, but sometimes affecting the inner lining of the cardiac chambers or the endocardium elsewhere. It may occur as a primary disorder or as a complication of or in association with another disease. (Dorland, 27th ed) | |
Heart Aneurysm - An aneurysmal dilatation of a portion of the wall of the ventricle, usually the left, or, rarely, a saccular protrusion through it (false aneurysm of the heart). It is usually consequent to myocardial infarction but other causes such as bacterial endocarditis or trauma have been described. (Dorland, 28th ed) | |
Heart Arrest - Cessation of the heart beat. | |
Heart Failure, Congestive - A complication of HEART DISEASES. Defective cardiac filling and/or impaired contraction and emptying, resulting in the heart's inability to pump a sufficient amount of blood to meet the needs of the body tissues or to be able to do so only with an elevated filling pressure. (from Braunwald, Heart Disease, 5th ed) | |
Heart Rupture - Laceration or tearing of the walls of the heart, of the interatrial or interventricular septum, of the papillary muscles or chordae tendineae, or of any of the valves of the heart. Rupture may be due to a variety of pathological entities, however, the majority are secondary to myocardial infarction (HEART RUPTURE, POST-INFARCTION). | |
Heart Valve Diseases - Diseases caused by or resulting in abnormal functioning of heart valves. | |
Myocardial Diseases - Diseases of the myocardium. | |
Myocardial Ischemia - A disorder of cardiac function caused by insufficient blood flow to the muscle tissue of the heart. The decreased blood flow may be due to narrowing of the coronary arteries (CORONARY ARTERIOSCLEROSIS), to obstruction by a thrombus (CORONARY THROMBOSIS), or less commonly, to diffuse narrowing of arterioles and other small vessels within the heart. Severe interruption of the blood supply to the myocardial tissue may result in necrosis of cardiac muscle (MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION). | |
Pericardial Effusion - Presence of fluid within the pericardium. | |
Pericarditis - Inflammation of the pericardium. (Dorland, 27th ed) | |
Pneumopericardium | |
Postpericardiotomy Syndrome - A febrile illness associated with pericardial and sometimes pleuropulmonary reaction that often follows extensive pericardiotomy. | |
Pulmonary Heart Disease | |
Ventricular Dysfunction - A condition in which the ventricles of the heart exhibit a decreased functionality. | |
Ventricular Outflow Obstruction - Occlusion of the ventricular outflow or inflow tract on either side of the heart. It may result from a congenital defect or predisposing heart disease, or as a complication of surgery or tumors of the heart or its vessels. |
Heart Diseases Medical Definitions and Terms
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