Arteritis, giant cell
Arteritis, giant cell: A chronic vascular disease, most often involving the carotid artery system, that can lead to blindness and/or stroke, Giant cell arteritis (also called temporal arteritis) is detected by a biopsy of an artery, and is treated with high dose steroids.
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- Arteritis, temporal
Arteritis, temporal: Also called giant cell arteritis or cranial arteritis, this is a serious disease characterized by inflammation of the walls of the blood vessels (vasculitis). The vessels affected by inflammation are the arteries (hence the name “arteritis”). The age of affected patients is usually over 50 years of age. Giant cell arteritis can lead […]
- Artery
Artery: A vessel that carries blood high in oxygen content away from the heart to the farthest reaches of the body. Since blood in arteries is usually full of oxygen, the hemoglobin in the red blood cells is oxygenated. The resultant form of hemoglobin (oxyhemoglobin) is what makes arterial blood look bright red. Arteries are […]
- Artery spasm, coronary
Artery spasm, coronary: A sudden constriction of a coronary artery that deprives the heart muscle of blood and oxygen. This can cause a type of sudden chest pain referred to as variant angina or Prinzmetal angina. Coronary artery spasm can be triggered by emotional stress, medicines, street drugs (particularly cocaine), and exposure to extreme cold. […]
- Artery, central retinal
Artery, central retinal: The blood vessel that carries blood into the eye and supplies nutrition to the retina. The counterpart to the central retinal artery is the central retinal vein, the vessel that carries blood away from the retina.
- Artery, hepatic
Artery, hepatic: An artery that distributes blood to the liver, pancreas and gallbladder as well as to the stomach and duodenal portion of the small intestine.