fluoroscope  An X-ray device that helps to visualize moving images of internal organs such as the heart.

heart failure  A condition resulting form the heart's inability to pump sufficient blood to maintain normal circulation.  this often leads to congestive heart failure in which blood and fluids back up in the lungs, causing congestion in the abdomen or legs.

heart murmur  An abnormal sound caused by turbulent blood flow as a result of a defective heat valve or certain forms of congenital heart disease.

Holter monitor  A portable electrocardiographic device worn for a 24 hour period or longer to monitor irregular heart rhythms and other cardiac abnormalities.

hypertension  The medical term for high blood pressure

hyperthyroidism  A condition in which an overactive thyroid gland secretes excessive thyroid hormones, resulting in a rapid heartbeat and other manifestations of speeded-up metabolism.

hypertrophic cardiomyopathy  An abnormal increase in the thickness of the walls of the heart, usually because of an inherited muscle disorder.

hypertrophy  Enlargement of muscle tissue resulting from an increased workload.

hypoxia  Insufficient level of oxygen in the tissues of the body.

invasive techniques  Medical procedures that involves a surgical incision, needle puncture, ore passage of a tube into an artery.

ischemia   A deficiency in oxygen in parts of the body because of an obstructed blood vessel.

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)  A diagnostic technique that uses the response of atoms to a magnetic field to produce cross-sectional images of the body's internal structures.

Marfan syndrome  A rare inherited disease of the connective tissues that produces abnormalities in the skeleton, heart and blood vessels.

mitral valve prolapse  A congenital abnormality in which the leaflets, or flaps, of tissue that make up the mitral valve are larger than normal.

multigated acquisition (MUGA) scan  A radioisotope test used to measure heart function and performance.

myocarditis   Inflammation of the heart muscle.

myocardium  The heart muscle

myxomatous degeneration  A metabolic process in which valve tissue loses elasticity and becomes redundant.

nitroglycerin  A drug used to treat angina.

orthostatic hypotension  A sudden drop in blood pressure that occur when a person stands up. Can cause fainting.

pacemaker  The center of electrical activity in the heart that regulates the heartbeat.  The term is also used for an artificial device implanted in the heart to provide an adequate heart rate.

palpitations  A feeling that the heart is pounding against the chest, caused by an irregular, strong, or rapid heart beat.

paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea  Difficulty in breathing that comes on intermittently and suddenly when the affected person is lying down, often waking him or her from sleep.

paroxysmal tachycardia  A sudden increase in heart rate up to 130 to 260 beats per minute.  This condition may last from a few minutes to a few days.

perfusion imaging  A test using radionuclide scanning that shows the pattern of the flow of blood in the heart.

pericarditis  An inflammation of the sac around the heart

positron emission tomography (PET) scanning.  A nuclear diagnostic test that employs special radioisotopes that emit positions and produce unique three dimensional isotope pictures of heart blood flow and metabolism.

prophylactic antibiotics (prophylaxis)  Antibiotics administered to prevent infective endocarditis.

pulmonary regurgitation  A defect in the pulmonary valve, allowing a back flow of blood into the right ventricle.

pulmonary stenosis  A narrowing or obstruction of the pulmonary valve or artery, impeding the flow of blood to the lungs.

pulmonary valve  The valve between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery.

regurgitation  In heart disease, the back flow of blood through a valve that has not closed properly 

stasis  Reduced or discontinued flow; for example, a slowing of the flow of blood.

stenosis  Narrowing of a blood vessel, heart valve, or other bodily passage.

stroke volume  The amount of blood the heart pumps out at each contraction.

supraventricular tachycardia  A too-rapid heart beat of 140-180 beats per minute.  It can persist for several minutes or several days.  It occurs when the tissue above the ventricles generates impulses at a faster rate than the usual pace maker of the heart, the sinoatrial node.

syncope  The medical term for fainting.

tachycardia  rapid heart beat, more than 100 beats a minute.

thallium stress test   A radioisotope diagnostic stress test for defining arias of the heart with decreased blood flow.  It can be done either with exercise or with a drug, dipyridamole, that causes the heart blood flow to increase as it would during exercise.  The electrocardiogram is taken with the nuclear scans.

thrombus  A blood clot inside a blood vessel.

transient ischemic attack  Also called mini-stroke, which result from a disruption in blood flow to the brain. TIAs are usually of short duration but may be a warning sign of an impending stroke.

tricuspid regurgitation  the inability of the tricuspid valve to close properly, thereby allowing blood to leak back into the right atrium.

tricuspid stenosis  Narrowing or stiffness of the valve between the right atrium and the right ventricle.

tricuspid valve  A valve consisting of three cusps located between the upper an lower chambers of the right side of the heart.

valvotomy/valvulotomy  An open-heart operation to correct a blocked heart valve.  

valvuloplasty  Reconstructive open-heart surgery to repair a defective heart valve.

ventricles  The two lower or main pumping chambers of  the heart.  They receive blood from the atria and pump it to the lungs and the various parts of the body.

ventricular fibrillation  Rapid, uncoordinated, and ineffective contractions of the heart initiated by electrical impulses from the ventricles.  Can be fatal if it is not reversed.

Wolff-Parkinson-Whitesyndrome   A congenital cardiac syndrome characterized by episodes of rapid heartbeats , from 120 to 200 beats per minute. It is caused by abnormal conduction of electrical signals in the heart.