Cardiovascular System: Key Abbreviations and Terms

The Cardiovascular System has many common abbreviations, pathologies

and drugs which I would like you to be familiar with in addition to your
various word components that you should know. I will review these on this
audio podcast. By the end of this recording you should be familiar with these
abbreviations and terms and be able to state their meaning. As always you
should also be able to build words utilizing word components and break down
whole words into their components prefixes, combining forms and suffixes
and meanings.
Lets begin with some common abbreviations which I would like you to know.
DVT or deep vein thrombosis. This is a clot or thrombus which occurs
usually in the deep veins of the calf and the patient may have warmth,
redness, swelling and pain at this site.
ECG or EKG we have discussed before. Do you remember what it is?
[Pause] An electrocardiogram or record of electricity of the heart.
ECHO is short for echocardiogram or record of sound waves or ultrasound of
the heart.
MI is a myocardial infarction. An infarction is process of death of the tissue
and then myocardial is pertaining to heart muscle. This is commonly
referred to as a heart attack. Be aware of the medical breakdown as well as
the common name of heart attack.
The final abbreviation is one that is no longer an approved abbreviation but
you may still see. It is SOB which stands for shortness of breath. Some
abbreviations are no longer approved abbreviations, sometimes due to
having common slang meanings.
Now lets talk about some of the pathology or medication terms that you
should become familiar with.
An aneurysm is a localized widening of a vessel. This can frequently
happen in the abdominal or thoracic aorta, the largest artery in the body. It
can also occur in cerebral arteries or other vessels in the body. The concern
is that as it widens and the vessel wall bulges and weakens, it can be at risk
of rupturing.
Anticoagulants are substances / drugs which are against (anti-) clotting
(coagul/o). A person who is prone to clotting and may be at risk for a stroke
may be on anticoagulants for prevention.

Aortic stenosis can be abbreviated (AS). We have had the word stenosis,
which means...[pause] yes narrowing, so aortic stenosis is narrowing
pertaining to the aorta or more precisely narrowing of the aortic valve.
Cyanosis, -osis we know is abnormal condition of, cyan/o is blue, so
cyanosis is an abnormal condition of blue. This is a bluish hew to the skin
due to insufficient oxygenation to the tissues.
Diaphoresis is excessive sweating.
Diuretics are a substance / drug which cause complete urination or
increased urination.
Emesis doesnt breakdown but means vomiting. It can be used as a stand
alone word or as a suffix as in hematemesis, vomiting blood.
Hypotension, what does hypo mean[Pause] yes below or deficient, so too
little pressure (in your blood vessels) known as low blood pressure.
Tetralogy of Fallot is a congenital defect, or pertaining to born with, that
involves four defects of the heart. You do not need to know the four defects
but you should recognize tetralogy as meaning the study of four and know
they are heart defects. The four defects include pulmonary artery stenosis,
ventricular septal defect, shift of the aorta to the right and hypertrophy of
the right ventricle. All of this results in deoxygenated blood flowing from the
right ventricle to the aorta and out to the body. This is associated with very
poor prognosis and they are often termed blue babies due to the
deoxygenated blood circulating. Remember you do not have to know what
the four defects are but that Tetralogy of Fallot is the study (or condition) of
four congenital heart defects. Although each of the four defects use great
medical terms that you should be able to decipher their meanings.
The final term is thrombolytics which is a substance /drug which lysis or
breaks down clot. This drug breaks down clot which has already formed and
may be given in the situation of a cardiovascular accident (CVA) or stroke
caused by a blockage by a clot.
This recording has covered many of the key or tricky terms for abbreviations,
pathologies and medications related to the cardiovascular system that you
should be familiar with. Please feel free to review the recording again and
you may also refer to the transcript of the recording if you have any
questions / concerns about spellings of any of the words used in the
recording. Continue to review your word component flashcards along with
these key abbreviations and words for the best understanding and
performance.