AHS52 CH03 MISC TERMS

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coccyx

tailbone

larynx

voice box

pharynx

throat

phalanx

finger or toe

fibromyalgia

common chronic disorder that involves widespread pain in muscles and fibrous tissues around joints

amniocentesis

the amnion is the sac (membrane) surrounding the embryo (fetus after the 8th week) in the uterus — amniotic fluid (containing fetal cells) accumulates within the amnion and may be withdrawn with a needle and cultured for microscopic analysis between the 12th and 18th weeks of pregnancy to examine for chemicals that indicate fetal defects

abdominocentesis

procedure is more commonly known as abdominal paracentesis (para- means beside or near) where a tube is placed through an incision in the abdomen and fluid is removed from the peritoneal cavity (beside the abdominal organs)

staph

bacteria in clusters

pleurodynia

pain in the chest wall muscles that is aggravated by breathing

ischemia

literally, to hold back (isch/o) blood (-emia) from a part of the body or tissue — because of a decrease in blood supply (blood clot in a vessel or narrowing and closing off of a vessel), tissue becomes ischemic and can even die if it is deprived of oxygen long enough

TIA (transient ischemic attack)

“mini-stroke” that occurs when blood is held back from tissue in the brain

myelitis

inflammation of the spinal cord (myel/o = spinal cord)

tonsillitis

inflammation of the tonsils (lymphatic tissue in the back of the throat) -- also called phlebitis; symptoms include intense erythema (redness) of the tonsils and a creamy-yellow exudate (pus containing leukocytes and bacteria)

hemolysis

normal breakdown of red blood cells -- excessive destruction of red blood cells can lead to a type of anemia called hemolytic anemia

necropsy

autopsy performed on animal species in veterinary medicine

autopsy

necropsy performed on humans

cardiomyopathy

primary disease of the heart muscle in the absence of a known underlying etiology (cause)

neutropenia

deficiency of neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) -- neutr/o = neutrophil

acrophobia

fear of heights (acr/o = extremities, in the sense of extreme or far points -- think acrobats)

agoraphobia

anxiety disorder marked by fear of being outside of home alone, being in open or enclosed places, or using public transportation (agora = marketplace)

achondroplasia

inherited disorder or result of mutation (change) in a specific gene where bones of the arms and legs do not grow to normal size because of a defect in cartilage and bone formation -- dwarfism results, marked by short limbs but normal-sized head and trunk and normal intelligence

angioplasty

when an interventional cardiologist opens a narrowed blood vessel (artery) using a balloon that is inflated after insertion into the vessel -- stents, or slotted tubes, are then put in place to keep the artery open

blepharoptosis

drooping of the upper eyelid (due to muscle weakness)

ptosis

physicians use ptosis alone (despite it being a suffix) to indicate drooping of the upper eyelids or the breasts

arteriosclerosis

a form of arteriosclerosis where deposits of fat (ather/o = fatty material) collect in an artery

metastasis

(meta- = beyond) the spread of a malignant tumor beyond its original site to a secondary organ or location

hemostasis

natural mechanism of stopping blood flow by clotting or artificially by compression or suturing of a wound

hemostat

a surgical clamp used in operating rooms to stop blood flow

radiotherapy

high-energy radiation is used to treat, not diagnose, illnesses (namely cancer)

laparotomy

also referred to as a “lap,” this procedure is creation of a large incision into the peritoneal cavity, often performed on an exploratory basis

hypertrophy

when cells increase in size, not number -- muscles of weight lifters often hypertrophy (an increase and growth of muscle cells through exercise)

atrophy

when cells decrease in size -- muscles atrophy when immobilized in a cast and not in use (loss of muscle tissue development)

laparoscopy

the abdomen is examined making small incisions and using a laparoscope -- this procedure is often used to examine and remove organs such as the appendix and gallbladder

radiographer

a technologist who assists in the making of diagnostic x-ray pictures

leukemia

a group of cancers that begins in bone marrow and results in high numbers of abnormal, immature white blood cells

pericardium

structure (membrane) that surrounds the heart

artery

blood vessel (tube of muscle) that carries blood rich in oxygen from the heart to the organs of the body

arterioles

the middle blood vessel -- the artery narrows to form smaller arteries called these that branch into capillaries

capillaries

the smallest blood vessels formed by branching of the arterioles -- through its thin walls, oxygen leaves the blood and enters cells; this structure then branches into venules

