| ACF | accessory clinical findings; acute care facility; anterior cervical fusion; area correction factor; ... |
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| ADP | adenopathy; adenosine diphosphate; administrative psychiatry; approved drug product; area diastolic ... |
| AGA | accelerated growth area; allergic granulomatosis and angiitis; American Gastroenterological Associat... |
| AHEA | area health education activity |
| AHEC | area health education center |
| valvular aortic stenosis | <radiology> Secondary to fusion of commisures between cusps types: bicuspid/unicuspid (95%): in 1-2% of population; M>F; commonly associated with coarctation, tricuspid (5%), dysplastic thickened aortic cusps in infants with crtical aortic stenosis: may stimulate neonatal sepsis, associated with L-R shunts (atrial septal defect, VSD), marked CMG (thickened wall of LV), pulmonary venous hypertension, congestive heart failure child/adult: LV configuration with normal heart size, postenotic dilatation, calcified valve (60% of patients greater than24 y.o.) see: aortic stenosis (12 Dec 1998) |
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| para-aortic bodies | Small masses of chromaffin cells found near the sympathetic ganglia along the abdominal aorta. They serve as chemoreceptors responsive to oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen ion concentration, and help to control respiration. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cervical aortic knuckle | An anomalous aortic arch in which the aorta extends into the neck and forms an anteroposterior arch, which may be as high as the hyoid bone; the common carotid artery of one side is given off from the summit of the arch, and the common carotid of the other side arises from the more proximal part of the aorta; the pulsating arch may be mistaken for an aneurysm, but the radial pulses are equal. (05 Mar 2000) |
| right aortic arch | <radiology> Types: mirror image branching (95% most likely to be congenital ht disease), 90% tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) (25%) ** decreased PBF, 2.5% truncus (30-50%) ** increased PBF, 1.5% transposition (TGV) (5%), aberrant left subclavian artery (5% most likely to be congenital heart disease) (12 Dec 1998) |
| Sibson's aortic vestibule | Synonym: aortic vestibule. (05 Mar 2000) |
| subvalvular aortic stenosis | <radiology> Types: anatomic/fixed subaortic stenosis: associated with cardiac defects in 50% (usually VSD), functional/dynamic subartic stenosis: asymetrical septal hypertrophy (ASH), idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (IHSS), hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) findings: asymmetrically thicker ventricular septum than free wall of the left ventricle (95%), normal/small left and right ventricular cavities (95%), systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve, lucent subaortic filling defect in systole, coarse systolic flutter of valve cusps, may see mitral regurgitation (secondary to abnormal position of anterolateral pappilary muscle) see: aortic stenosis (12 Dec 1998) |
| supravalvar aortic stenosis-infantile hypercalcaemia syndrome | <syndrome> Supravalvar aortic stenosis associated with elfin facies, mental retardation, and hypercalcaemia; usually sporadic; perhaps an irregular dominant trait. (05 Mar 2000) |
| supravalvar aortic stenosis syndrome | <syndrome> Supravalvar aortic stenosis (usually membranous) sometimes associated with pulmonary valvular or peripheral arterial stenosis but with normal facies and mentality; autosomal dominant inheritance. Compare: Williams syndrome. (05 Mar 2000) |
| supravalvular aortic stenosis | <radiology> Types: localised hourglass narrowing just above aortic sinuses, discrete fibrous membrane above sinuses of Valsalva, diffuse tubular hypoplasia of ascending aorta and branching arteries associated with: peripheral pulmonary stenosis, valvular and discrete subvalvular aortic stenosis, Marfan syndrome, Williams syndrome findings: dilatation and tortuosity of coronary arteries (may undergo early atherosclerotic degeneration secondary to high pressure), narrowing of the supravalvular area (normal root diameter: 20-37mm), normal movement of cusps (12 Dec 1998) |
| double aortic arch | Congenital malformation of the aorta that splits and has a right and a left arch instead of a single arch. (05 Mar 2000) |
| double aortic stenosis | Subaortic stenosis associated with stenosis of the valve itself, both lesions being congenital. (05 Mar 2000) |
| intra-aortic balloon | An externally and intermittently inflatable balloon placed into the descending aorta and which, on activation during diastole, augments blood pressure and organ perfusion by its pulsatile thrust; then, on deflation, decreases the cardiac work with each systole-the so-called counterpulsation principle-by reducing cardiac afterload. (05 Mar 2000) |
| intra-aortic balloon pump | <cardiology, equipment> A device which is threaded into the aorta that augments the strength of the hearts contraction. The counter pulsation, produced by the inflation of a balloon within the aorta, provides an rhythmic increase in aortic pressures. The net effect is an increase in coronary artery blood flow. Intra-aortic balloon pump is a temporary lifesaving measure that is used to treat severe cardiac damage due to a massive heart attack. (27 Sep 1997) |
| intra-aortic balloon pumping | Counterpulsation in which a pumping unit synchronised with the patient's electrocardiogram rapidly fills a balloon in the aorta with helium or carbon dioxide in early diastole and evacuates the balloon at the onset of systole. As the balloon inflates, it raises aortic diastolic pressure, and as it deflates, it lowers aortic systolic pressure. The result is a decrease in left ventricular work and increased myocardial and peripheral perfusion. (12 Dec 1998) |
| thoracic aortic aneurysm | <radiology> Normal size: 4-5 cm, most aneurysms rupture when more than 10 cm, mean age: 65 years; M:F = 3:1 associated with: hypertension, coronary artery disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm symptoms: substernal, back, shoulder pain (25%), superior vena cava syndrome, dysphagia, stridor, dyspnea, hoarseness see: aortic aneurysm (12 Dec 1998) |