pericardial vein
- noun
- /ˌpɛrɪˈkɑrdɪəl veɪn/
- Specialized
- The pericardial vein is important in draining blood from the tissues surrounding the heart.
Examples
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Damage to a pericardial vein during surgery can cause complications.
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The anatomy class examined the path of each pericardial vein closely.
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The pericardial vein is essential.
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Look at the pericardial veins!
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The pericardial vein helps transport deoxygenated blood from the pericardium back to the heart for circulation.
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After the surgery, the doctor checked the pericardial vein to ensure there was no obstruction in blood flow.
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During the dissection, the students identified the different pericardial vein branches that drain the heart's surrounding tissues.
Synonyms
A small vein that drains blood from the membrane around the heart into nearby veins
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'pericardial' (relating to the membrane around the heart) modifies 'vein' (a blood vessel), so the phrase denotes veins associated with/draining the pericardium. This is a regular noun–noun medical compound and would be transparent to a learner who already knows the constituent meanings, despite being technical vocabulary.
Etymology
The name pericardial vein comes from the parts pericardial, which means the thin layer 'around' the 'heart', and vein, a blood vessel that takes blood away. So a pericardial vein is a small vein that takes blood away from the tissue around the 'heart'.