• Specialty
  • Cardiology
  • Dentistry
  • Dermatology
  • General Medicine
  • GI/GU
  • Hematology
  • Immunology
  • Lab Medicine & Pathology
  • Neuro-Psych
  • OB-Gyn
  • Oncology
  • Ophthalmology
  • Orthopaedic
  • Otolaryngology - ENT
  • Radiology
  • Surgery

• Cardiology
  • Arteries
  • Cardio Catheters
  • Cardio Terms
  • Gallops
  • Hypertension
  • Leads (EKG)
  • Murmurs
  • Rubs
  • Scans - Cardio
  • Stress - Cardio
  • Tests - Cardio
  • Veins
  • Sample Reports - Cardiovascular / Pulmonary

• Cardio Terms

- P -

• P50

Hemoglobin p50, the partial pressure of oxygen where hemoglobin is 50% saturated with oxygen, normally about 27 mmhg.



• PA

Pulmonary artery.



• PAC

Premature atrial contraction.



• Pacemaker

A small electronic device that is surgically implanted on the chest wall and connected to the heart via small wires. Usually, these wires are placed inside the heart via the large veins that drain into the heart. In some instances, the wires are directly connected to the surface of the heart. The pacemaker�s electronics can sense how often and how regularly the heart is beating. The pacemaker can be programmed to send an electrical impulse to the heart to help it beat faster, more regularly, or both. Pacemakers are necessary for a variety of heart conditions and usually do not require general anesthesia.



• PaCO2

The partial pressure exerted by co2 dissolved in arterial (a) plasma and rbc water, (in the venous blood - pvco2).



• Palliative

To relieve the symptoms of without fixing or repairing the underlying condition.



• PaO2

The partial pressure exerted by o2 dissolved in arterial (a) plasma and rbc water,(in the venous blood - pvo2).



• Partial pressure

The pressure exerted by a gas dissolved in plasma and rbc water, for example po2 is the partial pressure exerted by dissolved oxygen.



• PCO2

The partial pressure (tension) exerted by co2 in mmhg. The respiratory component. Carbon dioxide (co2) is produced by metabolism and carried by the blood to the lungs where it diffuses into the alveoli and is eliminated by exhaled breath. The amount of co2 dissolved in the blood is measured by the partial pressure it exerts and is reported in mmhg. When co2 dissolves in h2o it combines to form h2co2 (carbonic acid) the most important acid in the body. The [h2co2] is directly proportional to the co2 dissolved in the blood (paco2) and the paco2 is a measurement of the ventilation status of the patient. Therefor the paco2 is known as the respiratory component of the acid-base balance. As with ph, the body maintains the pco2 within strict limits. The normal pco2 is 35 - 45 mmhg with a mean of 40 mmhg.



• PCWP

Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure.



• Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA)

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty; compression of an athromatous lesion by inflating an intracoronary balloon catheter to dilate the vessel.



• Perfusion

Blood flow through the organs and tissues of the body or the profession of the study and implementation of blood flow through an extracorporeal circuit for life support.



• Perfusion balloon angioplasty

A variation of ptca in which a catheter is inserted in the artery that permits blood flow during balloon inflation.



• Perfusion scan

A test to determine the status of blood flow to an organ.



• Perfusion technologist

Perfusionist; the health professional educated to operate the heart lung machine and other life support devices.



• Perfusionist

See perfusion technologist.



• Pericardial Window

A procedure in which an opening is made in the pericardium to drain fluid that has accumulated around the heart. A pericardial window can be made via a small incision below the end of the breastbone (sternum) or via a small incision between the ribs on the left side of the chest.



• Pericardiectomy

An operation in which a part or most of the pericardium is removed. A pericardiectomy is usually performed to remove pericardium that has grown too thick and is compressing the heart, not allowing it to function normally. Other indications to remove the pericardium would include infections or tumor growths.



• Pericarditis

An inflammation or infection of the pericardium. The inflammation can sometimes occur after open heart surgery, and can, in rare cases, lead to constriction of the heart. This type of pericarditis is referred to as post pump pericarditis. Post pump pericarditis can cause some mild chest discomfort and low grade fever. It is diagnosed by clinical symptoms and ECG changes. Post pump pericarditis is treated with anti-inflammatory agents and, in severe cases, with steroids. The cause of post pump pericarditis is not known, but is thought to occur as a consequence of the surgical manipulation of the pericardium and the heart during heart surgery. Other causes of pericarditis include viral and bacterial infections.



• Pericardium

The fibrous, normally flexible, sac that envelops the heart. In order to operate on the heart, the pericardium must be opened to expose the heart. Ordinarily there is a small amount of fluid in the pericardium, which is constantly recycled by the body.



