Flashcards For Cardiovascular Disease

Front 1

Preload

Back 1

The pressure stretching the ventricle of the heart, after passive filling of the ventricle and subsequent atrial contraction. If the chamber is not mentioned, it is usually assumed to be the left ventricle.

Front 2

Afterload

Back 2

The force against which cardiac muscle shortens: in isolated muscle, the force resisting shortening after the muscle is stimulated to contract; in the intact heart, the pressure against which the ventricle ejects blood.

Front 3

Aneurysm

Back 3

An aneurysm is an abnormal widening or ballooning of a portion of an artery due to weakness in the wall of the blood vessel.

Front 4

Stable Angina

Back 4

Stable angina is chest pain or discomfort that typically occurs with activity or stress. The pain usually begins slowly and gets worse over the next few minutes before going away. It quickly goes away with medication or rest, but may happen again with additional activity or stress.

Front 5

Unstable Angina

Back 5

Unstable angina is a condition in which your heart doesn't get enough blood flow and oxygen. It is a prelude to a heart attack. Most people experience a feeling of chest discomfort or shortness of breath

Front 6

Variant Angina/Printzmetal’s Angina

Back 6

Prinzmetal's angina, also known as variant angina or angina inversa, is a syndrome typically consisting of angina (cardiac chest pain) at rest that occurs in cycles. It is caused by vasospasm, a narrowing of the coronary arteries caused by contraction of the smooth muscle tissue in the vessel walls rather than directly by atherosclerosis (buildup of fatty plaque and hardening of the arteries).

Front 7

Angina pectoris

Back 7

Angina pectoris, commonly known as angina, is severe chest pain due to ischemia (a lack of blood and hence oxygen supply) of the heart muscle, generally due to obstruction or spasm of the coronary arteries (the heart's blood vessels).

Front 8

Arrhythmia/ dysrhythmia

Back 8

Cardiac dysrhythmia (also known as arrhythmia) is a term for any of a large and heterogeneous group of conditions in which there is abnormal electrical activity in the heart. The heart beat may be too fast or too slow, and may be regular or irregular

Front 9

Arteriosclerosis

Back 9

Arteriolosclerosis is any hardening (and loss of elasticity) of large arteries and arterioles (small arteries). It is often due to hypertension.

Front 10

Atherosclerosis

Back 10

Atherosclerosis is a hardening of an artery specifically due to an atheromatous plaque. Atherosclerosis is the most common form of arteriosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is characterized by a thickening of the intima with plaques that can contain lipid-laden macrophages ("foam cells"). The plaques contain free lipid (cholesterol, etc.) and are prone to calcification and ulceration.

Front 11

Atheroma

Back 11

A fatty deposit in the intima (inner lining) of an artery, resulting from atherosclerosis. Also called an atherosclerotic plaque, arterial plaque or, simply, a plaque.

Front 12

Atherogenesis

Back 12

The process of forming atheromas, plaques in the inner lining (the intima) of arteries.

Front 13

Cardiac tamponade

Back 13

Cardiac tamponade is the compression of the heart that occurs when blood or fluid builds up in the space between the myocardium (the muscle of the heart) and the pericardium (the outer covering sac of the heart).

Front 14

Cardiomyopathy

Back 14

Cardiomyopathy is a weakening of the heart muscle or a change in heart muscle structure. It is often associated with inadequate heart pumping or other heart function problems.

Front 15

Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Back 15

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the heart becomes weakened and enlarged, and it cannot pump blood efficiently. The decreased heart function can affect the lungs, liver, and other body systems. Most common type of Cardiomyopathy.

Front 16

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Back 16

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes thick. The thickening makes it harder for blood to leave the heart, forcing the heart to work harder to pump blood.

Front 17

Restrictive Cardiomyopathy

Back 17

Restrictive cardiomyopathy refers to a group of disorders in which the heart chambers are unable to properly fill with blood because of stiffness in the heart.

