EN
|
DE
Medical Record Login
Login
Medical Glossary
Home > Heart Health > Medical Glossary
Pulse

The pulse that is measured reflects the number of heart beats per minute, or in other words - the heart rate. (Heart beat is defined as one systole and one diastole.)

The normal pulse rate of an adult person is between 60 - 100 per minute and tends to increase in states of exertion or excitement and to decrease at rest or during sleep.

The pulse can be felt due to contraction and widening of an artery palpated following filling or emptying of blood through the action of the heart.

The pulse can be felt in the Radial artery (in the wrist), in the Femoral artery (in the inguinal region), in the Carotid artery (in the neck) as well as in other locations of the body.
Rheumatic Heart Disease

Damage to cardiac valves or to myocardium caused by exposure to Rheumatic fever.

Rheumatic fever is a disease inflicting mainly children and young adults and is a late complication of upper respiratory tract infection by the microorganism Streptococcus Pyogenes. The main characteristics are fever, arthritis and a specific rash on the face.

Symptoms that can evidence to cardiac involvement may occur, among others Myocarditis (inflammatory disease of the heart muscle, Endocarditis (inflammatory disease of the inner layer of the heart and the valves) or Pericarditis (inflammatory disease of the outer heart cover)

Rhythm disturbances
 see Arrhythmia
Right ventricle

The right ventricle is filled with blood during diastole from the right atrium. This blood has low oxygen content.

During systole the right ventricle empties into the Pulmonary artery, which carries blood to the lungs, where oxygenation takes place.

Risk factors

A certain medical condition, a certain style of life or a certain environmental threat that enhances a person's risk to acquire a disease. Risk enhancement is a term referring to statistical likelihood and does not deal with a causative relation.

Semilunar valve

This is the name of the valves located at the outlet of the great vessels: the Aorta and the Pulmonary artery.

Septal defect

A congenital malformation, in which the partition wall between the heart chambers is not perfect and blood passage through the septum is possible.

The defect can be located in the septum separating the upper compartments of the heart (atrial septal defect, ASD) or in the septum dividing the ventricles (ventricular septal defect, VSD).

The presence of such defect results in leakage of blood, predominantly from the left side, where pressure is higher, to the right. The right side will have to cope with greater load and this can result in Pulmonary Hypertension with subsequent cardiac insufficiency. If necessary, such defects can be surgically repaired.

Shock

A dangerous drop of blood pressure with symptoms of insufficient blood flow to different body organs. Clinical symptoms include: pallor, profuse sweating, cold and moist skin, rapid and weak pulse, irregular respiration, reduced urine output, altered consciousness state and even death.

Causes of shock may include: severe damage to the pump function of the heart (Cardiogenic shock), massive loss of fluids (Hypovolemic shock) due to massive bleeding or desiccation, severe allergic reactions (Anaphylactic shock), severe infections (Septic shock) and severe damage to the nervous system (Neurogenic shock).

 

Sick sinus syndrome (SSS)

This syndrome is characteristic for old age and is caused by degenerative processes of the electrical conduction system of the heart. The degenerated conduction system tends to give rise to different rhythm disorders, which can be rapid or slow. Therefore, it is also known in the literature as "rapid-slow syndrome".

Patients suffering from this disorder may experience weakness, syncope, chest pain or dyspnea resulting from the alternate slow or rapid heart rate.

Quite often, this syndrome may pose a serious therapeutic challenge, because rapid heart rate disorders require drugs that slow up the heart rate, but such slowing can be too drastic because of the tendency to slow heart rate. Therefore, such patients often need pacemaker implantation to protect them from too slow rhythm and thus enabling proper medical treatment against rapid rhythm disorders.

Sinus bradycardia

Heart rhythm originating from the normal Sinus tissue, but slower than normal (less than 60 beats per minute).

In certain situations, such rhythm can be a normal, physiologic phenomenon, for example during sleep or in athletes. Sometimes, slow rhythm can signify a problem, for example a side effect of a drug, hypothyroidism, certain types of heart attacks and more.

Sinus tachycardia

Heart rhythm originating from the normal Sinus tissue, but more rapid than normal (more than 100 beats per minute).

Sinus tachycardia can be a physiological response to certain situations, such as exertion, excitement or pregnancy. Sometimes it can indicate a medical problem, such as side effect of a drug, fever, exsiccation, bleeding, anemia, hyperthyroidism and more.

Sinus, SA node

Tissue composed of cells with potential of autonomous generation of electrical impulses. It is located in the right atrium.

Electrical impulses are generated in the Sinus and they are propagated throughout the heart by means of an electrical conduction system. In such way impulses generated in the Sinus reach the cardiac ventricles synchronically, thereby assuring their homogenous, synchronous and powerful contraction.

