Heart Disease S-Z
Saphenous Vein
The vein in the legs that is often removed and used to bypass a blocked vessel in coronary bypass surgery.Stenosis
Narrowing of a blood vessel, heart valve or other bodily passage.Stents
Tiny metal “scaffolds” that support tubular structures such as arteries. A stent may be used to keep a collapsed artery open until surgery can take place, it may hold a vessel open while a physician works on it, or it may provide a permanent opening in a blocked artery, placed during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA).Suturing
Closing the edges of a wound or incision using sterile suturing material and a needle.Transatrial Commissurotomy
Surgery involving the use of a hooked knife to separate the commissures – fibrous leaflets – of the mitral valve. Approaching via the atria rather then the ventricles makes it easier to locate the mitral valve.Tricuspid Valve
A valve consisting of three cusps located between the upper and lower chambers (atrium and ventricle) on the right side of the heart.Valve Surgery
Surgery to repair or replace a heart valve that is not functioning properly.Valvular Heart Disease
An acquired or congenial disorder of a cardiac valve.Valvuloplasty
The use of a balloon-tipped catheter to dilate a cardiac valve.Vein
A blood vessel that conveys blood from various parts of the body back to the heart.Ventricles
The two lower or main pumping chambers of the heart. They receive blood from the atria and pump it to the lungs and the various parts of the body.
