Medical Terms Quiz Part 1

myo

muscle (pre-fix)

card

heart (root)

itis

inflammation (suffix)

*myo*carditis

muscle layer of heart inflamed

*peri*carditis

outer layer of the heart inflamed

peri

about, around, closing, surrounding

*endo*carditis

inner layer of the heart inflamed

cardi*ologist*

a physician specializing in the heart

cardio*myopathy*

damage to the heart muscle layer

cardio*megaly*

enlargement of the heart

-osis

abnormal condition
ex. cyanosis (of blueness due to cold or low oxygen)

-ectomy

to cut out (remove)
ex. appendectomy, tonsillectomy

-otomy

to cut into
ex. tracheotomy (to cut into the windpipe, temporary opening)

-ostomy

to make a "mouth" ex. colostomy (to make a permanent opening in the colon)

a/an

without, none
ex. anemia (literally no blood but means few red cells)

mico

small
ex. microstomia

macro

large
ex. macrostomia (abnormally large mouth)

mega/-megaly

enlarged
ex. megacolon (abnormally large colon); acromegaly

-scopy/-scopic

to look, observe
ex. (colonoscopy (look into colon)

-graphy/-graph

recording an image
ex. mammography (imaging the breast)

-gram

the image (X-ray)
ex. mammogram

-ology/-ologist

study, specialize in
ex. cardiologist, nephrologist

stomato

mouth
ex. stomatitis

dento

teeth
ex. dentist

glosso/linguo

tongue
ex. glossitis, lingual nerve

gingivo

gums
ex. gingivitis

encephalo

brain
ex. encephalitis

gastro

stomach
ex. gastritis

entero

intestine
ex. gastroenteritis

colo

large intestine
ex. colitis

procto

anus, rectum
ex. proctologist

hepato

liver
ex. hepatitis

nephro/rene

kidney
ex. nephrosis, renal artery

orchido

testis
ex. orchiditis

oophoro

ovary
ex. oophorectomy

hystero/metro

uterus
ex. hysterectomy, endometritis

salpingo

uterine tubes
ex. hysterosalpingoram

dermo

skin

masto/mammo

breast
ex. mammogram

osteo

bones
ex. osteoporosis

cysto

bladder
ex. cystitis

rhino

nose
ex. rhinitis

phlebo/veno

veins
ex. phlebotomy

pneumo/pulmo

lung
ex. pneumonitis, pulmonologist

hemo/emia

blood
ex. hematologist, anemia

leuk/o

white
ex. leukemia (overabundance of white blood cells)

melan/o

black
ex. melanoma (black tumor of the skin)

cyan/o

blue

xanth/o

yellow
ex. xanthoma (yellow tumor)

oma

swelling
-adding this to organ and tissue word roots names tumors

aden/o

gland
ex. adenoma

lip/o

fat
ex. lipoma

lymph/o

lymph tissue
ex. lymphoma

carcin/o

malignant
ex. carcinoma

endo

within, inside of
ex. endoscopy

peri

around
ex. perianal (around the anus)

circum

around
ex. circumcise (cut around)

retro

behind (retrosternal; behind breast bone)

epi

upon, on top
ex. epidermis

trans

through

intra

within
ex. intravenous

sub

below
ex. subclavian

brady/tachy

slow/fast

angi/o

vessel
ex. angiogram (x-ray of arteries)

-stasis

to stop
ex. hemostasis (to stop bleeding)

-cyte

cell
ex. erythrocyte

hem/o, -emia

blood

artherosclerosis

hardening of the fatty stuff

myocardial infarction (MI)

myo: muscle card: heart "heart attack"

Mitral prolapse, stenosis, regurgitation

Blood flows through four chambers in the heart separated by one-way valves. A major valve is the one separating the upper and lower chambers on the left side of the heart. The left side is especially important because freshly oxygenated blood returning from the lungs is circulated out of the heart to the rest of the body. The left valve, called atrioventricular, for the chambers it separates, is also called the mitral valve, because it is shaped like an upside down Bishop's hat, a miter. If the flaps of this valve tear away due to disease, the process is called prolapse, "a falling forward." This results in leakage and backward flow called "regurgitation" (get the picture?). Sometimes a valve is abnormally narrow causing partial obstruction constricting flow. Stenosis means "a narrowing."

stenosis

narrowing

prolapse

falling forward

regurgitation

leakage and backward flow

angina pectoris

"pain in the chest"; "crushing, vise-like"

arrhythmia/dysrhythmia

"no rhythm" and "abnormal rhythm"

Abnormal heart rates and rhythms all have special names like ventricular tachycardia, fibrillation, but generically are termed arrhythmias or dysrhythmia, meaning "no rhythm" and "abnormal rhythm." There are fine distinctions between the two, but they are often used interchangeably.

ischemia

"not quite enough blood"

