Philip Lees (asker) Dec 16, 2009:

Thanks, Panagioti. That's pretty much how the cardiologist explained it to me - an imbalance of cardiac processes, in this case involving pulmonary artery pressures, leading to a loss of function.

Panagiotis Andrias (X) Dec 15, 2009:

. η ανεπάρκεια, Philip, είναι μία κατάσταση, είναι status, είναι το αποτέλεσμα... η κάμψη είναι η διαδικασία, decompensation/deterioration process, μέσω της οποίας φθάνεις, δυστυχώς, στην ανεπαρκή κατάσταση...

Philip Lees (asker) Dec 15, 2009:

Update I translated it as "acute heart failure" and the author agrees. Or at least doesn't disagree. He's worked in the UK for an extended period, so he should know.

I think it's one of those differences in perception. See stenocardia for another example: http://www.google.com/search?q=stenocardia

Spiros Doikas Dec 15, 2009:

Lol Sounds like Greek cardiology is more advanced than English-speaking one or an inexplicable lexical gap?

Philip Lees (asker) Dec 15, 2009:

Checking the references kindly provided by Spiros, I found that there seems to be a difference between καρδιακή κάμψη and καρδιακή ανεπάρκεια, with the former being an acute condition, rather than chronic.

I was just now speaking with a Greek cardiologist (who speaks good English) about another matter, and I asked him about this term. He explained the meaning, but when I asked him for the equivalent English term, he said there isn't one! That's right: there is no equivalent term in English.

Now what? I'll improvise something, and send it back to the original author flagged as a question. Fortunately, this is one of the papers for the Greek heart journal and I have access to the authors.