heart block

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. a defect in the electrical impulses of the heart resulting in any of various arrhythmias or irregularities in the heartbeat.

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heart block British  

noun

1. Also called: Adams-Stokes syndrome.   atrioventricular block.  impaired conduction or blocking of the impulse that regulates the heartbeat, resulting in a lack of coordination between the beating of the atria and the ventricles

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Etymology

Origin of heart block

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

It later emerged the ECG showed signs of a "complete heart block" which can lead to sudden cardiac death.

From BBC • Jun. 4, 2024

After a week of relentless media queries, doctors revealed to the public what Netanyahu, 73, had kept hidden for 20 years: a chronic, generally asymptomatic but potentially fatal conduction disorder or heart block.

From Slate • Jul. 31, 2023

The electrical signals that trigger a heartbeat begin in the top of the heart, but during heart block they have trouble reaching the heart’s pumping chambers at the bottom.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 24, 2023

Not long before, he had been diagnosed with a heart block, but he declined the doctor’s admonitions to have a pacemaker installed.

From The Guardian • Jul. 3, 2017

Experimentally various grades of heart block have been produced in the dog's heart by more or less compression of the bundle at the A-V ring.

From Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension: with Chapters on Blood Pressure, 3rd Edition. by Warfield, Louis Marshall