Facts you should know about abdominal aortic aneurysms Picture of grafted stent to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm What is the medical definition of aortic aneurysm? An aneurysm is an abnormal area of localized widening of a blood vessel. The aorta bulges at the site of an aneurysm like a weak spot on a worn...
Are a stroke and an aneurysm the same thing? No, a stroke and an aneurysm are not the same thing. They are two very different medical health problems. Stroke is a process or an event that happens in your body, while an aneurysm is a problem with a person’s anatomy (anatomical abnormality). What is a...
Facts you should know about sudden cardiac arrest Readers Comments 41 Share Your Story Sudden cardiac arrest is the result of an electrical malfunction of the heart. A natural disaster hits, the power goes off and the lights go out. It's a common scene that plays out during hurricane and tornado seasons, and it's very...
What is a pulmonary artery catheterization? Pulmonary artery pressure monitoring involves inserting a pressure sensor via catheter in the artery that carries blood between the heart and lungs. This can help diagnose heart failure, clots and other cardiovascular problems. Pulmonary arteries are the major arteries arising from the right ventricle of the heart. This lower...
What is atrial fibrillation (AFib)? Atrial fibrillation (AFib, AF) is a disturbance of the rhythm of the heartbeat (arrhythmia), a type of heart rhythm disorder. To understand how atrial fibrillation occurs, let's first understand the normal rhythm of the heart, and how the electrical activation of a heartbeat occurs. In a person with a healthy...
What is prophylactic use of antibiotics? Surgeons prescribe prophylactic antibiotics before surgery to prevent infection rather than to treat an existing one. Prophylactic use of antibiotics is the administration of antibiotics before certain surgical procedures to prevent introduction of a bacterial infection to abnormal tissues in the body. For examples, prophylactic antibiotics are used prior...
Congenital heart disease or a congenital heart defect is a medical condition that is present in an individual at birth. Congenital heart defects cannot be cured but may be treated or repaired. Many people have surgeries to repair heart defects. Repairing means replacing faulty heart valves with artificial ones or closing the defects or abnormal...
Congenital heart defects facts Congenital heart defects are problems with the heart‘s structure that are present at birth. Congenital heart defects change the normal flow of blood through the heart. Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect, affecting 8 out of every 1,000 newborns. Each year, more than 35,000 babies in...
What Is Restrictive Cardiomyopathy? Restrictive cardiomyopathy, the rarest form of cardiomyopathy, is a condition in which the walls of the lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles) are abnormally rigid and lack the flexibility to expand as the ventricles fill with blood. The pumping or systolic function of the ventricle may be normal but the...
What is an aneurysm? Aneurysms can be treated with medicine to slow their growth or with surgery to repair them if they are found before they rupture. An aneurysm occurs when part of an artery wall weakens. In the weakened spot, an abnormally large bulge develops. The bulge can rupture and cause internal bleeding. The...