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Cardiac terms explained

Understanding medical terms used in cardiac cases

Medics often use specialist vocabulary that patients may not fully understand.

We have made a list of links to pages with information, including simple explanations of cardiac terms. Medical terms are listed alphabetically under three categories: conditions (illnesses), tests and treatments. The links take you to relevant pages of the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and NHS websites.

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Cardiac conditions

Browse all conditions (BHF website)

Abdominal aortic aneurysm

Abnormal heart rhythm

Amyloidosis

Angina

Aortic aneurysm, dissection and rupture

Aortic regurgitation

Aortic stenosis

Arrhythmia

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM)

Atherosclerosis

Atrial fibrillation (AF)

Atrial flutter

Atrial Myxoma

Atrial septal defect

Brugada syndrome

Cardiac arrest

Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy (Cardiomyopathy UK)

Cardiovascular disease (CVD)

Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT)

Congenital heart disease

Coronary artery spasm

Coronary heart disease (CHD)

Diabetes

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)

Endocarditis

Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH)

Heart attack

Heart block

Heart disease

Heart failure (BHF website)

Heart failure (HeartFailureMatters website)

Heart murmurs

Heart transplant

Heart valve disease

Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)

Inherited heart conditions

Irregular heartbeat

Long QT syndrome (LQTS)

Marfan syndrome

Microvascular angina

Microvascular disease (Angina)

Myocardial infarction (Heart Attack)

Myocarditis

Palpitations

Pericarditis

Progressive cardiac conduction defect (PCCD)

Pulmonary hypertension

Rhythm conduction disorders (Arrhythmias)

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD)

Stroke

Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS)

Tachybrady syndrome (Arrhythmias)

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy

Thoracic Aortic aneurysm

Vascular dementia

Vasospastic angina

Ventricular Arrhythmias

Ventricular septal defect

Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW)

Risk factors that affect likelihood of heart diseases (BHF)

Tests

Browse all tests for heart conditions (BHF)

Coronary angiogram (cardiac catheterisation)

Blood tests

CT scan

Check your pulse

Chest X-ray

Echocardiogram (echo)

Electrophysiological study

Exercise ECG

Genetic testing

Implantable loop recorder (ILR)

MRI (cardiac MRI)

Myocardial perfusion scan

Tilt test

Treatments

Browse all treatments (BHF)

Ablation

Cardioversion

Coronary angioplasty and stents

Coronary bypass surgery

Heart transplant

ICD (Implantable cardioverter defibrillator)

Medicines for heart conditions (many types)

Pacemakers

Remote monitoring for cardiac devices

Statins (reducing cholesterol)

TAVI (valve replacement)

Valve repair surgery

Valve replacement surgery

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