fabrillo-, fibrill-, fibrilo-, fibril-

Extremely rapid, incomplete contractions of the atria (chamber of the heart that receives blood from the body and transmits it to the ventricles) resulting in irregular intensities and rhythms and uncoordinated movements of the heart.

To arrest the muscular twitching involving individual muscle fibers of the heart that move without normal coordination: Defibrillating is performed by applying electric shocks across a person's chest which depolarizes the heart cells and allows normal rhythms to return.

Medical treatment by stopping muscular twitching or irregular contractions of the muscle fibers; especially, of the heart: Defibrillation of abnormal movements of heart muscles is usually treated with electric shocks delivered in an attempt to restore the normal rhythms of the heart.

Defibrillations are used to apply carefully controlled electric shocks that are administered either through a device on the exterior of the chest wall or directly to the exposed heart muscle, to restart or to normalize the rhythms.

Devices that are used to correct dangerously abnormal heart rhythms; usually, ventricular or sudden muscle spasms or involuntary contractions of a heart muscle or group of muscles or to restart hearts by depolarizing their electrical conduction systems and delivering brief measured electrical shocks to the chest wall or more directly to the heart muscles: The patient's doctor applied a defibrillator to counteract the irregular movements of his heart muscles and and to restore his normal heartbeats by applying a brief electric shock.

A minute thread of fiber, as one of the fibrous elements of a muscular fiber; a fiber or fibers.

1. Relating to a fibril or consisting of fibrils.
2. Denoting the fine rapid contractions or twitchings of fibers or of small groups of fibers in skeletal or cardiac muscle.

1. To make or to become fibrillar.
2. To be in a state of fibrillation.
3. To make fine, irregular, rapid twitching movements.
4. To undergo rapid irregular beating or uncontrolled contraction, or to make the heart or muscles undergo these activities.

Composed of minute fibers or fibrils.

1. A small, local, involuntary, muscular contraction, as a result of the spontaneous activation of single muscle cells or muscle fibers.
2. Muscular twitching involving individual muscle fibers acting without coordination.
3. The formation of fibrils or fibers.
4. A rapid chaotic beating of the heart muscles in which the affected part of the heart may stop pumping blood.
5. An abnormal bioelectric potential occurring in neuropathies and myopathies.
6. Rapid uncoordinated twitching movements that replace the normal rhythmic contraction of the heart and may cause a lack of circulation and pulse.

The difference between fibrillation and flutter is that fibrillation is not well organized while flutter is.

A protein constituent of connective tissue.

It is present in skin, ligaments, tendons, and in the aorta.

Formation of fibrils.

1. Covered with fibrils more or less evenly disposed.
2. Furnished or abounding with fine fibers.

An abnormal development of fibrous tissue.

1. One of many contractile filaments that make up a striated muscle fiber.
2. Long cylindrical organelle of striated muscle, composed of regular arrays of thick and thin filaments and constituting the contractile apparatus

The primary mechanism and arrhythmia seen in sudden cardiac arrest.

Organized electrical activity and synchronized mechanical pumping activity are absent.

The electrocardiogram shows a chaotic, wavy baseline. If ventricular fibrillation is not terminated rapidly with defibrillation, blood flow to the brain is cut off, causing brain damage.

Untreated ventricular fibrillation leads to death.