SECTION 8 CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM This system consists of the heart (cardi/o) and blood vessels (vascular). It is this system that allows blood to travel through the body. The heart works as a pump to keep the blood moving. It is one of the strongest organs in the human body. Word Elements (We will first look at some of the word elements that might be used in this system. Listen as each word element is being pronounced. Practice these word elements several times before going on to the next section.) an- means without or not an angi/o (an je o) means blood or lymph vessel angio anti- (an ti or an te) means against anti arteri/o (ar te re o) means artery arterio ather/o (ath er o) means yellowish plaque or fatty substance athero bas/o (ba so) means bottom or lowest part
baso brady- (brad e) means slow brady cardi/o (kar de o) means heart cardio coron/o (kor o no) means heart corono cyt/o (si to) means cell cyto dys- (dis) means bad, labored, painful, difficult dys ech/o (ek o) means sound echo -ectomy (ek to me) means surgical removal, cutting out, excision ectomy electr/o (e lek tro) means relating to electricity or electric electro
-emia (e me a) means blood condition emia end/o (en do) means within or inside endo eosin/o (e o sin o) means rose-colored eosino epi- (ep i) means upon, over, at, in addition to, after epi erythr/o (e rith ro) means red erythro fibrill/o (fi bril o) means muscular twitching fibrillo fibrin (fi brin) means fiber fibrin -gram (gram) means record or image gram
-graphy (graf e) means the procedure of recording or writing graphy hemat/o (he ma to or hem a to), hem/o (he mo) means blood hemato, hemo isch/o (is ko) means suppress, restrain or hold back ischo -itis (i tis) means inflammation itis leuk/o (lu ko) means white leuko -lysis (li sis) means dissolution, decomposition, destruction, separation, setting free lysis macr/o (mak ro) means large or long macro megal/o (meg a lo) means great size megalo
my/o (mi o) means muscle myo neutr/o (nu tro) means neither or neutral neutro -osis (o sis) means condition, status, process osis -penia (pe ne a) means decrease or deficiency penia peri- (per e) means around, about, surrounding peri phag/o (fag o) means eating or swallowing phago phil (fil) means love for or tendency towards phil phleb/o (fleb o) means vein phlebo
-plasty (plas te) means surgical repair or surgical correction plasty pro- (pro) means in front of or before pro -rrhagia (ra je a) means abnormal discharge or bursting forth rrhagia scler/o (skle ro) means hard, sclera, white of eye sclero sept/o (sep to) means partition or infection septo -stasis (sta sis) means stop or control stasis tachy (tak e) means fast, rapid, swift tachy thromb/o (throm bo) means clot thrombo
valvulo (val vu lo) means valve valvulo vas/o (vas o) means vessel vaso ven/o (ve no, ven o) means vein veno Cardiovascular System Words aneurysm (an u rizm) is an abnormal ballooning out of a blood vessel, usually an artery aneurysm angioplasty (an je o plas te) is the surgical correction or repair of a blood vessel angi/o means blood vessel -plasty means surgical repair or surgical correction angioplasty aortic valve (a or tik) is the valve between the left ventricle and the ascending aorta that prevents regurgitation of blood back into the left ventricle aortic valve arrhythmia (a rith me a) is the irregularity or loss of rhythm of the heartbeat; also referred to as dysrhythmia (dis rith me ah)
arrhythmia arteriosclerosis (ar te re o skle ro sis) is the condition where arteries become hardened and lose their elasticity arteri/o means artery scler means hard -osis means condition arteriosclerosis atria (a tre a) is the plural form for the upper chambers of the heart; atrium (a tre um) is the singular form atri/o means upper chamber atria bradycardia (brad e kar de a) is a slow heartbeat usually under 60 beats per minute brady- (brad e) means slow cardia (kar de ah) means heart bradycardia carditis (kar di tis) is the inflammation of the heart card means heart -itis means inflammation carditis
dysrhythmia (dis rith me a) is the irregularity or loss of rhythm of the heartbeat; also referred to as arrhythmia (a rith me a) dys- means bad, labored, difficult dysrhythmia echocardiogram (ek o kar de o gram ) is the graphic recording of the heart produced by ultrasound ech/o means sound cardi/o means heart -gram means record or image echocardiogram embolism (em bo lizm) is the obstruction of a blood vessel caused by a foreign object such as a clot embolism endarterectomy (end ar ter ek to me) means the surgical removal of an artery lining end means inside arter means artery -ectomy means surgical removal endarterectomy endocardium (en do kar de um) means the interior lining of heart end/o means inside
endocardium card means heart -ium means pertaining to epicardium (ep i kar de um) is the outermost layer of the heart epi- means upon, over card means heart -ium means pertaining to epicardium fibrillation (fi bril a shun) means formation of fibers fibrillation hemorrhage (hem e rij) is a severe, abnormal discharge of blood hem/o means blood rrhage means to burst forth hemorrhage hemostasis (he mos ta sis) means the stopping of blood flow or bleeding hem/o means blood -stasis means to stop or control hemostasis ischemia (is ke me a) is the temporary deficiency of blood supply due to obstruction
ischemia isch- means to hold back -emia means blood condition leukemia (lu ke me a) is the progressive increase of abnormal white blood cells leuk/o means white -emia means blood condition leukemia leukopenia (lu ko pe ne a) means a decrease in the number of white blood cells leuk/o means white -penia means decrease or deficiency leukopenia mitral valve (mi tral) is the valve between the left atrium and the left ventricle mitral valve myocardial infarction (mi o kar de al in fark shun) is the partial or complete occlusion of one or more coronary arteries my/o means muscle cardi means heart -al means pertaining to myocardial infarction
myocardium (mi o kar de um) is the middle layer of the heart my/o means muscle cardium means pertaining to the heart myocardium pericardium (per i kar de um) is the sac that encloses the heart peri- means about, around cardium means pertaining to the heart pericardium phlebitis (fle bi tis) is the inflammation of a vein phleb/o means vein -itis means inflammation phlebitis pulmonary valve (pul mo ne re) is the valve between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery pulmon/o means lung pulmonary valve septum (sep tum) is the wall dividing two cavities; there are many different septums found in the body, here are just a few: atrial septum; intermuscular septum; nasal septum; and ventricular septum sept/o means partition
septum tachycardia (tak e kar de a) refers to rapid heart action tachy- means rapid or fast cardia means pertaining to the heart tachycardia thrombocytopenia (throm bo si to pe ne a) is the decrease in the number of blood platelets thromb/o means to clot cyt/o means cell -penia means decrease or deficiency thrombocytopenia thrombophlebitis (throm bo fle bi tis) is the inflammation of a vein with a blood clot present thromb/o means to clot phleb/o means vein -itis means inflammation thrombophlebitis tricuspid valve (tri kus pid) is the valve between the right atrium and the right ventricle tricuspid valve
valvuloplasty (val vu lo plas te) refers to the surgical repair of a valve valvul/o means valve -plasty means surgical repair or correction valvuloplasty varicose veins (var i kos vanz) are enlarged and twisted superficial veins varicose veins ventricle (ven trik l) is the lower chamber of the heart on either side; the plural form is ventricles ventricle This ends the section on the Cardiovascular System. If you have any questions, please ask your instructor for further clarification or refer to your textbook. You should repeat this section as many times as you feel is necessary to feel comfortable with the meaning and pronunciation of the words presented.