Front 18

Chronic venous insufficiency

Back 18

Arteries bring oxygen-rich blood from your heart to the rest of your body and veins return oxygen-poor blood back to your heart. When your leg veins cannot pump enough blood back to your heart, you have chronic venous insufficiency (CVI).

Front 19

Collateral circulation

Back 19

This is a process in which small (normally closed) arteries open up and connect two larger arteries or different parts of the same artery. They can serve as alternate routes of blood supply.

Back 21

Everyone has collateral vessels, at least in microscopic form. These vessels normally aren't open. However, they grow and enlarge in some people with coronary heart disease or other blood vessel disease (such as in the case of stroke). While everyone has collateral vessels, they don't open in all people.

Front 22

Congestive heart failure

Back 22

Heart failure, also called congestive heart failure, is a condition in which the heart can no longer pump enough blood to the rest of the body.

Front 23

Cor pulmonale

Back 23

Cor pulmonale is failure of the right side of the heart brought on by long-term high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries and right ventricle of the heart.

Front 24

Embolus/embolism

Back 24

Embolism (plural embolisms; from the Greek "insertion") occurs when an object (the embolus, plural emboli; from the Greek "clot, lit. ram") migrates from one part of the body (through circulation) and causes a blockage (occlusion) of a blood vessel in another part of the body.

Front 25

Fatty streak

Back 25

A flat yellow streak in the artery composed of lipid filled foamy macrophages. Can progress to atherosclerotic plaque.  

Front 26

Hyperlipidemia

Back 26

Is the presence of raised or abnormal levels of lipids and/or lipoproteins in the blood

Front 27

Hypertriglyceridemia

Back 27

Denotes high (hyper-) blood levels (-emia) of triglycerides, the most abundant fatty molecule in most organisms. It has been associated with atherosclerosis

Front 28

Hypercholesteremia

Back 28

Is the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood

Front 29

Hypertension

Back 29

High blood pressure

Front 30

Primary hypertension

Back 30

High blood pressure not caused by any medical condition

Front 31

Secondary hypertension

Back 31

Indicates that the high blood pressure is a result of (i.e., secondary to) another condition.

Front 32

Malignant hypertension

Back 32

Malignant hypertension is a sudden and rapid development of extremely high blood pressure. The lower (diastolic) blood pressure reading, which is normally around 80 mmHg, is often above 130 mmHg.

Front 33

Pregnancy-induced hypertension

Back 33

High blood pressure when you are pregnant.

Front 34

Isolated systolic hypertension

Back 34

When only your systolic blood pressure is high (more than 140 mmhg.

Front 35

Concentric hypertrophy

Back 35

Hypertrophic growth of a hollow organ without overall enlargement, in which the walls of the organ are thickened and its capacity or volume is diminished.

Front 36

Eccentric hypertrophy

Back 36

Hypertrophic growth of the walls of a hollow organ, especially the heart, in which the overall size and volume are enlarged

Front 37

Hypotension

Back 37

Low blood pressure, or hypotension, occurs when blood pressure during and after each heartbeat is much lower than usual. This means the heart, brain, and other parts of the body do not get enough blood.

Front 38

Orthostatic hypotension

Back 38

as head rush or a dizzy spell and to some people "the elevator effect") is a form of hypotension in which a person's blood pressure suddenly falls when the person stands up. The decrease is typically greater than 20/10 mm Hg,[2] and may be most pronounced after resting.

Front 39

Insufficiency

Back 39

Aortic insufficiency (AI), also known as aortic regurgitation (AR), is the leaking of the aortic valve of the heart that causes blood to flow in the reverse direction during ventricular diastole, from the aorta into the left ventricle.

Front 40

Myocardial Infarction

Back 40

Commonly known as a heart attack, is the interruption of blood supply to part of the heart, causing some heart cells to die. This is most commonly due to occlusion (blockage) of a coronary artery following the rupture of a vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque.

