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

See Examples For:

heart block

Jen Singer is a ghostwriter and editor who has survived cancer, a complete heart block, and heart failure.

From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026

Dr Matthew Thornber, a consultant at the hospital, said the two ECGs taken were not "textbook" examples of looking like a heart block condition and such diagnosis requires nuance and experience.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 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

A heart block refers to an interruption in the normal conduction pathway.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

Its greatest value is in states of abnormal conductivity, such as various grades of heart block, extrasystoles, whether originating in auricles or in either ventricle, abnormalities of rhythm, as flutter and fibrillation.

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