Situs Inversus (right/hearted)

This is a condition, in which the heart is located in the right half of the chest, caused by a congenital malformation.

This can be associated with additional malformations.

Spasm of a coronary artery, Prinzmetal’s angina

An abnormal contraction of the smooth muscle of a Coronary artery.

Such contraction causes significant narrowing of the vessel and reduced blood flow that can pass through this artery.

The reduction in blood flow and in oxygen supply may induce symptoms of Angina Pectoris and in some instances even cause Myocardial Infarction.

This condition tends to occur rather in young individuals and to appear at rest.

The treatment is usually medical by drugs preventing smooth muscle contraction.

Stenocardia

See entry: Angina pectoris

Stent

A device in the form of a spring for supporting tubular structures.

The common use of stents in cardiology is as a supplement to Angioplasty (ballooning) procedures. One of the principal problems of the ballooning procedure for dilating a Coronary artery was re-stenosis of the dilated segment after a relative short time.

The use of stents substantially reduced the rate of re-stenosis.

Recently, stents that act also by chemical methods by secreting a substance, which is capable of reducing cell replication (drug eluting stents), were developed. This can further reduce the rate of re-stenosis.

Stress test

see Ergometry

Supra-ventricular tachycardia (SVT)

A rapid rhythm disturbance originating from the upper heart regions (above the ventricles)

Generally, rhythm disorders originating from the upper heart regions are considered to have a lower risk potential compared with those originating from ventricles, although the risk estimation depends on the rapidity and the duration of the disorder and on the basic health or disease status of the heart that must cope with it.

Syncope (fainting)

Loss of consciousness for a short time caused by an acute transient drop of blood flow to the brain.

Causes can vary and include: standing for a long time, blood pressure drop due to drugs, very rapid or very slow heart rhythm disorders or certain emotional situations.

Usually, after falling or change to a supine position, the cerebral blood flow improves and recovery takes place.

Systole

The phase, during which the ventricles contract and propel blood included in them to the main blood vessels.

The left ventricle sends oxygen-rich blood to the Aorta, while the right ventricle forces oxygen-depleted blood to the Pulmonary artery.

Tachycardia

Rapid heart rate, more than 100 beats per minute.

Accelerated heart rate can be a normal physiologic reaction of the body to physical strain or excitement. In these situations, the origin of the heart beats is from the natural and normal pacemaker, the Sinus node.

In some instances, the accelerated heart rate is due to a rapid rhythm disturbance and in these situations the rhythm originates from tissues outside the sinus located in other points of the heart.

The clinical manifestation and the therapeutic approach depend on the rapidity and the duration of the disorder, on the basic state of the heart as well as on the specific type of the disorder.

Tamponade

A condition, in which fluid (blood or other fluid) accumulates in the Pericardium, the space between the heart and the membrane enveloping it.

Such accumulation of fluid, if it is rapid and acute, exerts pressure on the heart, interferes with the contraction and relaxation process and can constitute an emergency.

Tetralogy of Fallot

A congenital heart disease, combining a number of heart defects: stenosis of the right ventricle outlet, incomplete closure of the inter-ventricular septum (the partition wall separating the left and the right ventricle), dilatation of the right ventricle and displaced Aorta.

The result of these defects is blood leak from the right ventricle to the left ventricle through a hole in the septum.

The significance of such leak is mixing of non-oxygenated blood from the right ventricle with oxygen-rich blood from the left ventricle.

As a result, the body tissues are supplied with "mixed" blood, i.e. with lower oxygen level than required and this is manifested by cyanosis.

The solution of the problem is surgical correction.

Thallium Heart Scan

A method for the assessment of blood flow in the Coronary arteries and diagnosing flow disturbances caused by stenosis (narrowing) of these arteries.

The examination is performed by injecting the radio-isotope Thallium 201 and following its absorption in various areas of the Myocardium.

Perfusion (blood flow) defects show as areas emitting less or no radioactive radiation and are visible as "cold spots" on computerized imaging making use of a gamma scanner.

Thrombolysis

Lysis means dissolution, liquefaction. Thrombus is a blood clot. Thus, thrombolysis means chemical dissolution of blood clots by drugs.

The best known drugs for this purpose are streptokinase and TPA.

These drugs are given intravenously in certain cases of myocardial infarction (heart attack) to dissolve the blood clot, which together with a lipid plaque in the arterial wall totally occlude it.

One of the undesired inherent side effects of these drugs is that they can cause bleeding. Therefore, there are strict indications for the administration of such drugs.

ABOUT SHL
OUR SERVICES
TELEMEDICINE
HOW DOES IT WORK?
INVESTOR RELATIONS