Failure of the ventricles of the heart to contract (usually caused by ventricular fibrillation) with consequent absence of the heart beat leading to oxygen lack and eventually to death

• Absence of systole

WordNet Word definitions in WordNet
n. absence of systole; failure of the ventricles of the heart to contract (usually caused by ventricular fibrillation) with consequent absence of the heart beat leading to oxygen lack and eventually to death [syn: cardiac arrest , cardiopulmonary arrest ...

Wikipedia Word definitions in Wikipedia
In medicine, asystole , colloquially known as flatline , is a state of no cardiac electrical activity, hence no contractions of the myocardium and no cardiac output or blood flow. Asystole is one of the conditions that may be used for a medical practitioner ...

Wiktionary Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. (context pathology cardiology English) absence of systole; failure of the heart to contract.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1860, from Modern Latin, from Greek a- , privative prefix (see a- (3)), + systole "contraction" (see systole ).

The Collaborative International Dictionary Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Asystole \A*sys"to*le\, n. [Pref. a- not + systole.] (Physiol.) A weakening or cessation of the contractile power of the heart.