• PERLA

Pupils equal and reactive to light and accommodation.



• PFO

Patent foramen ovale.



• PH

The inverse log of the hydrogen ion activity; a measure of the alkalinity or acidity of the blood or solution on a 14 point scale with 1 being acidic and 14 being alkaline. The body normally maintains the [h+] and therefor the ph within very strict limits. Normal ph is 7.35 - 7.45 with a mean of 7.40.



• PH stat

Ventilation scheme where the total co2 increases as the temperature falls and the temperature corrected abg appears normal. So called because the temperature-corrected, actual blood ph equals 7.40 during all temperatures of cpb.



• PH2 O

Water vapor pressure, the partial pressure exerted by the presence of water vapor.



• Phagocyte

A white blood cell that engulfs and distroys foreign organisms and debris in the blood.



• Pharmacologic stress test

A test of heart function during intentional drug-induced stress.



• PI

Pulmonary insufficiency.



• PICU

Pediatric intensive care unit.



• PJC

Premature junctional contractions.



• PK

A constant that describes the rate or degree to which a chemical reaction goes to completion, depending on temperature and ph.



• Plasma

The acellular, colorless liquid portion of the blood.



• Plasma free hemoglobin

Hemoglobin released from dying or damaged red blood cells.



• Plasmin

The substance found in the blood that digests fibrin resulting in clot dissolution.



• Plasminogen

The precursor to plasmin that is activated by tissue plasminogen activator (tpa).



• Platelet

A colorless disk-shaped body in blood that AIDS blood clotting.



• PND

Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea.



• Pneumonectomy

A surgical procedure in which an entire lung is removed. A pneumonectomy is most often done for cancer of the lung that cannot be treated by removal of a smaller portion of the lung, which is known as a 'lobectomy'.



• PO2

Partial pressure of oxygen; oxygen is used by the body as a metabolic substrate to produce energy. A constant supply of oxygen is needed to maintain living tissue. 21% of the air we breath is oxygen and at sea level it exerts a po2 of ~159 mmhg. The air is taken into lungs with each inhalation and moved into the alveoli where the po2 is ~100 mmhg. The o2 diffuses into the blood and dissolves in the plasma where it exerts a po2 of ~95 mmhg. In normal arterial blood with a po2 of ~95 mmhg the blood is ~98% saturated with oxygen. The oxygen is carried to the tissue by the blood and by the time the venous blood returns to the lungs it has a po2 of ~40 mmhg and is ~75% saturated. The pao2 is assessed on the abg to provide a measure of the arterial oxygenation.



• Poikilothermic

Cold blooded; heterothermic; animals whose body temperature changes with the environment.



• Polycythemia

A serious condition characterized by too many red blood cells in the circulation.



• Pooled platelets

Platelets collected from multiple donors and mixed together for use in transfusion.



• Post-Ml angina

Angina occurring from 1 to 60 days after an acute mi.



• PR interval

Ecg pr segment, interval of time between the p wave and the r wave on the ecg.



• Prime (PUMP)

1. To fill the extracorporeal circuit with fluid.



• Prinzmetal's angina

Variant angina, a clinical syndrome of rest pain and reversible st-segment elevation without subsequent enzyme evidence of acute mi. In some patients, the cause of this syndrome appears to be coronary vasospasm alone often at the site of an insignificant coronary plaque, but a majority of patients with variant angina have angiographically significant cad.



• PS

Pulmonary valvular stenosis;.



• PT

Prothrombin time, protime.



• PTCA

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty;.



• PTT

Partial thromboplastin time.



• Pulmonary

Referring to the lung or the bicuspid valve separating the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery to prevent back flow into the ventricular during diastole.



• Pulmonary atresia

Small or undeveloped pulmonary valve.



• Pulmonary Circulation

Circulation of blood between the heart and lungs.



• Pulmonary edema

Condition, usually acute, but sometimes chronic, where fluid builds up in the lungs. This often occurs as a response to left ventricular failure in ischemic heart disease, hypertension, or aortic valve disease.



• Pulmonary insufficiency

Pulmonary valvular incompetence; back flow or regurgitation of flow through the pulmonary valve during ventricular diastole.



• Pulmonary stenosis

Pulmonary valvular stenosis; narrowing of the normal area of the pulmonary valve causing a pressure drop across the valve during left ventricular systole.



• Pump

The blood propulsion device included in the extracorporeal circuit to replace the left ventriclar function.



• Pumptech

1. Slang for the technologist that is a perfusionist.



• PV

Pulmonary valve.



• PVC

Premature ventricular contraction.



• PVD

Peripheral vascular disease.



• PVR

1. Pulmonary vascular resistance; resistance to the flow of blood through the pulmonary vascular beds