| apex of heart | The blunt extremity of the heart formed by the left ventricle. See: apex beat. Synonym: apex cordis, vertex cordis. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| armored heart | Calcareous deposits in the pericardium due to subacute or chronic pericarditis. Synonym: panzerherz. (05 Mar 2000) |
| armor heart | Extensive to complete calcification (rarely ossification) of the pericardium usually producing constrictive pericarditis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial heart | A mechanical pump used to replace the function of a damaged heart, either temporarily or as a permanent prosthesis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial heart valve | <cardiology> A synthetic or porcine (pigskin) valve surgically placed into the heart to replace a defective or malfunctioning valve. The aortic and mitral valves are the most frequently replaced with artificial valves. (27 Sep 1997) |
| athlete's heart | A more or less loose designation for cardiac findings in healthy athletes that would be or could be abnormal in patients with disease, including atrioventricular blocks, left ventricular hypertrophy and, sometimes, benign arrhythmias and atrioventricular blocks. (05 Mar 2000) |
| athletic heart | Hypertrophy of the heart supposedly due to systematic athletic conditioning. (05 Mar 2000) |
| atrium of heart | The upper chamber of each half of the heart. Synonym: atrium cordis, atrium. Left atrium of heart, atrium of the left side of the heart which receives the blood from the pulmonary veins. Synonym: atrium sinistrum cordis, atrium pulmonale. (05 Mar 2000) |
| backward heart failure | A concept (formerly considered mutually exclusive of forward heart failure) that maintains that the phenomena of congestive heart failure result from passive engorgement of the veins caused by a "backward" rise in pressure proximal to the failing cardiac chambers. Compare: forward heart failure. (05 Mar 2000) |
| baseline foetal heart rate | <paediatrics> The average heart rate for a particular foetus during the diastolic phase of uterine contractions. (05 Mar 2000) |
| baseline variability of foetal heart rate | The beat-to-beat changes in foetal heart rate as recorded on a graph. (05 Mar 2000) |
| base of heart | That part of the heart that lies opposite the apex, formed mainly by the left atrium but to a small extent by the posterior part of the right atrium; it is directed backward and to the right and is separated from the vertebral column by the oesophagus and aorta. Synonym: basis cordis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| beer heart | <cardiology, pathology> A weakness of the cardiac muscle which is seen in some chronic alcoholics, may be related to a thiamin deficiency or occur for unknown reasons. Origin: Gr. Pathos = disease (27 Sep 1997) |
| beriberi heart | Heart disease due to thiamine deficiency that may be epidemic or sporadic as characterised by cardiac metabolic damage and myocardial failure, often of the "high output" type, with oedema (except in "dry" beri) and polyneuritis. The term is derived from Singhalese, "I am unable." (05 Mar 2000) |
| biopsy, heart | <investigation, procedure, surgery> A procedure which involves the removal of a small specimen of cardiac muscle tissue for microscopic analysis. This is generally performed at the same time as a cardiac catheterisation or as a very similar, yet separate, procedure. A small piece of heart tissue is taken via a small forceps inserted into the cardiac catheter site (usually threaded through a vein in the neck). This test may reveal the cause of a cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, amyloidosis or a heart transplant rejection. (21 Mar 1998) |