Glossary

ABG -arterial blood gas test

AED - automated external defibrillator

A-fib - atrial fibrillation

ARVD - arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia

AV node - atrioventricular node

AVNRT - atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia

AVRT - atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia or atrioventricular reciprocating tachycardia

BID - “bis in die” (Latin), which means twice per day

CABG - coronary artery bypass graft surgery

CAD – coronary artery disease

CHF – congestive heart failure

COPD – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

CT – computed tomography

ECG – electrocardiogram (used interchangeably with EKG)

EF – ejection fraction

EKG – electrocardiogram (used interchangeably with ECG)

EP - electrophysiologist - a specialty of cardiology

EP Study - a study of the electrical systems of the heart, performed by an electrophysiologist

FP – family practice or family practitioner

GP – general practice or general practitioner

HCM – hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

ICD – implantable cardioverter defibrillator

IST – inappropriate sinus tachycardia

LBBB – left bundle branch block

LQTS – long QT syndrome

LVOT – left ventricular outflow tract

MI – myocardial infarction (heart attack)

MRI – magnetic resonance imaging

MVP – mitral valve prolapse

NSR – normal sinus rhythm

NSVT – non-sustained ventricular tachycardia

PAC – premature atrial contraction

PAT – paroxysmal atrial tachycardia

PCP – primary care physician

PEA - pulseless electrical activity

PJC – premature junctional contraction

PNC – premature nodal contraction

POTS – postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome

PSVT – paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia

PVC – premature ventricular contraction

QD - “quaque die” (Latin), once a day

QID - “quater in die” (Latin), four times a day

RFA – radiofrequency ablation

RBBB – right bundle branch block

RVOT – right ventricular outflow tract

SA node – sinoatrial node

SCA – sudden cardiac arrest

SCD – sudden cardiac death

SOB – shortness of breath

SSRI – selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

SVT – supraventricular tachycardia

TEE – transesophageal echocardiogram

TID - “ter in die” (Latin), three times a day

V-fib – ventricular fibrillation

V-tach – ventricular tachycardia

WPW - Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) is a condition in which a problem with the structure or function of the heart impairs its ability to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the body’s needs.

Common Causes of heart failure include myocardial infarction and other forms of ischemic heart disease, hypertension, valvular heart disease and cardiomyopathy.  Heart failure can cause a large variety of symptoms such as shortness of breath (typically worse when lying flat, which is called orthopnea), coughing, and swelling and reduced exercise capacity.  Heart failure is often undiagnosed due to a lack of universally agreed definition and challenges in definitive diagnosis.  Treatment commonly consists of lifestyle measures (such as decreased salt intake) and medications, and sometimes devices or even surgery.

Congestive Heart Failure (or simply Heart Failure) is a condition where the heart is unable to supply the rest of the body’s organs with sufficient quantities of blood.  All of your bodies organs need blood to carry in nutrients and carry out waste, and without frequent deliveries and pickups, your organs will stop working the way they’re supposed to.

Heart Failure doesn’t mean the heart stops.  It just means the heart isn’t able to keep up with the demands your body is placing on it.  This inability to keep up can be caused by several things:

• High blood pressure: if your heart has had to work against the added pressure in your arteries and veins for years, your heart can become weakened and unable to pump blood throughout your body as it used to.
• Narrowed arteries: if your arteries have narrowed due to plaque buildup or some other reason, they may nto be capable of carrying the full volume of blood your body’s organs need.  Your heart has to pump more often, which over time makes it weaker.
• Previous heart attack:  if you had a previous heart attack there may be dead muscle tissue in your heart, making it less efficient than it was prior to the heart attack.
• Heart defects: hearts that are malformed at birth can cause congestive heart failure.
• Infections of the heart and heart valves.
• Cardiomyopathy:  disease of the heart muscle itself.

The reason this condition is called “congestive” is because it’s much like an arterial roadway at rush hour.  Because the heart isn’t pushing out as much blood as wants to come in, blood gets backed up, like a congested highway.  One of the symptoms of congestive heart failure is swelling in the lower extremities – that’s blood getting backed up in arterial and venous highways.  Swelling can happen in other places, too.

Another common symptom is shortness of breath (sob), especially during physical activity.  Your body is burning through it’s store of oxygen to do the work you’re asking it to do (such as running on a treadmill), but your heart can’t replace those stores fast enough, putting you in a state of oxygen deficit.  This makes you tired, you fatigue easily and you struggle to fill your lungs with as much air as can fit.

The good news is there are many ways to treat CHF.  Treatment usually includes modifying what you do at home, such as changing your food intake and losing weight if you’re overweight.  There are also medications that can make your heart’s job easier, by dilating (making bigger, expanding) blood vessels, reducing the pressure required to pump blood through your body.  They can also improve the pumping function of your heart muscle.

In a worst-case scenario, if congestive heart failure gets so bad that medications and lifestyle changes don’t help, a heart transplant can be considered.

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is the end result of the accumulation of atheromatous plaques within the walls of the coronary arteries that supply the myocardium (the muscle of the heart) with oxygen and nutrients.  It is sometimes referred to as coronary heart disease (CHD).

CAD is the leading cause of death worldwide.  While the symptoms and signs of CAD are noted in the advanced state of disease, most individuals with CAD show no evidence of disease for decades as the disease progresses before the onset of symptoms, often a sudden heart attack finally arises.  According to present trends in the US, half of healthy 40-year old males will develop CAD in the future, and one in three healthy 40-year old women.