158 CHAPTER 5• Cardiovascular and Lymphatic Systems
Word Element Meaning Word Analysis
varic/o dilated vein varic/ose (VĂR-ĭ-kōs): pertaining to a dilated vein
-ose: pertaining to; sugar
vas/o vessel; vas vas/o/spasm (VĂS-ō-spăzm): spasm of a blood vessel
deferens; duct -spasm: involuntary contraction, twitching
vascul/o vessel vascul/ar (VĂS-kū-lăr): pertaining to or composed of blood vessels
-ar: pertaining to
ventricul/o ventricle (of intra/ventricul/ar (ĭn-tră-vĕn-TRĬK-ū-lăr): within a ventricle
heart or brain) -ar: pertaining to
Suffixes
-cardia heart condition tachy/cardia(tăk-ē-KĂR-dē-ă): rapid heart rate
tachy-: rapid
-gram record, writing electr/o/cardi/o/gram(ē-lĕk-trō-KĂR-dē-ō-grăm): record of electrical activity of
the heart
electr/o: electricity
cardi/o: heart
-graph instrument for electr/o/cardi/o/graph(ē-lĕk-trō-KĂR-dē-ŏ-grăf): instrument for recording
recording electrical activity of the heart
electr/o: electricity
cardi/o: heart
-graphy process of electr/o/cardi/o/graphy(ē-lĕk-trō-kăr-dē-ŎG-ră-fē): process of recording
recording electrical activity of the heart
electr/o: electricity
cardi/o: heart
Electrocardiography is a noninvasive test that records the electrical activity of the
heart during contractions and rest. It is used to diagnose abnormal cardiac rhythm
and the presence of heart muscle (myocardial) damage.
-stenosis narrowing, arteri/o/stenosis(ăr-tē-rē-ō-stĕ-NŌ-sĭs): narrowing of an artery
stricture arteri/o: artery
Narrowing of an artery may be caused by fatty plaque buildup, scar tissue, or
a blood clot.
-um structure, thing endo/cardi/um(ĕn-dō-KĂR-dē-ŭm): structure within the heart
endo-: in, within
cardi: heartPronunciation Help Long sound a ̄in ra ̄te e ̄in re ̄birth ı ̄in ı ̄sle o ̄in o ̄ver u ̄in u ̄nite
Short sound a ̆in a ̆lone e ̆in e ̆ver ̆ıin ı ̆t o ̆in no ̆t u ̆in cu ̆tVisit the Medical Terminology Simplifiedonline resource center at DavisPlus for an
audio exercise of the terms in this table. It will help you master pronunciations
and meanings of the medical terms.