epi-, ep-

The surgical removal of the epicardium, usually performed in constrictive pericarditis to permit greater diastolic filling of the heart.

The epicardium is the inner layer of the pericardium, a conical sac of fibrous tissue that surrounds the heart and the roots of the great blood vessels.

The pericardium has outer and inner coats. The outer coat is tough and thickened, loosely cloaks the heart, and is attached to the central part of the diaphragm and the back of the sternum (breastbone).

The inner coat is double with one layer closely adherent to the heart while the other one lines the inner surface of the outer coat with the intervening space being filled with fluid.

This small amount of fluid, called the pericardial fluid, acts as a lubricant to allow normal heart movement within the chest.

A funeral song or discourse; an elegy (a lament or mournful poem for the dead).

1. Belonging to or having the characteristics of both male and female; such as, "an epicene statue".
2. Effeminate; unmanly.
3. Sexless; neuter.
4. In linguistics, having only one form of the noun for both the masculine and the feminine genders.
5. Etymology: from Middle English, having only one form of the noun for either gender, from Latin epicoenus, previously from Greek epikoinos, "in common"; from epi, "on, over, above" + koinois, "common".

1. The point on the earth's surface vertically above the focus of an earthquake: The area where Joe and his family lived was at the epicenter of the violent movements taking place just below the surface of the ground.
2. A main point of something which is normally a difficult or an unpleasant situation: The doctor was at the epicenter of concern about his patient's physical condition. © ALL rights are reserved.

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Living by attaching to the surface of another organism but without benefit or detriment to the host.

Pain in an epicondyle of the humerus or in the tendons or muscles originating therefrom: Epicondylalgia refers to the agony a person feels in the elbow joint of the area of the epicondyle.

The surgical removal of the articular (joint) end of a bone above a condyle (a round bump on a bone where it forms a joint with another bone).

1. The stem of a seedling between the cotyledons and the first true leaves.
2. That part of the stem above the cotyledons.

A reference to the epicranium (upper and superficial part of the head, including the scalp, muscles, etc.); such as, epicranial muscles.