Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI)

Also called heart attack, usually caused by a blocked coronary artery, which prevents blood and oxygen from nourishing the heart muscle.

AngioFlex™
A proprietary ABIOMED material that is used in the AbioCor.

Angiogram 
A series of x-rays of the blood vessels in the heart taken in rapid sequence following the injection of a contrast substance into the blood stream.

Angioplasty

Performed in the catheterization lab in which a catheter-guided balloon is used to open a narrowed coronary artery. A stent (a wire-mesh tube that expands to hold the artery open) is usually placed at the narrowed section during angioplasty.

Anticoagulants

Non habit-forming medications that keep existing blood clots from growing larger as well as prevent the formation of new blood clots. Heparin is an example.

Aorta
The large arterial trunk that carries blood from the heart to be distributed by branch arteries through the body.

Arteries 
The thick, muscular tubes that carry blood away from the heart.

Bi-VAD 
Bi-Ventricular Assist Device. Supports both sides of the heart

Blood thinner 
Medication used to prevent blood clots or keep the blood in a liquid form (for example, Coumadin®).

Blood vessels 
An extensive network of flexible tubes that carries blood to and from the heart and throughout the body. The blood vessels are the transportation system of the body. The blood vessels include arteries, capillaries and veins.

Bridge-to-recovery

A medical device that can support the heart until it is able to recover and operate on its own.

Bridge-to-transplant

A medical device that can temporarily function in place of a heart until a suitable heart transplant becomes available.

CABG (pronounced “Cabbage”)
Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting. A heart surgery procedure that treats the symptoms of coronary artery disease. CABG surgery reroutes (or ‘bypasses’) the blood flow around the blockages in the coronary arteries, restoring blood flow to the heart muscle itself.

Cannulae 
Tubes that connect the heart and blood vessels to a mechanical pump.

Console

The part of a circulatory support system that drives the blood pumps, thus allowing the blood to flow through its normal cycle. The console is powered by electricity and has a back-up battery.

Cardiogenic shock (CS)

A condition that often takes place after a heart attack when cells in the heart start to die, due to the failure of the heart to pump an adequate amount of blood to the heart.

Catheterization (cath) lab

A facility in most hospitals in which minimally invasive cardiac procedures, like stent placement and angioplasty take place, most often by a cardiologist via a catheter. The lab is often one of the first stops in the hospital for patients experiencing cardiac problems, before they move to the surgical suite where more invasive procedures, like VAD placement or cardiac surgery, take place.  There are approximately 1,600 U.S. hospitals with cath labs.

CE-Mark
The approval of manufacturing and quality systems identified with the ISO 9001 certification. This label allows a medical device company to commercialize products in Europe.

CMS

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a division of Health & Human Services (HHS), the largest payer of healthcare in the U.S. Patients over 65 or with disabilities qualify for coverage from the U.S. Government.

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) 
A disease in which plaque deposits containing cholesterol atherosclerosis and fat globules are deposited within the arteries.

Destination therapy

A permanent implant. It can consist of a device or a transplant to assist or replace the heart.

Heart failure

Heart failure is almost always a chronic, long-term condition, although it can sometimes develop suddenly. This condition may affect the right side, the left side, or both sides of the heart. As the heart’s pumping action is lost, blood may back up into other areas of the body, including: the liver, the gastrointestinal tract and extremities (right-sided heart failure), the lungs (left-sided heart failure). Class 4 heart failure is the condition when a patient is exhausted, short of breath or fatigued when just sitting still or lying down in bed.

Inotropes

Inotropes are non-habit-forming medications that strengthen the contractions of the heart. Digoxin is an example

Interventional cardiology

A specialized area of medicine that focuses on diagnostics, treatment and management of patients with cardiovascular disease.

Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP)

IABP is a medical device that works in the Aorta to improve blood flow to the body.

Ischemic 
A decrease in the blood and oxygen supply to an organ or tissue in the body.

Left atrium

Receives oxygen enriched blood from the lungs and passes this on to the left ventricle.

Left ventricle

Receives blood from the left atrium and pumps it to the aorta, supplying the entire body with blood.

Myocardial revascularization 
Restoring blood flow to the myocardium (heart muscle).

Myocarditis

Inflammation of the heart muscle brought on by a virus or bacteria, which may even result from allergic reaction.

Open heart centers

Hospitals that perform open heart surgery such as valve repair or replacement, coronary artery bypass, or any other non-transplant procedure.

Paracorporeal 
Refers to “outside the body,” describes the location of the ABIOMED Ventricular Assist Device lying on top of the abdomen.

Pulmonary artery

Receives blood from the right ventricle and passes it to the lungs where it is enriched with oxygen.

Post Cardiotomy Cardiogenic Shock (PCCS)

Cardiogenic shock that takes place during open heart surgery, often as a result the patient cannot come off heart-lung support machine.

REMATCH (Randomized Evaluation of Mechanical Assistance for the Treatment of Congestive Heart Failure)

A randomized study sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) that evaluated LVADs as long-term destination therapy. Compared with previous trials, REMATCH enrolled patients with far more advanced heart failure. Although investigators had hoped to further optimize standard therapy, nearly all patients randomized to medical therapy (the non-LVAD group) were already receiving optimal medical management (OMM).

Right atrium
Receives oxygen depleted blood from the body and passes it on to the right ventricle.

Right ventricle
Receives blood from the right atrium and pumps it through the pulmonary artery into the lungs where it is enriched with oxygen.

Transplant center

Hospitals that perform heart transplants. About 2,200 transplants are performed each year at approximately 100 centers in the U.S.

VAD 
Ventricular Assist Device. A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a mechanical pump device that is surgically implanted or attached externally with a cannulae. It helps maintain the pumping ability of a heart that cannot effectively work on its own. They can be LVAD (left VAD), RVAD (right) or BiVAD (both side).

Valves 
Flap-like structures in the heart that open and close to let the blood flow in only one direction. The four heart valves are: the tricuspid, the pulmonary or pulmonic (in the right side of the heart), the mitral and the aortic valve (in the left side).

Vasodilators

Agents that open vessels by relaxing their muscular walls. For example, nitroglycerin is a vasodilator.