Front 41

Myocarditis

Back 41

The central feature of myocarditis is an infection of the heart, with an inflammatory infiltrate, and damage to the heart muscle, without the blockage of coronary arteries that define a heart attack (myocardial infarction) or other common non-infectious causes. Myocarditis may or may not include death (necrosis) of heart tissue.

Front 42

Natriuresis

Back 42

The process of excretion of sodium in the urine via action of the kidneys. Natriuresis is promoted (more sodium is excreted) by Brain and Atrial natriuretic peptides, and it is inhibited (sodium is conserved) by chemicals such as aldosterone. Natriuresis lowers the concentration of sodium in the blood and also tends to lower blood volume because osmotic forces make water follow sodium out of the body's blood circulation and into the urine.

Front 43

Nephropathy

Back 43

damage to or disease of the kidney

Front 44

Occlusion

Back 44

The term is often used to refer to blood vessels, arteries or veins which have become totally blocked to any blood flow.

Front 45

Oliguria

Back 45

decreased production of urine. The decreased production of urine may be a sign of dehydration, renal failure, hypovolemic shock, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, or urinary obstruction/urinary retention.

Front 46

Orthopnea

Back 46

shortness of breath (dyspnea) which occurs when lying flat, causing the person to have to sleep propped up in bed or sitting in a chair.

Front 47

Paroxysmal Nocturnal Dyspnea ("PND")

Back 47

defined as sudden, severe shortness of breath at night that awakens a person from sleep, often with coughing and wheezing. It is most closely associated with congestive heart failure.

Front 48

Pericarditis

Back 48

inflammation (-itis) of the pericardium (the fibrous sac surrounding the heart).

Front 49

Pericardial Effusion

Back 49

("fluid around the heart") is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the pericardial cavity. Because of the limited amount of space in the pericardial cavity, fluid accumulation will lead to an increased intrapericardial pressure and this can negatively affect heart function.

Front 50

Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD)

Back 50

Includes all diseases caused by the obstruction of large arteries in the arms and legs. PVD can result from atherosclerosis, inflammatory processes leading to stenosis, an embolism, or thrombus formation. It causes either acute or chronic ischemia (lack of blood supply), typically of the legs.

Front 51

Phlebothrombosis

Back 51

thrombosis of a vein without inflammation of the vein (phlebitis)

Front 52

Plaque

Back 52

buildup of white blood cell (sometimes termed fatty, despite absence of adipocytes) deposits within the wall of an artery

Front 53

Stable Plaque

Back 53

A plaque less vulnerable to rupture or dislodge from its location and cause blockage. These are often older plaques with significant collagen and fibrin which form a cap, making it more stable.

Front 54

Unstable/Complicated Plaque

Back 54

atherosclerotic plaques that are particularly susceptible to disruption. Vulnerable plaques are generally characterized as those having a thin inflamed fibrous cap over a very large lipid core. These are fragile and prone to rupture.

Front 55

Pulmonary Embolism (PE)

Back 55

a blockage of the main artery of the lung or one of its branches by a substance that has travelled from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Usually this is due to embolism of a thrombus (blood clot) from the deep veins in the legs,

Front 56

Raynaud's phenomenon

Back 56

A vasospastic disorder causing discoloration of the fingers, toes, and occasionally other extremities. The cause of the phenomenon is believed to be the result of vasospasms that decrease blood supply to the respective regions.

Front 57

Regurgitation

Back 57

blood flow in the opposite direction from normal, as the backward flowing of blood into the heart or between heart chambers.

Front 58

Retinopathy

Back 58

a general term that refers to some form of non-inflammatory damage to the retina of the eye. Frequently, retinopathy is an ocular manifestation of systemic disease (eg. diabetic retinopathy)

Front 59

Rheumatic fever

Back 59

an inflammatory disease that may develop two to three weeks after a Group A streptococcal infection (such as strep throat or scarlet fever). It is believed to be caused by antibody cross-reactivity and can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain.

