| left | Of or pertaining to that side of the body in man on which the muscular action of the limbs is usually weaker than on the other side; opposed to right, when used in reference to a part of the body; as, the left ear. Also said of the corresponding side of the lower animals. Left bank of a river, that which is on the left hand of a person whose face is turned downstream. Left bower. See Bower. Left center, the members whose sympathies are, in the main, with the members of the Left, but who do not favor extreme courses, and on occasions vote with the government. They sit between the Center and the extreme Left. Over the left shoulder, or Over the left, an old but still current colloquialism, or slang expression, used as an aside to indicate insincerity, negation, or disbelief; as, he said it, and it is true, over the left. Origin: OE. Left, lift, luft; akin to Fries. Leeft, OD.lucht, luft; cf. AS.left (equiv. To L. Inanis), lyftadl palsy; or cf. AS.lf weak. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| left atrial pressure | <radiology> 15-20 mm Hg redistribution 20-25 interstitial oedema 25-30 airspace oedema (12 Dec 1998) |
| left atrioventricular valve | <anatomy, cardiology> The heart valve that divides the left atrium and left ventricle. During left atrial contraction, the mitral valve opens to allow blood to flow into the left ventricle. Upon closure, the mitral valve prohibits the regurgitation of blood back into the left atrium. The mitral valve is the only heart valve that has only 2 valve cusps (all others have 3). (13 Nov 1997) |
| left atrium | <anatomy> The thin-walled chamber of the heart which pumps blood into the left ventricle for ejection into the systemic circulation. (27 Sep 1997) |
| left auricular appendage | The small conical projection from the left atrium of the heart. Synonym: auricula sinistra, left auricular appendage. (05 Mar 2000) |
| left axis deviation | A mean electrical axis of the heart pointing to -30 |
| left branch | Of a pair of branches, the branch passing to the left side of the body, to the left member of a bilateral pair of structures, or to the left portion of an unpaired structure; the other member of the pair being a right branch. Synonym: ramus sinister. (05 Mar 2000) |
| left colic artery | <anatomy, artery> Origin, inferior mesenteric; distribution, descending colon and splenic flexure; anastomoses, middle colic, sigmoid. Synonym: arteria colica sinistra. (05 Mar 2000) |
| left colic flexure | The bend at the junction of the transverse and descending colon. Synonym: flexura coli sinistra, splenic flexure. (05 Mar 2000) |
| left colic lymph nodes | Small nodes along the left colic artery and its branches that drain the left flexure and upper part of the descending colon; efferent vessels pass to the inferior mesenteric nodes. Synonym: nodi lymphatici colici sinistri. (05 Mar 2000) |
| left coronary artery | <anatomy, artery> Origin, left aortic sinus; distribution, it divides into two major branches, an anterior interventricular which descends in the anterior interventricular sulcus, and a circumflex branch which passes to the diaphragmatic surface of the left ventricle; gives atrial, ventricular, and atrioventricular branches. Synonym: arteria coronaria sinistra. (05 Mar 2000) |
| left coronary artery branches | <radiology> Left anterior descending (LAD) artery, diagonal branches, septal branches (short br. at 90' angle), left circumflex artery (LCA), obtuse marginal branches (12 Dec 1998) |
| left crus of atrioventricular bundle | The left leg or branch of the atrioventricular bundle which separates from the atrioventricular bundle just below the membranous portion of the interventricular septum to descend the septal wall of the left ventricle and begins to ramify subendocardially. Synonym: crus sinistrum fasciculi atrioventricularis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| left crus of diaphragm | The muscular origin of the diaphragm from the upper two or three lumbar vertebrae that ascends to the left of the aorta to reach the central tendon. Synonym: crus sinistrum diaphragmatis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| left duct of caudate lobe | A tributary to the left hepatic duct draining bile from the left half of the caudate lobe. Synonym: ductus lobi caudati sinister. (05 Mar 2000) |