venules

small veins that carry blood low in oxygen and lead to a vein that brings oxygen-poor blood back to the heart

myocardial

pertaining to the heart muscle or myocardium

myocardial infarction (MI)

heart attack; infarction is an area of dead tissue (necrosis) resulting from ischemia (lack of blood supply to that tissue)

axillary

pertaining to the axilla (armpit) -- axillary lymph nodes are found in the armpit and are important in breast cancer

osteogenic sarcoma

malignant tumor produced in bone

acute

a disease that is of rapid onset and has severe symptoms and brief duration

chronic

a disease that develops slowly and may worsen over an extended period of time

mucous

pertaining to the sticky secretion called mucus

nuclei

plural of nucleus

bronchi

plural of bronchus

thombi

plural of thrombus

anemia

literally means “no blood” but is actually a condition marked by reduction in the number of erythrocytes or in the amount of hemoglobin in blood

iron deficiency anemia

iron is needed to make hemoglobin → deficiency of iron leads to reduction of hemoglobin in blood

sickle cell anemia

erythrocytes assume an abnormal sickle shape and clog blood vessels, leading to a reduction in the number of erythrocytes

aplastic anemia

erythrocytes, leukocytes, and thrombocytes are not formed in bone marrow

spleen

organ in LUQ (left upper quadrant) of the abdomen (side of stomach, below diaphragm) — composed of lymph tissue and blood vessels, it disposes of dying red blood cells and contains white blood cells to fight disease

splenomegaly

occurs with development of high blood pressure in hepatic veins and hemolytic blood diseases (anemias involving excessive destruction or lysis of red blood cells) — other organs carry out its functions if the spleen is removed

splenectomy

removal of the spleen

abdominoplasty

surgical repair procedure of the abdomen

mammoplasty

surgical repair procedure of the breasts

blepharoplasty

surgical repair procedure of the eyelids

rhinoplasty

surgical repair procedure of the nose

opioid

drug derived from the opium poppy plant — also known as narcotics (narc/o = stupor, sleep) which include heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine, morphine — these drugs act on brain receptors to alleviate pain; misuse increases risk of addiction, overdose, and death

buprenorphine

medication that treats opioid addiction

naloxone (Narcan)

medication used to counter the effects of life-threatening opioid overdose

sentinel axillary lymph node

the first lymph node to which cancer is most likely to spread in regards to breast cancer — it is removed during mastectomy or lumpectomy and biopsied to determine if the cancer has spread beyond the breast (metastasized)

hernia

protrusion of an organ or the muscular wall of an organ through the cavity that normally contains ith

hiatal hernia

occurs when the stomach protrudes upward into the mediastinum through the esophageal opening in the diaphragm — consequences include reflux of gastric contents and acid into the esophagus, producing esophagitis (inflammation of the esophagus) which then causes heartburn (chest pain)

inguinal hernia

occurs when part of the intestine protrudes downward into the groin region and commonly into the scrotal sac in the male

cystocele

occurs when part of the urinary bladder herniates through the vaginal wall as a result of weakness of the pelvic muscles

rectocele

protrusion of a portion of the rectum towards the vagina

omphalocele

(omphal/o = umbilicus, navel) herniation of the intestines through a weakness in the abdominal wall around the navel occurring in infants at birth

streptococcus

berry-shaped bacterium that grows in twisted chains — one group causes “strep throat”, tonsillitis, rheumatic fever, certain kidney ailments, and another causes infections in teeth, within the sinuses (cavities) of the nose and face, in the valves of the heart

staphylococci

grape-shaped clusters of bacteria that can cause external (skin abscesses, boils, styles) or internal (abscesses in bone and kidney) lesions

abscess

collection of pus, white blood cells, and protein that is present at the site of infection

MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)

serious staphylococcal condition that is difficult to treat with antibiotics — can become an antibiotic resistant infection when the MRSA bacteria develop the ability to resist or defeat the drugs designed to kill them

diplococci

berry-shaped bacteria organized in pairs (dipl/o = 2) — inludes pneumococci and gonococci

pneumococci

(pneum/o = lungs) diplococci that causes bacterial pneumonia

gonococci

(gon/o = seed) diplococci that invades the reproductive organs, causing gonorrhea (STI)

gram-negative bacteria

includes diplococci, bacteria that have the pink color of the counterstain (safranin) used in Gram’s method

gram-positive bacteria

coccal bacteria that retains the light purple color of the stain used in Gram’s method

