Cardiac aneurysm: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment
A cardiac aneurysm is a weakened, bulging area in or around the heart that forms after tissue is damaged or structurally fragile. Most often,...
Cardiac angiosarcoma: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Cardiac angiosarcoma is a rare cancer that begins in the cells lining blood vessels and grows within the heart. Even when it starts as...
Cardiac arrest: Causes, Risk Factors, and Prevention Strategies
Cardiac arrest is a sudden failure of the heart to pump blood effectively. Within seconds, a person can collapse, lose consciousness, and stop breathing...
Cardiac asthma: Wheezing From Heart Failure, Signs and Management
Cardiac asthma is a misleading name for a real problem: wheezing and breathlessness caused by heart failure, not inflamed airways. When the left side...
Cardiac contusion: Warning Signs, Arrhythmia Risk, and Recovery
A cardiac contusion is a bruise of the heart muscle caused by blunt force to the chest. It most often occurs after high-energy trauma—such...
Cardiac fibroma: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Risk Factors
Cardiac fibroma is a rare, noncancerous tumor made mostly of tough fibrous tissue that grows inside the heart muscle. Although “benign” sounds reassuring, its...
Cardiac hypertrophy: Causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options
Cardiac hypertrophy means the heart muscle has become thicker than normal. Sometimes this thickening is a healthy adaptation, such as in well-trained endurance athletes....
Cardiac ischemia: Signs, Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options
Cardiac ischemia (myocardial ischemia) happens when the heart muscle does not get enough oxygen-rich blood to meet its needs. Most often, the “traffic problem”...
Cardiac lipoma: What it is, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options
A cardiac lipoma is a rare, noncancerous (benign) tumor made of mature fat cells that forms in or on the heart. Many are discovered...
Cardiac myxoma, Overview, Risk factors, Complications, and Surgical removal
A cardiac myxoma is a non-cancerous (benign) tumor that grows inside the heart, most often in the left atrium. “Benign” can sound reassuring, but...
Cardiac rhabdomyoma: Overview, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment
A cardiac rhabdomyoma is a noncancerous heart tumor made of muscle-like cells. It is most often found in fetuses, newborns, and young infants, and...
Cardiac Rupture: Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Emergency Treatment
Cardiac rupture is a medical emergency in which a tear forms in the heart’s wall or in supporting structures that keep blood moving in...
Cardiac sarcoidosis: Overview, Causes, Risk Factors, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Cardiac sarcoidosis is a form of inflammatory heart disease caused by sarcoidosis, a condition in which clusters of immune cells (called granulomas) form in...
Cardiac syndrome X, Why Angina Happens Without Blockages, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Care
Cardiac syndrome X is a frustrating diagnosis for many people because the symptoms can feel unmistakably “heart-related,” yet standard coronary angiography does not show...
Cardiogenic shock, Key Warning Signs, Causes, Diagnosis, and Emergency Treatment
Cardiogenic shock is a medical emergency in which the heart suddenly cannot pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. It is not simply...
Cardiomegaly, Common Causes, Risk Factors, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options
Cardiomegaly means an enlarged heart. It is not a diagnosis by itself so much as a sign that something has changed in the heart’s...