Saturday, January 10, 2009

Term of the Day

Cor Pulmonale: Right ventricular enlargement (hypertrophy, dilation, or both) secondary to pulmonary hypertension. Increased afterload (pressure in the pulmonary trunk) leads to chronic pressure overload in the right ventricle, thus increasing the work it must do. The right ventricle ultimately fails when pulmonary artery pressure equals systemic blood pressure.

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