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Glite Dictionary
heart block

heart block

2 5.3
The heart's signals stop partly or completely, causing slow, irregular beats and fainting
  • noun
  • /hɑrt blɑk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : bloqueo cardíaco
  • Recently, I cared for an 88-year-old man with severe multi-infarct dementia, third-degree heart block, and an ejection fraction of 10% who was on hemodialysis.
  • complete heart block
  • congenital heart block

Sometimes starting metoprolol can reveal an underlying heart arrhythmia or heart block that needs to be investigated.

Examples

  • You aren't even considered for 1st or 2nd degree heart block.

    Blog text (25)

  • Sometimes starting metoprolol can reveal an underlying heart arrhythmia or heart block that needs to be investigated.

    Dr. Sam Bailey

  • But I suspect he had a congenital heart block.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • As described in 1959, the pacemaker provided the first practical treatment for complete heart block.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Complete heart block described during pregnancy is mostly of congenital origin.

    Academic text (2007)

  • The mortality rate for third-degree heart block at three years is 98%.

    Blog text (25)

  • Thus, painless delivery was successfully conducted in a patient with complete heart block using a temporary pacemaker.

    Academic text (2007)

  • However, AV Wenckebach and complete heart block in older individuals, especially during wakeful hours, are pathologic.

    Academic text (2016)

  • A 37-year-old primigravida was diagnosed with a complete heart block (CHB) during her antenatal checkup at 36 weeks.

    Academic text (2007)

  • The doctor explained that heart block can lead to irregular heartbeats and fainting spells.

Synonyms

arrhythmia
vsheart block
  • Specialized
28 7.4

An uneven heartbeat that is faster, slower, or not regular

is about electrical blockage producing slow or irregular beats and fainting risk
cardiac arrhythmia
vsheart block
  • Specialized
5 5.1

An irregular heartbeat that is too fast or too slow

is specifically about blocked signals causing slow beats and sometimes loss of consciousness
atrioventricular block
vsheart block
  • Specialized
1 6.8

A heart problem when electrical signals between the upper and lower chambers are slow or stop causing fainting

is a blocked electrical signal causing slow or irregular beats and possible fainting

How Severe

heart block
  • Specialized
2 5.3
fibrillation
  • Specialized
9 7.9
flutter
  • Specialized
4 7.5
palpitation
17 7.5

Surface Forms

heart block singular
heart blocks plural

Morphology

heart + block

The term is compositionally built from 'heart' + 'block', so a B1 learner who knows the words can infer there is some kind of obstruction or problem affecting the heart. However, the precise medical sense — a blockage of the heart's electrical conduction causing slow/irregular beats — is technical and not fully predictable from the constituents, making the meaning only partly transparent.

Etymology

Heart block comes from a simple image: heart is the organ and block is an obstacle that stops something moving. When the heart's 'messages' are stopped or slowed, the heartbeat becomes 'slow or irregular', so the name describes the condition.