Cardiology Vocabulary

Hardware Disease

A serious condition in cattle and sometimes horses caused by ingesting sharp metallic objects like nails or wires that puncture the stomach wall (reticulum), leading to infection, inflammation, abscesses, or even damage to the heart or other organs, often requiring magnets or surgery for treatment

Artery

Vital blood vessel that transports oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to the rest of the body

Vein

Primarly a blood vessel carrying deoxygenated blood back to the heart.

Systole

A phrase of the heartbeat when the heart muscle contracts and pumps blood from chambers into the arteries

Diastole

The phrase of the heartbeat when the heart muscle relaxes and allows the chambers to fill with blood

Myocardium

The muscular tissue of the heart

Pericardium

Double layered, fluid-filled sac surrounding the heart, acting as a protective container that anchors the heart, prevents overfilling, and reduces friction as the heart beats.

Endothelium

The tissue that forms a single layer of cells lining various organs and cavities of the body, especially the blood vessels, heart, and lymphatic vessels. It is formed from the embryonic mesoderm

Heart Valve

A flap in the heart that opens and closes to ensure blood flows in one direction, acting as one way gates between chambers and into arteries, preventing back flow.

Septum

A diving wall or partition in anatomy

Mediastinum

A membranous partition between two body cavities or two parts of an organ, especially that between the lungs

Vena Cava

Largest vein, returns blood to the right side of heart

Aorta

The largest artery carries oxygenated blood

Atrium

The two upper chamber that receive blood entering the heart.

Ventricle

Two powerful, lower pumping chambers that receive blood from the atria (upper chambers) and push it out to the lungs(right ventricle) and the rest of the body (left ventricle)

Pulmonary Artery

The artery carrying blood from lungs to left heart

Pulmonary Vein

Carry de-oxygenated blood from the right to the lungs

Arteriole

Tiny blood vessels branching from arteries acting as crucial gatekeepers that control blood flow and pressure to the heart muscle and the rest of the body by constricting or dilating.

Capillary

The network of tiny blood vessels that supply the heart muscle itself with oxygen and nutrients

Venule

A tiny vein that collects deoxygenated blood from the bodies tissues and channels it into larger veins eventually returning it to the hear to be reoxdygenated.

Oxygenation

Involves the right side receiving oxygen poor blood, sending it to the lungs to get oxygen, and the left side receiving that fresh oxygen-rich blood to pump it to the body.

Right Auricle

A small ear shaped pouch on the front of the hearts right atrium that acts as an extension, increasing its capacity to hold deoxygenated blood before its sent to the lungs.

Left Auricle

Small ear like pouch extending from the upper lift side of the hearts left atrium, acting as an extra space to collect oxygen-rich blood from the lungs before its pumped to the body.

Right atrium

The upper right chamber of your heart acts like a receiving room, collecting oxygen-poor blood from your entire body and then passing it down to the right ventricle to be sent to the lungs for fresh oxygen

Left atrium

Top chamber in the heart that receives fresh, oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and sends it down to the left ventricle which then pumps it out to the rest of the body.

Right Ventricle

The hearts lower right chamber that receives oxygen poor blood from the right atrium and pumps it to the lungs to pick up oxygen.

Left Ventricle

The hearts powerful bottom left chamber, responsible for pumping oxygen rich blood out of the heart, through the aorta, and to the entire body, needing thick, strong muscles to generate the necessary force.

Pulmonary Trunk

A major blood vessel that carries deoxygenated blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs.

Coronary Artery

The blood vessels on the surface of the heart that deliver oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle

Interventricular Septum

The muscular wall that seperates the left and right ventricles of the heart, enabling proper blood flow by preveneting the mixing of oxygenated and de-

Chordae Tendinae

Fibrous cords in the heart connecting papillary muscles to the tricuspid(right) and mitral(left) calve leaflets

Papillary Muscle

Small finger like muscles in the hearts ventricles that act like anchor points, connecting to heart valves via touch cords to stop the valves from flipping backward into the artria when the ventricles pump blood out, ensuring one-way flow.

Right AV valve

The hearts flap between the upper right chamber and the lower right chamber that opens to let blood in and snaps shut to stop it from flowing backward into the atrium when the ventricle squeezes to pump blood to the lungs.

