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Glite Dictionary
cardiomegaly

cardiomegaly

1 8.1
A heart that is larger than normal and often seen on a chest X-ray
  • noun
  • /ˌkɑrdioʊˈmɛɡəli/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cardiomegalia
  • They learned that cardiomegaly could be a sign of underlying health problems, so they scheduled further tests to investigate.
  • sided cardiomegaly
  • suggesting cardiomegaly

Examples

  • Cardiomegaly can result from a variety of causes and can be right-sided, left-sided, or generalized.

    Academic text (2010)

  • In Jed's case, a chest X-ray may be useful for identifying pulmonary edema and cardiomegaly and could support a diagnosis of heart failure.

    Academic text (2012)

  • CXR showed cardiomegaly with clear lung fields.

    Academic text (2007)

  • The chest X-ray identified an increased cardiac-thoracic ratio suggesting cardiomegaly.

    Academic text (2012)

  • The doctor confirmed that the patient's heart had abnormal enlargement, known as cardiomegaly, during the ultrasound examination.

  • After reviewing the imaging results, the specialist diagnosed her with cardiomegaly, indicating a potential issue with heart function.

Synonyms

enlarged heart
vscardiomegaly
  • Specialized
3 3.3

A heart that is larger than normal, often because of illness

adds that enlargement is often detected by imaging and can follow activity
megacardia
vscardiomegaly
  • Specialized
9.9

A heart that is larger than normal

emphasizes detection and explicit links to causes such as activity or disease
megalocardia
vscardiomegaly
  • Specialized
9.9

An unusually large heart

specifies it is usually found by imaging and tied to conditions or activity

Surface Forms

cardiomegaly singular
cardiomegalies plural

Morphology

cardiomegaly = cardio + megaly

The term is a regular medical formation meaning heart enlargement, but both parts are bound classical forms rather than everyday English words.

Etymology

Cardiomegaly comes from Greek parts: cardio- meaning 'heart' and -megaly meaning 'large', like the 'mega' in megaphone. So cardiomegaly means an 'enlarged heart' and is used when the heart is bigger than normal.