decompensation

[ dee-kom-puhn-sey-shuhn ]

/ ˌdi kɒm pənˈseɪ ʃən /

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noun

Medicine/Medical. the inability of a diseased heart to compensate for its defect.

Psychology. a loss of ability to maintain normal or appropriate psychological defenses, sometimes resulting in depression, anxiety, or delusions.

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Origin of decompensation

First recorded in 1900–05; de- + compensation

Words nearby decompensation

decolorize, decolour, decommission, decommit, decompensate, decompensation, decompose, decomposed, decomposer, decomposition, decompound

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use decompensation in a sentence

And a decompensation occurred, which resulted in his putting on the suit of The Conservative.
Broadway's Comeback Kid|Kevin Sessums|November 2, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Digitalis, when the cardiac tone is low and decompensation is present.
Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension:|Louis Marshall Warfield
The natural end of patients in this group is either uremia or cardiac decompensation (so-called cardiorenal disease).
Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension:|Louis Marshall Warfield
The terminal condition in most of the patients in this group is cardiac decompensation.
Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension:|Louis Marshall Warfield

He had just returned from a hospital in another city, where he had gone with what was apparently cardiac decompensation.
Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension:|Louis Marshall Warfield
It might be possible with this instrument to foretell an oncoming decompensation by the rise in venous pressure.
Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension:|Louis Marshall Warfield

British Dictionary definitions for decompensation

decompensation

/ (diːˌkɒmpɛnˈseɪʃən) /

noun

pathol inability of an organ, esp the heart, to maintain its function due to overload caused by a disease

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for decompensation

decompensation

[ dē′kŏm-pən-sā′shən ]

Failure of the heart to maintain adequate blood circulation, marked by labored breathing, engorged blood vessels, and edema.

The appearance or exacerbation of a mental disorder due to failure of defense mechanisms.