Medical Terminology - Chapter 5: Cardiovascular System (PT702)

29 flashcards · Biology · by Jack Shi

COMBINING FORMS angi/o, vas/o, vascul/o = vessel aort/o = aorta arteri/o = artery ather/o = fatty (lipid) paste atri/o = atrium cardi/o = heart coron/o = circle or crown my/o = muscle pector/o, steth/o = chest sphygm/o = pulse thromb/o = clot ven/o, phleb/o = vein varic/o = swollen, twisted vein ventricul/o = ventricle (belly or pouch)
A cardiologist is a physician who specializes in the study of the heart.
Formed from angi/o, an angiogram is an x-ray record of a blood vessel.
A vasospasm is an involuntary contraction of a blood vessel.
Cardiology is the medical specialty dealing with the study of the heart.
Thromb/o, the combining form meaning clot, is the subject of thrombolysis, a term referring to the breaking down or dissolution of a clot or clots.
Someone with a congenital ventricular defect is born with an imperfection of a ventricle in the heart. (The combining form in this term is ventricul/o.) That person would likely be under the care of a cardiologist.
Atherosclerosis is a condition in which hardened fatty or lipid paste builds up inside blood vessels.
A phlebotomist is someone trained to draw blood samples from the veins. This term comes from the combining form phleb/o, meaning vein.
Varicose veins, from the combining form varic/o, are so named because they are swollen and twisted.
Veins (named from the combining form ven/o) return blood to the heart from all around the body. Based on the root arteri/o, arteries carry blood in the other direction (from the heart to the body or lungs).
The heart is located in the chest, behind the area of the pectoral muscle. The pectoral muscles get their name from the combining form pector/o, which means chest. Another combining form that means chest is steth/o, which is the subject of the term stethoscope, an instrument used to listen to the heart or to breathing within the chest.
The heart has four chambers: two ventricles and two atria, which is the plural form of atrium. Atrium comes from the combining form atri/o, and ventricle comes from the combining form ventricul/o.
The aorta, from the combining form aort/o, is the large blood vessel through which blood leaves the heart for delivery to all parts of the body. The coronary arteries branch from the aorta and supply the heart’s muscular tissue, or the myocardium, with blood.The original meaning of coron/o refers to a circle or crown. The coronary arteries are so named because they seem to encircle the heart like a crown.
Each beat of the heart produces a pulse. The combining form that means pulse is sphygm/o. This is the key combining form in the term sphygmomanometer, an instrument that measures blood pressure (BP) based on its pressurized pulse through an artery. Arteries and veins are the two types of larger blood vessels. Along with the capillaries, they are sometimes referred to collectively as the vasculature, from the combining form vascul/o, meaning vessel.
KNOW THESE TERMS endocardium = membrane lining the cavities of the heart myocardium = heart muscle hypotension = low blood pressure hypertension = high blood pressure arrythmia = any of several kinds of irregularity or loss of rhythm of the heartbeat bradycardia = slow heart rate (less than 60 beats/minute) tachycardia = fast heart rate (greater than 100 beats/minute) cardiomyopathy = a general term for disease of the heart muscle, such as alcoholic cardiomyopathy (damage to the heart muscle ca…
SYMPTOMATIC TERMS aneurysm = a widening; a bulging of the wall of the heart, aorta, or artery caused by a congenital defect or acquired weakness saccular aneurysm = a sac-like bulge on one side fusiform aneurysm = a spindle-shaped bulge dissecting aneurysm = a split or tear of the vessel wall angina pectoris = chest pain caused by a temporary loss of oxygenated blood to heart muscle; often caused by narrowing of the coronary arteries (angina = to choke) arteriosclerosis = thickening, loss of el…
Scler/o, a combining form meaning hard, is a key component in the term arteriosclerosis, which refers to thickening, loss of elasticity, and hardening of artery or arterial walls. Ather/o, a combining form meaning fatty or lipid paste, is used in the term that specifically describes a condition or increase of hardened fatty substances built up within the walls of arteries: atherosclerosis.
An embolus is a clot of any sort carried in the bloodstream that obstructs the flow of blood when it lodges. A thrombus, on the other hand, is a stationary blood clot.
Blood flow through a vessel can be affected by various kinds of restrictions. A condition or increase of narrowing is called stenosis. Stenotic conditions can be the result of a constriction or compression of a vessel. A buildup of atherosclerotic substances can also cause stenosis, a condition of narrowing. An occlusion, which is the plugging or obstruction of a vessel, also might occur.
If blood flow is reduced to tissue, ischemia occurs. When diagnostic tests detect the lack of blood flow from a vessel to tissue cells, it is called a perfusion deficit. Perfusion refers to tissues with an adequate circulation of blood.
A heart condition of chest pain may occur when a temporary or transient restriction of blood flow to heart muscle occurs, which is called angina pectoris. Recall that the combining form pector/o refers to the chest. Therefore, this chest pain is called angina pectoris.
When prolonged or total ischemia occurs in an area, tissue death or necrosis results. The area of scarring from necrosis is called an infarct.
An aneurysm can occur in the heart or a blood vessel because of a weakness in the wall.This causes the wall to bulge or widen.The type of aneurysm with a sac-like bulge is called a saccular aneurysm. If the bulge causes a split or tear of the vessel wall, it is called a dissecting aneurysm. The bulge of a fusiform aneurysm is spindle-shaped.
Various symptoms help cardiologists to determine what condition a patient is experiencing. Claudication is pain in a limb, sometimes causing a limp, that results during movement because of an inadequate blood supply to the limb.
The subjective symptom of the heart pounding, skipping, or racing is called palpitation. Be careful not to confuse this term with palpation, the word meaning to touch or feel.
Sweating brought on by physical activity or a high temperature environment is perfectly normal; however, profuse sweating, known as diaphoresis, accompanied by chest pain, shortness of breath, or heart palpitations, is a significant symptom of heart disease.
The physician, when listening to the heart through a stethoscope, might hear an abnormal sound, called a heart murmur, which is produced by a defect in the heart chambers or valves.
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ACE = angiotensin-converting enzyme ACS = acute coronary syndrome ASD = atrial septal defect AV = atrioventricular BP = blood pressure *CABG = coronary artery bypass graft CAD = coronary artery disease *CHF = congestive heart failure CO = cardiac output *CTA = computed tomographic angiography DVT = deep vein thrombosis ECG or EKG = electrocardiogram ECHO = echocardiography EPS = electrophysiological study HTN = hypertension *ICD = implantable cardioverter defibrillato…