Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

coronary artery spasm
A sudden constriction
of a coronary artery that deprives the heart muscle
of blood and oxygen. This can cause a type of sud-
den chest pain referred to as variant angina or
Prinzmetal angina. Coronary artery spasm can be
triggered by emotional stress, medicines, street
drugs (particularly cocaine), and exposure to
extreme cold. Treatments include the use of beta-
blocker medications and, classically, nitroglycerin
to allow the coronary arteries to open.
coronary occlusion
Blockage of a coronary
artery, which can cause a heart attack. See also
acute myocardial infarction.
coronavirus
One of a group of viruses, so named
because they look like a corona or halo when
viewed under the electron microscope.
Coronaviruses are the second leading cause of the
common cold (after the rhinoviruses). A new coro-
navirus was discovered to be responsible for severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). See also 
severe
acute respiratory syndrome.
corpora cavernosa
Two chambers that run the
length of the penis and are filled with spongy tissue.
Blood flows in and fills the open spaces in this
spongy tissue to create an erection.
corporeal
Pertaining to the body of an organ or
the entire body.
corpse
A dead body. The term corpse is more
often used in mystery stories than in medicine,
which prefers the term cadaver.
corpus
The body of the uterus.
Corrigan pulse
A pulse that is forceful and then
suddenly collapses. It is usually found in patients
with aortic regurgitation, a condition caused by a
cord, vocal
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leaky aortic valve. The left ventricle of the heart
ejects blood under high pressure into the aorta.
Then the aortic valve normally shuts tight so that
blood cannot return to the ventricle. If, however, the
aortic valve cannot close completely, the blood in
the aorta comes sloshing back into the ventricle,
and the pressure and the pulse collapse. Also
known as water-hammer pulse.