Assessing HEENT (Head, Eyes, Ears, Nose, and Throat)

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering head, neck, lymphatics, eye, ear, nose, and throat anatomy and physical examination techniques.

Normocephalic

A clinical term indicating a round, symmetric skull that is appropriately proportioned and sized relative to the individual's body.

Acromegaly

A condition characterized by gradual enlargement of facial features, skull bones, and extremities due to excessive secretion of growth hormone.

Hydrocephalus

An abnormal enlargement of the head resulting from the accumulation of excess cerebrospinal fluid within the ventricles, occurring primarily in infants.

Temporal Arteritis

A vascular inflammatory condition presenting as a hard, thickened, and tender temporal artery upon palpation; considered a medical emergency due to the risk of irreversible blindness.

Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Crepitus

A cracking, grating, or popping sound resulting from bone-on-bone friction during jaw movement, commonly associated with tenderness and difficulty chewing.

Cervical Lymph Nodes

A regional network of lymph node groups including preauricular, posterior auricular, occipital, jugulodigastric, submental, submandibular, superficial cervical, posterior cervical, deep cervical chain, and supraclavicular nodes that filter lymph and produce lymphocytes and antibodies.

Lymphadenopathy

The clinical enlargement of lymph nodes measuring greater than $1\,\text{cm}$, caused by acute infection, allergy, or neoplasm.

Tracheal Deviation

An abnormal lateral displacement of the trachea from its normal midline position, caused by conditions such as a pneumothorax (collapsed lung) or a unilateral thyroid mass.

Thyroid Bruit

A soft, pulsatile, whooshing vascular sound auscultated over an enlarged thyroid gland using the bell of a stethoscope, indicating turbulent blood flow.

FAST Acronym

An assessment mnemonic used for rapid stroke identification: Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties, and Time to call emergency services.

Snellen Eye Chart

A standardized visual acuity chart positioned $20\,\text{feet}$ away from the client to measure central distance vision, where $20/20$ indicates normal visual acuity.

Confrontation Test

A screening assessment used to detect gross loss of peripheral vision where the examiner sits at eye level $2\,\text{feet}$ away from the client.

Diagnostic Positions Test

An assessment of extraocular muscle function in which the client keeps the head still and tracks an examiner's finger or penlight through the $6$ cardinal points of gaze at a distance of $12\,\text{inches}$.

Nystagmus

A fine, involuntary, oscillating or shaking movement of the eyes during visual tracking, which can indicate nerve damage, vestibular disorders, multiple sclerosis, or brain tumors.

Strabismus

A condition of visual axis misalignment characterized by improper alignment of the eyes, categorized as esotropia (inward turn), exotropia (outward turn), hypotropia (downward turn), or hypertropia (upward turn).

Ptosis

An abnormal drooping of the upper eyelid over the eye, frequently caused by neuromuscular weakness, oculomotor nerve damage, or cranial nerve impairment.

Pupillary Accommodation

The pupillary adaptation for viewing distance characterized by pupil dilation when looking at a distant object and pupil constriction and convergence when focusing on a near object.

PERRLA

A standardized pupillary assessment acronym denoting: Pupils Equal, Round, Reactive to Light, and Accommodation.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

A progressive disease characterized by the loss of central vision due to drusen deposits and neovascularity in the macula, while peripheral vision remains intact.

Spiral Organ of Corti

The receptor organ for hearing situated inside the cochlear duct of the inner ear, containing hair cells that convert fluid wave vibrations into nerve impulses.

Air Conduction (AC)

The primary pathway of hearing wherein sound waves travel through the external auditory canal, vibrate the tympanic membrane, pass through the auditory ossicles, and travel into the fluid-filled inner ear.

Bone Conduction (BC)

An alternate pathway of hearing where sound waves cause the bones of the skull to vibrate, transmitting sound energy directly to the inner ear and acoustic nerve.

Otoscopic Canal Straightening Technique

The maneuver performed before inserting an otoscope speculum: pulling the pinna up and back for individuals older than $3\,\text{years}$, and pulling the pinna straight down and back for children younger than $3\,\text{years}$.

Tympanic Membrane

A translucent, pearly gray membrane separating the external auditory canal from the middle ear cavity, displaying a visible cone-of-light reflex at $5:00$ in the right ear and $7:00$ in the left ear.

Tympanostomy Tube

A small grommet or polyethylene tube surgically placed in the tympanic membrane to relieve middle ear pressure and promote fluid drainage in chronic otitis media.

Presbycusis

A progressive, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss occurring with advancing age, commonly impairing the ability to perceive high-frequency sounds.

Weber Test

A tuning fork test placed on the midline of the client's skull used to evaluate hearing symmetry; sound lateralizes to the impaired ear in conductive hearing loss and to the intact ear in sensorineural loss.

Rinne Test

A tuning fork test comparing air conduction to bone conduction; normal results demonstrate that air conduction is twice as long as bone conduction ($\text{AC} > \text{BC}$).

Romberg Test

A clinical balance examination evaluating vestibular apparatus and cerebellar function while the client stands upright with feet together, arms at the sides, and eyes closed.

Paranasal Sinuses

Air-filled cavities within the cranium; only the frontal and maxillary sinuses are accessible for direct physical assessment by palpation and percussion.

Pharynx

A muscular funnel-shaped passage located posterior to the mouth and nasal cavity serving as a common conduit for food and air, subdivided into the nasopharynx, oropharynx, and laryngopharynx.