Front 60

Rheumatic Heart Disease

Back 60

a condition in which the heart valves are damaged by rheumatic fever.

Front 61

Shock

Back 61

a circulatory medical emergency. Imbalance between oxygen supply and oxygen requirements at the cellular level. Impaired tissue perfusion.

Front 62

Hypovolemic Shock

Back 62

an emergency condition in which severe blood and fluid loss makes the heart unable to pump enough blood to the body. This type of shock can cause many organs to stop working.

Front 63

Distributive Shock

Back 63

hypotension and generalized tissular hypoxia. This form of relative hypovolemia is the result of blood vessel dilation. Septic shock is the major cause, but there are other examples as well.

Front 64

Cardiogenic Shock

Back 64

Based upon an inadequate circulation of blood due to primary failure of the ventricles of the heart to function effectively. There is insufficient perfusion of tissue (i.e. the heart) to meet the required demand for oxygen and nutrients. This leads to cell death from oxygen starvation (hypoxia) and nutrient starvation (eg hypoglycemia). Because of this it may lead to cardiac arrest.

Front 65

Anaphylactic Shock

Back 65

Anaphylaxis associated with systemic vasodilation which results in low blood pressure. Anaphylaxis acute multi-system severe type I hypersensitivity reaction. Anaphylaxis can occur in response to any allergen.

Front 66

Obstructive Shock

Back 66

Form of shock associated with physical obstruction of the great vessels or the heart itself. Pulmonary embolism and cardiac tamponade are considered forms of obstructive shock.

Front 67

Septic Shock

Back 67

A serious medical condition caused by decreased tissue perfusion and oxygen delivery as a result of infection and sepsis, though the microbe may be systemic or localized to a particular site. It can cause multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (formerly known as multiple organ failure) and death

Front 68

Hemorrhagic Shock

Back 68

Causes may include internal bleeding, traumatic bleeding; Life-threatening medical condition characterized by a decrease in tissue perfusion to a point at which it is inadequate to meet cellular metabolic needs. As the blood carries oxygen and nutrients around the body, reduced flow hinders the delivery of these components to the tissues, and can stop the tissues from functioning properly.

Front 69

Stasis Dermatitis

Back 69

Refers to the skin changes that occur in the leg as a result of "stasis" or blood pooling from insufficient venous return; the alternative name of varicose eczema comes from a common cause of this being varicose veins

Front 70

Stasis Ulcer (Venous Ulcer)

Back 70

wounds that are thought to occur due to improper functioning of valves in the veins usually of the legs. They are thought to arise when venous valves that exist to prevent backflow of blood do not function properly, causing the pressure in veins to increase.

Front 71

Stenosis thromboangiitis obliterans

Back 71

(also known as Buerger's disease) Recurring inflammation and thrombosis (clotting) of small and medium arteries and veins of the hands and feet. It is strongly associated with use of tobacco products. Ulcerations and gangrene in the extremities are common complications, often resulting in the need for amputation of the involved extremity.

Front 72

Thromboembolus/Embolism

Back 72

Thromboembolism is both thrombosis and its main complication, which is embolization.

Front 73

Thrombophlebitis

Back 73

Related to a thrombus in the vein. Risk factors include prolonged sitting and disorders related to blood clotting.

Front 74

Thrombosis

Back 74

The formation of a blood clot (thrombus) inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel is injured, the body uses platelets and fibrin to form a blood clot, because the first step in repairing it (hemostasis) is to prevent loss of blood.

Front 75

Vasospasm

Back 75

Refers to a condition in which blood vessels spasm, leading to vasoconstriction. This can lead to tissue ischemia and death (necrosis)

Front 76

Ventricular Remodeling

Back 76

Happens when the ventricles work harder which leads to hypertrophy of the ventricle. Often present in CHF cause it works harder to keep up with the demands of the body but is working hard against periphery. Ventricle muscle hypertrophy first then get overstretched.