decompensation

American  

[dee-kom-puhn-sey-shuhn] / ˌdi kɒm pənˈseɪ ʃən /

noun

1. Medicine/Medical. the inability of a diseased heart to compensate for its defect.

2. Psychology. a loss of ability to maintain normal or appropriate psychological defenses, sometimes resulting in depression, anxiety, or delusions.

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decompensation British  

/ diːˌkɒmpɛnˈseɪʃən /

noun

1. pathol inability of an organ, esp the heart, to maintain its function due to overload caused by a disease

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Etymology

Origin of decompensation

First recorded in 1900–05; de- + compensation

Example Sentences

Medical science now knows that many people living with long-term conditions such as heart, lung and liver diseases are tipped into decompensation and death by the coronavirus.

From Washington Post • Jan. 19, 2023

This experience taught me that my son’s medical care for schizophrenic decompensation is not a priority call.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 4, 2022

“But what we’re ultimately worried about is heart decompensation and dangerous arrhythmias.”

From Scientific American • Dec. 2, 2021

As a result, the source said, the patient was “undergoing a quiet decompensation where he just gets sicker and sicker.”

From The New Yorker • May 2, 2016

Subsequently, as the disease advances, if the patient does not die of angina pectoris, apoplexy or uremia, the symptoms of cardiac decompensation will develop.

From Disturbances of the Heart by Osborne, Oliver T. (Oliver Thomas)