Sometimes the heart muscle is not getting enough blood flow, more importantly, the oxygen the blood carries is insufficient to sustain muscle which has a very high metabolic rate, and oxygen demand. The term loosely means "not quite enough blood." Typically, the patient suffers angina pain (see above) and they may think they are having a heart attack.

cardiologist

a physician specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of disease of the circulatory system, espeically, the heart

hematologist

a physician specializing in diseases of the blood

electrocardiogram

(ECG/EKG)
a printout recording of the electrical activity of the heart. A frequently used instrument in the hands of a cardiologist.

echocardiography

using ultra high frequency sound waves to form an image of the inside of the heart. This procedure can demonstrate valve damage, congenital (before birth) defects and other abnormalities.

Cardiac catheterization

a long hollow tube, a catheter, can be threaded into an artery up into the heart. Then material opaque to X-rays can be released into the blood flow through the heart imaging the details of coronary arteries. Typically used to identify a blockage and location in the coronary circulation.

phlebotomist/ venipuncturist

the specially trained nurse or technician draws blood for lab tests and may also start IV's (intravenous fluids). The Greek and Latin versions of "cutting into a vein."

cephal/o

head
ex. cephalgia (a headache)

mening/o

membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord

ex. meningitis

myel/o

spinal cord
ex. myelogram (x-ray of the spinal cord)

neur/o

nerve
ex. neuroma (tumor)

dys

difficult, painful, abnormal
ex. dyslexia (difficulty reading)

-cele

hernia, abnormal protrusion of structure out of normal anatomical position
ex. meningomyelocele

-pathy

disease, abnormality

-plasia

paralysis
-quadriplegia (paralysis of all four limbs)

multiple scleorsis

"many hardenings" Literally, "many hardenings," MS is a disease of unknown cause that manifests as multiple hard plaques of degeneration of the insulating layer of nerve fibers in the central nervous system. The loss of insulation allows "short circuiting" of nerve impulses. Depending upon where the degeneration occurs, patients may suffer paralysis, sensory disturbances or blindness.

Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)

the fancy name for a "stroke". A blood vessel in the brain may burst causing internal bleeding. Or, a clot may arise in a brain blood vessel (a thrombus), or arise elsewhere (embolus) and travel to get stuck in a brain vessel which then deprives brain tissue of oxygen. Depending upon the area of the brain involved, the patient may suffer paralysis, loss of speech or loss of vision.

transient ischemic attack (TIA)

It literally means "not quite enough blood". A short period of insufficient blood supply to the brain can have the same signs and symptoms as a stroke such as weakness in an arm, a partial loss of vision, but the problem lasts less than 24 hours. People who get TIA's are at increased risk of having a stroke in the future.

epilepsy

a Greek word for "seizure." Convulsions is another term used. Seizures may have many causes and not all seizures are epilepsy. High fevers in young children may trigger seizures which are short in duration, easily controlled and, typically, have no permanent aftereffects. Epilepsy is a specific condition which may occur at any age, seizures are more intense, longer lasting in duration, and recur with some frequency. The condition may be controlled with medication, or if unresponsive to drugs, may require surgery.

aphasia

loss of speach The speech centers are located on the left side of the brain in a majority of people. If someone suffers a "stroke" (cerebrovascular accident-CVA), or traumatic brain injury, and it involves the left side of the brain, they may suffer speech impediments that vary over a spectrum of problems from difficulty in finding the right word, speaking slowly and with difficulty, or complete loss of speech. Actually, there are two speech centers. Injury described above involves the motor speech area, the area of the brain that produces language by integrating thoughts of speech with the movements of the larynx, lips and tongue. There is a second speech area, the receptive or sensory area, that enables us to understand speech. Injury to the latter results in still fluent speech, but the individual does not understand what they are hearing.

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neurologist

physician specializing in disease of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves

lumbar (spinal) puncture or tap (LP)

introducing a needle between the lower bony vertebrae of our spinal column allows a physician to sample the fluid, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Lab tests on the fluid are used for diagnostic purposes such as presence of bacteria in meningitis, special proteins in multiple sclerosis, or blood cells.

brain scan

introducing a radioactive element into the blood can image possible tumors in the brain. The radioactive dose is very low and detectable only with special, very sensitive instruments that are much more sophisticated than the old Geiger counters.

electroencephalography (EEG)

Starting at the end of the word: an image (in this case a written recording) of the brain's electrical activity. EEGs are used to diagnose different types of seizure disorders such as epilepsy, brain tumors, and are used in sleep research to identify stages of sleep.

computer tomography (CT)

a specialized X-ray machine that takes multiple images of a body area from different angles and has a computer that integrates the multiple images into "slices" of the body. The resolution is much better than standard X-rays and there is better differentiation of types of tissue (bone, air, solid organ).