| Atrium |
Is the upper chamber of the heart. |
| Ventricle |
Is the lower chamber of the heart. |
| Arrhythmia |
Is an abnormal heart rhythm, referring to a disruption of the regular rhythmic pattern of contraction of the heart chambers, causing a heart to beat too fast, too slow or irregularly. This can occur either when the pacemaker of the heart fails to provide an impulse at normal intervals, or when the conduction system of the heart fails to transmit an electrical impulse through the heart muscle in a normal manner.
Similar terms in the field are:
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| Ectopic Heartbeat |
Is an irregularity of the heart rate and heart rhythm involving extra or skipped heartbeats. |
| Palpitations |
Is a sudden pounding, fluttering, or racing sensation in one’s chest, which is sometimes classified as feeling like butterflies. |
| Bradycardia |
Is an abnormal heart rhythm that occurs when the heart beats too slowly. Usually bradycardia refers to a heart rate less than 60 beats a minute. |
| Tachycardia |
Is an abnormal heart rhythm that occurs when the hear beats too quickly. Usually tachycardia refers to a heart rate greater than 100 beats a minute. |
| Atrial Arrhythmia |
Is an abnormal rhythm that develops in the upper chambers (atria) of the heart. Some atrial arrhythmias may increase the risk of blood clot formation. This, in turn, can lead to an increased risk of stroke. |
| Atrial Fibrillation (“A fib”) |
Is an arrhythmia that occurs when the atria contract in a very rapid and irregular fashion. This rapid, disorderly contraction interferes with the ability of the atria to empty blood into the ventricles that pump blood to the body. |
| Ventricular Fibrillation (“V fib”) |
Is the most threatening arrhythmia, and is often the end rhythm before the asystole of death. The heart beats when electrical signals move through it. Ventricular fibrillation is a condition in which the heart's electrical activity becomes disordered. When this happens, the heart's lower (pumping) chambers contract in a rapid, unsynchronized way. (The ventricles "flutter" rather than beat.) The heart pumps little or no blood. |
| Ventricular Tachycardia (“V-tach”) |
Is a life threatening condition, in which a rapid heart rhythm originates in the ventricles. The hallmark of ventricular rhythms is the wide QRS complex. |
| Supraventricular Tachycardia (“SVT”) |
Is a broad burst of rapid heartbeats that begin suddenly and can last from seconds to days. |
| Premature Ventricular Complexes (“PVC’s”) & Premature Atrial Complexes (“PAC’s”) |
This abnormal heartbeat is a premature contraction, which is caused by an impulse that the heart releases too early. PVC’s begin in the ventricles and PAC’s begin in the atria. Many PVC’s and PAC’s don’t produce symptoms. |
| Paraoxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia (“PSVT”) |
Is a series of rapid atrial contractions that can hike the heart rate up to 220 beats per minute. |
| Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) |
The heart contracts and relaxes to pump fuel to your body. The pumping action is possible because of electrical impulses that pass through the heart. The pace and pattern of the heart’s electrical impulses can be recorded on an ELECTROCARDIOGRAM. Basically, it’s a printed pattern of a heartbeat. This is usually the first test a doctor will perform on a patient that has a suspected arrhythmia. Quite often, an arrhythmia will not occur during this brief test, which records the heart’s electrical activity for about a minute. This test always takes place in a doctor’s office. |
| The QRS Wave (“the big spike”) |
Shows the electrical stimulation of the ventricles.
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| Sinus Rythm |
Is a normal EKG/ECG rhythm. In terms of a QRS wave, it’s when the P-wave before each QRS is in the same direction as the QRS wave in an EKG/ECG segment. |
| Asystole (flatline) |
Failure of the ventricles of the heart to contract (usually caused by ventricular fibrillation) with consequent absence of the heart beat leading to oxygen lack and eventually to death. |
| Angina |
Is a medical name for a type of chest pain caused by the heart. It happens when the heart muscle is not getting enough blood for a short period of time. Unlike a heart attack, in which a part of the hear muscle goes without blood for a long period of time. |
| Myocardial Infarction |
Is a heart attack. This occurs when an artery that feeds the heart becomes blocked. This is a plumbing problem, in which blood flow to the heart is blocked. This blocked blood flow causes damage or death in the heart muscle, often giving the person warning signs, such as pain in the chest and arm. |
| CABG (Coronary, Artery, Bypass, Graph) |
Open heart surgery. |
| Hypertension |
Is high blood pressure. It occurs when the blood flows through the vessels at a greater than normal force. High blood pressure strains the heart; harms the arteries; and increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and kidney problems. |
| Systolic |
Occurs during the contraction of the heart. When reading blood pressure systolic is the top number – Systolic/Diastolic. |
| Diastolic |
Occurs during the relaxation and filling of the heart. |
| White Coat Hypertension |
Is exhibited by patients who have elevated blood pressure measurements only when they are in the physician’s office. Upon their return to a normal environment their pressure returns to normal. |
| Syncope |
Syncope is the sudden but temporary loss of consciousness because of insufficient blood supply to the brain. Simply put its light-headedness or fainting. |
| Echocardiogram |
Sound waves are bounced off the heart, then beamed back and converted to images on a screen. These images are used to see the structures and movement of the heart’s valves and chambers. |
| Pacemaker |
When there’s a problem with a heart’s electrical system, a pacemaker keeps track of a heartbeat and, when necessary, it generates electrical signals similar to the heart’s natural signals. These signals keep the heart beating at the right pace. A pacemaker with one lead is called a single-chamber and a pacemaker with two leads is called a dual chamber pacemaker. |
| Sino-Atrial Node (SA Node) |
Is the heart’s natural pacemaker. It sends out an electrical signal that starts each heartbeat. The impulse spreads throughout the aria telling it to contract. Basically it causes the heart to beat. |
| Stress Test |
A patient walks on a treadmill or pedals a stationary bicycle while the heart rate, blood pressure and EKG/ECG are monitored. |
| Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (“ICD”) |
An ICD is a small, lightweight electronic device that is placed inside a patient. It keeps track of a patient’s heart rhythm. When one has an arrhythmia, the ICD helps the heart return to its normal rhythm. |
| Automated External Defibrillator (“AED”) |
Is a non-invasive tool that delivers a high-energy electrical shock that restores the heart to a normal rhythm. |
| Sudden Cardiac Death (“SCD”) |
Is a death due to electrical problems in the heart. It is different from a heart attack, which is heart muscle damage from blockage of blood flow rather than an electrical problem. SCD is usually caused by V-Tach. Or V-Fib. |
| Electrophysiologist |
is a cardiologist who has had additional training. They specialize in the electrical function of the heart and study arrhythmias. They specialize in diagnostic equipment and heart monitoring devices. |
| ACLS |
Advanced Cardiac Life Support. |
| Algorithm |
Any mechanical or repetitive computational procedure. |
| NASPE |
North American Society for Pacing and Electrophysiology. |
| ACC |
American College of Cardiology. |
| AHA |
American Heart Association. |
| Ejection Fraction (EF) |
The amount of blood pumped out of a ventricle during each heartbeat. The ejection fraction evaluates how well the heart is pumping. |
| Target Organ Damage (TOD) |
Patients with recent diagnosis of hypertension contributed with a nocturnal fall in BP confirmed by two 24hr ABPM sessions is possibly linked with prominent Target Organ Damage (TOD) |
