Glossary

Category: C

  • Cardiac notch

    A point in the left lung, where the right inside wall is bent. A notch at the point where the oesophagus joins the greater curvature of the stomach. The concavity on the anterior border of the left lung into which the heart projects.  

  • Cardiac index

    The cardiac output per square metre of body surface, usually between 3.1 and 3.81/min/m² (litres per minute per square metre). The cardiac output (expressed in liters per minute) divided by the body surface area (expressed in square meters). The amount of blood that circulates every minute for every square meter of body surface. The typical…

  • Cardiac impression

    A concave area near the centre of the upper surface of the liver under the heart. A depression on the mediastinal part of the lungs where they touch the pericardium.  

  • Cardiac decompression

    The removal of a haematoma or constriction of the heart.  

  • Cardiac conducting system

    The nerve system in the heart which links an atrium to a ventricle, so that the two beat at the same rate.  

  • Cardiac cirrhosis

    Cirrhosis of the liver caused by heart disease. Passive congestion of the liver due to congestive heart failure.  

  • Cardiac catheterisation

    A procedure which involves passing a catheter into the heart. A diagnostic procedure in which a tube is inserted into a blood vessel under local anaesthetic and threaded through to the chambers of the heart to monitor blood flow, blood pressure, blood chemistry and the output of the heart, and to take a sample of…

  • Cardiac catheter

    A catheter passed through a vein into the heart, to take blood samples, to record pressure or to examine the interior of the heart before surgery. A long, fine catheter specially designed for passage through the lumen of a blood vessel into the arteries or chambers of the heart.  

  • Cardiac achalasia

    A condition in which the patient is unable to relax the cardia, the muscle at the entrance to the stomach, with the result that food cannot enter the stomach.  

  • Cardia

    An opening at the top of the stomach which joins it to the gullet. A small area of the stomach at the point nearest the heart where the esophagus joins the stomach. The opening at the upper end of the stomach that connects with the esophagus (gullet). Cardia is a term applied to the upper…