Including a glossary as a handout in your presentation can make it
easier for your audience to understand DVT. Depending on your audience,
your handout can be longer or shorter. DVT patients, for instance, will
probably need a more comprehensive list than people attending a public
presentation about deep vein thrombosis. For a longer glossary, go
online to DVT.NET at www.dvt.net/glossary.do.
| Glossary of DVT Terms |
| Angiography | A procedure to look at blood vessels that involves injecting them with a dye that makes them visible on x-rays |
| Anticoagulant drug (blood thinner) | Medication to keep blood clots from forming and stop existing blood clots from getting larger |
| Artery | A vessel that carries blood away from the heart to the rest of the body |
| Catheter | A long, thin tube threaded into a vein to deliver a clot-dissolving drug |
| Clotting factors | Substances in the blood that cause blood to clot |
| Compression stockings | Stockings that squeeze the legs, helping the veins move blood more efficiently. |
| Coumadin® (warfarin) | Anticoagulant drug that reduces the risk of clotting |
| Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) | A condition in which a blood clot forms in the deep veins of the body, generally the leg, but sometimes in the arm or pelvis |
| Duplex scan | Sound waves of the leg that produce an image of blood flow on a computer screen |
DVT:
see deep vein thrombosis | |
| Edema | Swelling caused by accumulation of fluid |
| Embolus | A blood clot that breaks off from its original site, moves through the bloodstream, and lodges in a narrowed vessel, where it blocks circulation ("Embolus" is from the Greek word "embolus," meaning "plug") |
| Graduated compression stockings also called compression stockings | Stockings that squeeze the legs, helping the veins move blood more efficiently |
| Heparin | An anticoagulant (anti-clotting) medication |
| Incompetent valve | A valve in a vein that does not close completely (like a dripping water tap) |
PE:
see pulmonary embolism | |
| Phlebitis or thrombophlebitis | Swelling of a vein, a condition that can promote abnormal blood clots |
| Pneumatic compression cuffs | Thigh-high cuffs, like those used when taking blood pressure, that inflate every few minutes to compress the veins in the legs |
| Pulmonary artery | A blood vessel that carries blood from the heart into the lungs |
| Pulmonary embolism (PE) | A blood clot in the pulmonary artery |
| Stent | A small mesh tube inserted into a collapsed vein to keep it open |
| Thrombin inhibitors | Medications that interfere with the clotting process |
| Thromboembolism or embolism | A clot that breaks loose and travels through the bloodstream |
| Thrombolysis | Treatment to dissolve a thrombus (blood clot) |
| Thrombolytic agents (clot busters) | Drugs that can dissolve large clots |
| Thrombophilia | The increased tendency of blood to clot |
| Thrombophlebitis | Inflammation of a vein |
| Thromboprophylaxis | Use of drugs or other protective therapies to reduce thrombosis |
| Thrombosis | The formation or the presence of a blood clot in a blood vessel |
| Thrombus | A stationary blood clot on the wall of a blood vessel |
| Ultrasonography | The use of ultrasound |
| Ultrasound | High-frequency sound waves used to reveal tissue within the body |
| Vein | A blood vessel that carries blood from the body back to the heart |
| Venous thromboembolism | A blood clot in a vein |
| Warfarin (Coumadin®) | Anticoagulant drug that reduces the risk of clotting |
