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51 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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AAA |
Abdominal aortic aneurysm |
when the large blood vessel (aorta) that supplies blood to the abdomen, pelvis, and legs becomes abnormally large or balloons outward |
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ABG |
Arterial blood gas |
a test that measures the acidity (pH) and levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood from an artery |
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ABx |
Antibiotic |
an agent that either kills or inhibits the growth of a microorganism |
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ACE |
Angiotensin-converting Enzyme |
indirectly increases blood pressure by causing blood vessels to constrict |
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ACEi |
Angiotensin-converting Enzyme inhibitor |
helps relax blood vessels by preventing ACE from producing angiotensin II |
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ACP |
Advance Care Plan |
a legal document in which a person specifies what actions should be taken for their health if they are no longer able to make decisions for themselves because of illness or incapacity |
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ACS |
Acute Coronary Syndrome |
any group of symptoms attributed to obstruction of the coronary arteries (i.e. chest pain, shortness of breath, jaw pain, left arm pain, nausea, and diaphoresis) |
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ADAT |
Advance diet as tolerated |
progress the level of diet as tolerated by the patient |
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AF/Afib |
Atrial Fibrillation |
a type of abnormal hearth rhythm, often associated with palpitations, fainting, chest pain, or CHF |
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AICD |
Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator |
a combined cardioverter and defibrillator implantable unit which detects a cardiac arrhythmia and corrects it by delivering a brief electrical impulse to the heart |
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AKI |
Acute Kidney Injury |
an abrupt loss of kidney function that develops within 7 days |
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ALT |
Alanine transaminase |
a liver enzyme of the transaminase family, usually used as part of a diagnostic evaluation of hepatocellular injury to determine liver health |
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A&O |
Alert and Oriented |
fully awake patient who is aware, usually of their person, where they are, and what the date is |
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ANA |
Antinuclear antibody |
antibodies that bind to contents of the cell nucleus, usually the name of a test used to detect an autoimmune disease, although nonspecific |
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ANCA |
Antinuclear Cytoplasmic Antibody |
a group of antibodies, mainly of the IgG type, detected as a blood test in a number of autoimmune disorders, but particularly associated with systemic vasculitis |
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ARB |
Angiotensin Receptor Blocker |
a drug mainly used int he treatment of hypertension, especially in patients intolerant of ACE inhibitory therapy; also used int eh treatment of diabetic nephropathy and congestive heart failure |
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ARF |
Acute Renal Failure |
an abrupt loss of kidney function that develops within 7 days |
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ASA |
Acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) |
used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, an antipyretic to reduce fever, an anti-inflammatory, and it also has an antiplatelet effect used at low dose to help prevent heart attack, stroke, and blood clots |
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AST |
Aspartate Transaminase |
an enzyme commonly measured clinically as a marker for liver health |
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ATN |
Acute Tubular Necrosis |
a medical condition involving the death of tubular epithelial cells that form the renal tubules of the kidney |
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BB |
Beta Blocker |
a class of drugs that target the beta receptors, particularly used for the management of cardiac arrhythmias, protecting the heart from a second heart attack after a first heart attack, and hypertension |
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BiPAP |
Bilevel positive airway pressure |
a name for continuous positive airway pressure with pressure support breaths, used during noninvasive positive pressure ventilation |
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BMI |
Body mass index |
a measure of relative weight based on an individual's mass and height; the measure is usually used in determining how much an individual's body weight departs from what is normal or desirable for a person of his or her height |
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BMP |
Basic Metabolic Panel |
a set of common blood tests, usually 7-8 in number, which serves as an initial broad medical screening tool |
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BNP |
Brain Natriuretic Peptide |
an amino acid polypeptide secreted by the ventricles of the heart in response to excessive stretching of heart muscle cells |
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BP |
Blood Pressure |
the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels and one of the principal vital signs |
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BPH |
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia |
a benign increase in size of the prostate |
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bpm |
Beats per minute |
a measure of the speed of the heartbeat |
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BS |
Bowel sounds |
Noises produced by the movement of the contents of the gastrointestinal tract |
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BUN |
Blood Urea Nitrogen |
a lab value used in the indication of renal health |
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Bx |
Biopsy |
a medical test involving the sampling of cells or tissues for examination |
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CABG |
Coronary Artery Bypass Graft |
a surgical procedure performed to relieve angina and reduce the risk of death from coronary heart disease; a vessel from elsewhere in the body is graft to the coronary arteries to bypass artherosclerotic narrowings and improve the blood supply to the myocardium |
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CAD |
Coronary Artery Disease |
a disease caused by plaque building up along the inner walls of the arteries of the heart, thereby narrowing arteries and reducing blood flow to the heart itself; it is the most common type of heart disease and cause of heart attacks |
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CBC |
Complete Blood Count |
a blood panel that gives information about the cells in a patient's blood |
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CC |
Chief Complaint |
a concise statement describing the symptom, problem, condition, diagnosis, physician recommended return, or other factor that is the reason for a medical encounter |
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CHF |
Chronic Heart Failure/Congestive Heart Failure |
a condition in which the heart is unable to pump sufficiently to maintain blood flow to meet the needs of the body |
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CK |
Creatine Kinase |
an enzyme expressed by various tissues and cell types; monitored in a test which measures the amount of the protein in a patient's blood; elevated levels usually indicate damage to muscle or heart damage |
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CKD |
Chronic Kidney Disease |
a progressive loss in renal function over a period of months or years |
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CK-MB |
Creatinine Kinase Myocardial Band Fraction |
a cardiac marker used to assist diagnoses or an acute myocardial infarction |
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CMP |
Complete Metabolic Panel |
similar to the basic metabolic panel, a panel of 14 blood tests which serves as an initial broad medical screening tool |
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CN I-XIII |
Cranial nerves 1-12 |
part of the neurological examination of a physical exam |
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COPD |
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease |
a type of obstructive lung disease characterized by chronically poor airflow, usually worsening over time |
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CPAP |
Continuous positive airway pressure |
a device which uses continuous positive pressure to maintain a continuous level of positive airway pressure in a spontaneously breathing patient; often used while sleeping in patients with sleep apnea |
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Cr |
Creatinine |
a breakdown of creatine phosphate in muscle which is usually produced at a fairly constant rate by the body, the measurement of which is an important indicator of renal health |
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CRF |
Chronic Renal Failure |
a progressive loss in renal function over a period of months or years |
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CRP |
C-reactive protein |
an annular protein found in the blood plasma which rise in response to inflammation |
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CT |
Compute Tomography |
computer processed x-ray which produces tomographic images of specific areas of the canned object |
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CTA |
Clear to auscultation |
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CVA |
Cerebrovascular Accident |
another name for a stroke, a loss of brain function
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Cx |
Circumflex artery |
an artery of the heart |
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CXR |
Chest x-ray |
a projection radiograph of the chest used to diagnose conditions affecting the chest, its contents, and nearby structures |