Left AV valve

The hearts two leaflet door between the upper left chamber and the lower left chamber

Pulmonary/pulmonic valve

A heart valve acting as a one way dooe between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery, letting oxygen-poor blood flow to the lungs to get oxygen and then closing to stop it from flowing back into the heart.

Aortic Valve

It opens to let oxygen-rich blood rush out to your body and then snaps shut to stop that blood from flowing back into the heart, ensuring blood moves in only one direction

Pacemaker

A small, battery-operated electronic device implanted in the chest to help the heart beat at a regular rhythm

Sinoatrial (SA) node

Your hearts natural pacemaker, a small patch of specialized tissue in the upper right atrium that generates electrical impulses to set your hearts rhythm, typically 60-100 beats per minute, ensuring the heart pumps blood consistently.

Atrioventricular (AV) node

A crucial part of the hearts electrical system, acting as a gatekeeper between the upper and lower chambers.

Conducting fibers

Specialized heart muscle cells that create and carry electrical signals

Right bundle branch

A vital electrical pathway in your heart, like a cable, that carries signals to the right ventricle, making it contract in sync with the left side for a steady heartbeat.

Left bundle branch

A vital electrical wire in your hearts conduction system, carrying signals to make the left ventricle contracts.

Electrocardiogram(ECG or EKG)

A simple painless test that records your hearts electrical activity as wavy lines on a graph, showing how fast your heart beast, its rhythm, and the strength/timing of electrical signals, helping doctors spot heart problems like arrhythmia or poor blood flow.

Sinus rhythm

Your hearts normal, regular beat, starting from its natural pacemaker.

arrhythmia

Irregular heartbeat

Sinus tachycardia

A fast heartbeat where your hearts natural pacemaker sends electrical signals too quickly, causing your heart to beat over 100 times per minute at rest.

Sinus Bradycardia

When your hearts natural pacemaker send signals too slowly, causing your heart to beat under 60 times per minute

Sinus arrhythmia

A normal, harmless heart rhythm where your heart rate speeds up when you breathe in and slows down when you breath out.

Atrial fibrillation

An irregular and often rapid heartbeat where the hearts upper chambers quiver chaotically instead of beating effectively, disrupting the normal rhythm and making it hard to pump blood properly

Ventricular Fibrillation

Life threatening heart rhythm where the hearts lower chambers quiver chaotically instead of pumping blood, due to disorganized electrical signals, causing sudden collapse and cardiac arrest unless treated immediately with defibrillation and CPR

Asystole

The complete absence of electrical and mechanical activity in the heart

Stethoscope

A doctor is performing a simple, noninvasive way to listen to the heart’s sounds to check its rhythm and valves, detect whooshing murmurs or find signs of trouble like irregular beats or leaks, helping to diagnose heart health without invasive tests.

Heart Murmur

A whooshing or swishing sound heard between heartbeats, caused by turbulent blood flow through the heart

Endocarditis

The inflammation of the hearts inner lining and valves, typically caused by an infection

Autonomic nervous system

The automatic control system that adjusts your heart rate and force of contraction without you thinking about it.

Vagus Nerve

The primary nerve that acts as a natural brake for your heart, helping to slow your heart rate and manage blood pressure.

Fetus

The developing heart of a baby while it is in the mother womb

Placenta

temporary organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy and acts as the fetus support system performing the functions of the lungs, kidneys, liver and endocrine system

Navel/Umbilicus

The scar on your abdomen left over from where the umbilical cord was attached before you where born. Belly button

Umbilical Veins

A blood vessel in a fetus that carries oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood from the placenta to the growing babys heart and body

Umbilical cord

A vital, rope like connection between a developing baby and the placenta, acting as the baby’s lifeline by delivering oxygen and nutrients from the mother and carrying away waste, with blood vessels in the cord pumping blood to and from the placenta where the exchange happens, essentially serving as the fetus lungs and kidneys

Ductus Venosus

A temporary blood vessel found in a developing fetus that acts as a natural shunt to ensure oxygen-rich blood reaches the heart and brain efficiently

Foramen ovale

A natural, flap like hole between the hearts upper chamber that helps babies bypass their non-functioning lungs in the womb, letting oxygen rich blood flow directly to the body.

Ductus Arteriosus

A temporary blood vessel in babies that connects the aorta and pulmonary artery letting blood bypass the lungs before birth when the baby gets oxygen from the placenta.