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  • Arteries
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  • Cardio Terms
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• Cardio Terms

- L -

• LA LA

Left atrium.



• LAD

Left anterior descending coronary artery.



• Laparoscopy

The term used to describe an operation or procedure in which the surgeon uses an instrument called a laparoscope to view the inside of the abdominal (stomach area) cavity, without making the traditional large incision. The laparoscope is an instrument that has a fiberoptic system in the scope, which is introduced into the abdominal cavity via a small (less than a centimeter) incision. The surgeon can then attach a video camera to the scope and view the inside of the abdomen with the scope and camera. By introducing other instruments via similar small incisions, many operations can be done without having to 'open' the patient�s abdominal cavity. The advantage to this laparoscopic approach is that the patient recovers more quickly and has potentially less postoperative pain.



• LBBB

Left bundle branch block.



• LDH

Lactate dehydrogenase.



• Left Atrium

The upper left cardiac chamber that receives blood from the pulmonary veins and delivers blood to the left ventricle (pleural form is atria).



• Left main (LM) disease

Stenosis of the left main (lm) coronary artery.



• Left Ventricle

The lower chamber of the left side of the heart, which pumps oxygenated blood out through the aorta to all the tissues of the body.



• Left ventricular function

Function of the main pumping chamber of the heart (left ventricle) that receives blood from the left atrium and pumps it out into the general circulation through the aortic valve.



• LIMA

Left internal mammary artery.



• LLL

Left lower lobe.



• LM

Left main coronary artery.



• Lobectomy

The lungs are subdivided into sections referred to as 'lobes'. The right lung has three lobes, while the left lung has two lobes. A lobectomy is an operation in which the surgeon removes one of 'lobes' of the lung. The term 'ectomy', when attached to the name of a body part, generally means that body part or a part of the body part is being removed. Lobectomies are done for a variety of surgical diseases, such as cancer, some severe infections, and some benign non-cancerous tumors of the lung.



• Low Blood Pressure

The term used to describe a condition in which the patient�s blood pressure is lower than acceptable normal limits. 'Low Blood Pressure' is also known as 'Hypotension'.



• Lungs

The organs responsible for adding oxygen to the blood after removing the body�s carbon dioxide (CO2). The lungs are located in the chest and lie on either side of the heart. The lungs are composed of millions of tiny air sacs, known as alveoli. As a person breathes in, the alveoli are filled with fresh air. The heart pumps the blood that has been 'used' by the body to the lungs. As the 'used' or un-oxygenated blood passes by the alveoli, the CO2 in the blood moves into the alveoli, while the oxygen moves into the blood. The newly oxygenated blood is then transported back to the heart, which pumps out the newly oxygenated blood back out to the body. The air in the alveoli, which is now oxygen depleted, is exhaled out with the exchanged CO2.



• LV

Left ventricle.



• LVH

Left ventricualr hypertrophy.



• Lymph

A pale liquid consisting chiefly of plasma and white blood cells.



• Lysis

Destruction or decomposition, as of a cell or other substance.