Antitachycardia pacing Health Dictionary

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Antitachycardia Pacing: From 1 Different Sources

Agitation

Restless inability to keep still, usually as a result of anxiety or tension. Agitated people engage in aimless, repetitive behaviour, such as pacing up and down or wringing their hands, and they often start tasks without completing them. Persistent agitation is seen

in anxiety disorders, especially if there is an underlying physical cause such as alcohol withdrawal. Depression may be accompanied by agitation.... agitation

Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy

(CRT) a treatment for heart failure that involves ventricular pacing with multiple *leads. The aim is to restore coordinated ventricular contraction and hence improve cardiac function.... cardiac resynchronization therapy

L-dopa

n. see levodopa.

lead1 n. a soft bluish-grey metallic element that forms several poisonous compounds. Acute lead poisoning, which may follow inhalation of lead fumes or dust, causes abdominal pains, vomiting, and diarrhoea, with paralysis and convulsions and sometimes *encephalitis. In chronic poisoning a characteristic bluish marking of the gums (‘lead line’) is seen and the peripheral nerves are affected; there is also anaemia. Treatment is with *edetate. The use of lead in paints is now strictly controlled. Symbol: Pb.

lead2 n. 1. a portion of an electrocardiographic record that is obtained from a single electrode or a combination of electrodes placed on a particular part of the body (see electrocardiogram; electrocardiography). In the conventional ECG, 12 leads are recorded. Each lead represents the electrical activity of the heart as ‘viewed’ from a different position on the body surface and may help to localize myocardial damage. 2. a flexible steerable insulated wire introduced into the heart under X-ray control to allow electrical stimulation of the heart for the purpose of pacing (see pacemaker).... l-dopa

Pacemaker

n. 1. a device used to produce and maintain a normal heart rate in patients who have *bradycardia. The unit consists of a battery that stimulates the heart through one or more insulated electrode wires (*leads) attached to the surface of the ventricle (epicardial pacemaker) or lying in contact with the lining of the heart (endocardial pacemaker). The pacemaker senses when the natural heart rate falls below a predetermined value and then stimulates the heart (demand pacemaker). A pacemaker may be used as a temporary measure with an external battery or it may be permanent, when the whole apparatus is surgically implanted under the skin. In most cases the right atrium and right ventricle are paced (dual-chamber pacing), but in a proportion of patients only right ventricular (single-chamber) pacing is required. 2. the part of the heart that regulates the rate at which it beats: the *sinoatrial node.... pacemaker

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