Medical Professionals: 23 books

Atrial fibrillation (AF or A-fib) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heart beat). It may cause no symptoms, but it is often associated with palpitations, fainting, chest pain, or congestive heart failure. However, in some people atrial fibrillation is caused by otherwise idiopathic or...

Cardiac dysrhythmia (also known as arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat) is any of a large and heterogeneous group of conditions in which there is abnormal electrical activity in the heart. The heartbeat may be too fast or too slow, and may be regular or irregular. A heart beat that is too fast is called...

Vangina pectoris–commonly known as angina–is chest pain do to ischemia of the heart muscle, generally due to obstruction or spasm of the coronary arteries.[1] The main cause of Vangina pectoris is Coronary Artery Disease, due to atherosclerosis of the arteries feeding the heart. The term derives...

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) (aka primary form of myxomatous degeneration of the mitral valve aka floppy mitral valve syndrome) is a valvular heart disease characterized by the displacement of an abnormally thickened mitral valve leaflet into the left atrium during systole.[1] There are various types...

Pericarditis is an inflammation of the pericardium (the fibrous sac surrounding the heart). A characteristic chest pain is often present. The causes of pericarditis are varied, including viral infections of the pericardium, idiopathic causes, uremic pericarditis, bacterial infections of the...

Kawasaki disease (KD), also known as Kawasaki syndrome, lymph node syndrome and mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome,[1] is an autoimmune disease in which the medium-sized blood vessels throughout the body become inflamed. It is largely seen in children under five years of age. It affects many organ...

In physiology and medicine, hypotension is abnormally low blood pressure, especially in the arteries of the systemic circulation. It is best understood as a physiological state, rather than a disease. It is often associated with shock, though not necessarily indicative of it. Hypotension is the opposite...

Cardiogenic shock is based upon an inadequate circulation of blood due to primary failure of the ventricles of the heart to function effectively. Since this is a type of shock there is insufficient perfusion of tissue (i.e. the heart) to meet the required demands for oxygen and nutrients. Cardiogenic...

Heart failure (HF), often called congestive heart failure (CHF) or congestive cardiac failure (CCF), occurs when the heart is unable to provide sufficient pump action to distribute blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath,...

Murmurs are pathologic heart sounds that are produced as a result of turbulent blood flow that is sufficient to produce audible noise. Most murmurs can only be heard with the assistance of a stethoscope ("on auscultation"). A functional murmur or "physiologic murmur" is...

In medicine, Raynaud's phenomenon (play /reɪˈnoʊz/) is a vasospastic disorder causing discoloration of the fingers, toes, and occasionally other areas. This condition may also cause nails to become brittle with longitudinal ridges. Named after French physician Maurice Raynaud (1834–1881), the...

Atherosclerosis (also known as arteriosclerotic vascular disease or ASVD) is a condition in which an artery wall thickens as a result of the accumulation of fatty materials such as cholesterol. It is a syndrome affecting arterial blood vessels, a chronic inflammatory response in the walls of arteries,...

Marfan syndrome (also called Marfan's syndrome) is a genetic disorder of the connective tissue. People with Marfan tend to be unusually tall, with long limbs and long, thin fingers. The syndrome is inherited as a dominant trait, carried by the gene FBN1, which encodes the connective protein...

Although in theory the term "cardiomyopathy" could apply to almost any disease affecting the heart, in practice it is usually reserved for "severe myocardial disease leading to heart failure". Cardiomyopathies can be categorized as extrinsic or intrinsic. An extrinsic cardiomyopathy...