C. difficile infection

infection caused by the clostridium difficile bacteria (rod-shaped) which causes inflammation of the colon and severe diarrheal disease — common in patients who take antibiotics for long periods of time which causes antibiotic resistance in C. difficile bacteria

bacteriotherapy

also known as a fecal transplant, a treatment method to restore normal bacteria in the digestive tract by transferring stool containing normal bacteria from a healthy donor into the colon of a patient with chronic C. difficile infection

erythrocytes

red blood cells that are made in the bone marrow (soft tissue in the center of certain bones) that carry oxygen from the lungs through the blood to all body cells; body cells use oxygen to burn food and release energy through catabolism; no nucleus but contains hemoglobin which carries the oxygen through the bloodstream

Never Let Monkeys Eat Bananas

neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, eosinophil, basophil (naming memorization for the 5 leukocytes)

leukocytes

white blood cells — 5 different kinds exist including 3 granule types and 2 mononuclear cells

thrombocytes

platelets (clotting cells), a type of blood cell (actually tiny fragments of cells) formed in the bone marrow that are necessary for blood clotting

granulocytes

polymorphonuclear cell (leukocyte) that contain dark-staining granules in their cytoplasm and have a multi-lobed nucleus — formed in the bone marrow and include 3 types (eosinophils, basophils, neutrophils)

mononuclear cells

leukocytes with 1 large nucleus (mononuclear) and only a few granules in their cytoplasm — produced in bone marrow, lymph nodes, and the spleen and include 2 types (lymphocytes, monocytes)

eosinophils

granulocytes with granules that stain red (eosin/o = rosy) with acidic stain — increases in number of allergic conditions such as asthma, about 3% of leukocytes are eosinophils

basophils

granulocytes with granules that stain blue (bas/o = basic) with basic stain — function is unclear, but the # of these cells increases in the healing phase of inflammation, less than 1% of leukocytes are basophils

neutrophils

granulocytes with granules that stain pale purple with neutral stain — most important disease-fighting cells and the most numerous (50-60% of all leukocytes) — also called phagocytes (phag/o = eating, swallowing) that engulf and digest bacteria like circulating Pac-Men; also called “polys” or polymorphonuclear leukocytes (poly = many, morph/o = shape) due to multi-lobed nucleus

lymphocytes

(lymph cells) leukocytes that fight disease by producing antibodies and thereby destroying foreign cells; also attach directly to foreign cells to destroy them — 2 types include T cells and B cells; about 32% of leukocytes are lymphocytes; in AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), patients have serious depletion of T cells

monocytes

leukocytes that contain one large nucleus (mon/o = one) — function is to engulf and destroy cellular debris after neutrophils have attacked foreign cells; monocytes leave the bloodstream and enter tissues (such as lung and liver) to become macrophages (large phagocytes); make up 4% of all leukocytes

order of WBC %s

neutrophils (50-60%), lymphocytes (32%), monocytes (4%), eosinophils (3%), basophils (1%)

acromegaly

endocrine disorder where the pituitary gland produces excessive amount of growth hormone AFTER the completion of puberty; the excess growth hormone often results from benign tumor of the pituitary gland (base of brain) — causes bones and soft tissues in the hands, feet, and face to grow abnormally

gigantism

the result of overproduction of pituitary growth hormone beginning in childhood

laparoscopy

form of minimally invasive surgery where the abdominal cavity is visually examined for evidence of disease (performing biopsies) or for procedures like removal of the appendix, gallbladder, adrenal gland, spleen, or ovary, resection of the colon, or repair of hernias using a laparoscope; the laparoscope gets inserted through an incision in the abdomen near the navel, then gas (CO2) is infused into the peritoneal cavity to separate and prevent injury to abdominal structures during surgery

laparoscopy for tubal ligation

laparoscopy to prevent future pregnancy by interrupting the continuity of the fallopian tubes through clipping and collapsing (this prevents sperm cells from reaching eggs that leave the ovary) — a uterine cannula (tube) is placed into the uterus to manipulate it during the procedure, and forceps are placed through the laparoscope to grasp or move tissue

tracheotomy

incision into the trachea typically done to open it below a blockage; may be performed to remove a foreign body or to obtain a biopsy specimen

tracheostomy

opening into the trachea through which an in dwelling tube is inserted; the tube is required to let air to flow into the lungs or to help remove secretions (mucus) from the bronchial tubes; the dwelling tube is inserted below the larynx to avoid damage to vocal cords in temporary procedures