| cardiac catheter | <cardiology> A catheter that can be passed into the heart through a vein or artery, to withdraw samples of blood, measure pressures within the heart's chambers or great vessels, and inject contrast media. It is used mainly in the diagnosis and evaluation of congenital, rheumatic, and coronary artery lesions and to evaluate systolic and diastolic cardiac function. Synonym: cardiac catheter. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| cardiac catheterisation | Cardiac catheterisation has given physicians the opportunity to directly diagnose and ascertain the extent of coronary artery occlusive disease. Using this procedure, physicians can make more accurate decisions concerning the best form of treatment for each patients condition. Cardiac catheterisation involves the placement of a thin flexible, hollow tube into the femoral artery in the groin. From here, the catheter is advanced under X-ray guidance (fluoroscopy) through the aorta to the heart. Radiopaque contrast, injected into the coronary arteries (as they branch off the aorta) will serve to highlight the course of these vessels when an X-ray is performed. Any coronary blockage or narrowing can be detected using this procedure. (27 Sep 1997) |
| cardiac cell | Strictly speaking any cell of or derived form the cardium of the heart, but often used loosely of heart cells. (18 Nov 1997) |
| cardiac cirrhosis | An extensive fibrotic reaction within the liver as a result of chronic constrictive pericarditis or prolonged congestive heart failure; true cirrhosis with fibrous bridging of lobules is unusual. Synonym: cardiac liver, congestive cirrhosis, pseudocirrhosis, stasis cirrhosis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiac competence | Ability of the ventricles to pump the blood returning to the atria, so that atrial pressure does not rise abnormally. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiac complexes, premature | Premature contractions of the heart that are independent of the normal rhythm and arise in response to an impulse in some part of the heart other than the sinoatrial node. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cardiac contractility | A measure of cardiac pump performance, the degree to which muscle fibres can shorten when activated by a stimulus independent of preload and afterload. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiac cycle | The complete round of cardiac systole and diastole with the intervals between, or commencing with, any event in the heart's action to the moment when that same event is repeated. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiac decompression | Incision into the pericardium or aspiration of fluid from pericardium to relieve pressure due to blood or other fluid in the pericardial sac. Synonym: pericardial decompression. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiac depressor reflex | A fall in blood pressure due to peripheral vasodilation and cardiac inhibition by stimulations of terminations of a cardiac depressor nerve in the aortic arch and base of the heart. Synonym: aortic reflex, depressor reflex. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiac diuretic | A diuretic which acts by increasing function of the heart, and thereby improves renal perfusion. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiac dropsy | Oedema due to heart failure. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiac dyspnea | Shortness of breath of cardiac origin. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiac dysrhythmia | Any abnormality in the rate, regularity, or sequence of cardiac activation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiac enlargement | A compensatory enlargement in the heart that is often secondary to underlying disease (heart valve disorder, high blood pressure, diabetes). (27 Sep 1997) |