Catacrotism

/ˌkætəˈkroʊˌtɪzəm/ noun

Definition

In medicine, the condition or phenomenon of having a catacrotic pulse, characterized by multiple peaks or waves in a single heartbeat.

Etymology

From 'catacrotic' + '-ism', forming a noun that describes the medical condition itself rather than just the adjective quality.

Kelly Says

Early cardiologists developed an entire vocabulary of pulse patterns because the human pulse tells stories—dicrotism, dichrotic, catacrotic—each suggested different heart problems long before we had electrical readouts.

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