Medical Terms

Baby Sam 1 Day

07/01/2009 12:23:39

Apart from local events and charities, Sarah has previously organised fundraising events for both The Bristol Royal Children's Hospital and The British Heart Foundation. What goes around, comes around!

Aneurysm	A ballooning of the wall of a blood vessel
Angioplasty	Stretching an artery or vein with a catheter with a balloon on the end
Anomalous	Not Normal
Anticoagulant	Drug used to reduce blood clotting.
Aorta	Main body artery
Aortic Arch	Top of the aorta, from which 3 arteries to the Head neck and arm arise
Aortic Valve	Valve between the main pumping chamber and the aorta
Arrhythmia	Abnormal heart action
Artery	Blood vessel carrying blood away from the heart
Ascites	Fluid in the tummy
Asystole	Stoppage of heart action
Atresia	Blocked, missing or never formed
Atrium	Receiving chamber of the heart
Bifurcation	Division into two
Blalock-Taussig Shunt	Operation to join subclavian artery to the pulmonary artery
Bradycardia	Slow heart rate
Capillaries	Fine blood vessels that food, oxygen and carbon dioxide can pass into and out of
Cardiomyopathy	Disease of heart muscle
Cardiopegia	Chemical used to protect the heart muscle during open heart surgery
Cardiopulmonary Bypass	A machine to replace heart and lung action while the heart is stopped
Catheter	Fine plastic tube to drain fluid
Chromosomes	Proteins that form your make up
Chronotrope	Increase heart rate
Coarctation	Narrowing in a blood vessel
Conduit	Artificial tube
Congenital	Present at birth
Cyanosis	Blue colour of skin due to lower amount of oxygen in the capillaries
Defibrillator	Machine to give electric shock to treat heart rhythm abnormalities
Diastole	Resting phase of heart action
Diastolic Blood Pressure	Lower blood pressure reading
Dhysphagia	Difficulty with swallowing
Dyspnoea	breathlessness
Echocardiagram	Picture of the heart and blood vessels made using reflected high frequency sound waves
Embolus	Abnormal substance in the blood stream
Embryo	Developing baby in the womb
Fibrillation	Disorganised heart contractions
Fetus/Foetus	Developing baby in the womb
Fontan Operation	Operation to connect right atrium to lung artery
Glenn Operation	Operation to connect the SVC to the lung artery
Hyper	Too much
Hypertension	Higher than normal blood pressure
Hypo	Too little
Hypotension	Lower than normal blood pressure
Inferia Vena Cava (IVC)	Body vein that brings blood from the lower half of the body to the heart
Infra	Below
Intra	Within
Macro	Large
Micro	Small
Mitral valve	2 cusped valve between left atrium and left ventricle
Neonate	Baby in the first month of life
Oedema	Extra fluid in the tissues
Peri	Nearby
Pericardium	Bag in which heart is contained
Precordium	Part of chest in front of heart
Prognosis	Estimation of the outlook for the patient
Prophylaxis	Prevention
Pulmonary	Relating to the lungs
Septicaemia	Infection of the blood
Septum	A dividing structure
Shunt	Tube used to increase blood supply to the lungs
Stenosis	Narrowing in a blood vessel or valve
Sub	Below
Subclavian	Below the clavicle
Superia Vena Cava (SVC)	Body vein that brings blood from the top of the body to the heart
Supra	Above
Systole	Contraction of the pumping chambers
Systolic blood pressure	The high blood pressure measurement
Tachycardia	Rapid heart rate
Trachea	Wind pipe
Tracheostomy	Small tube inserted in the wind pipe to assist ventilation
Transposition	Unusual connection of the heart chambers or blood vessels
Tricuspid valve	3 cusped valve between right atrium and right ventricle
Ventricle	Pumping chamber of the heart
Vasodilator	Drug that helps to open up the blood vesses