VIVComprehensive Health Assessment Notes: Head, Eyes, Ears, Nose, Mouth, and Throat

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing key anatomical structures, assessment procedures, visual/auditory reflexes, and pathological conditions of the head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and throat.

Paranasal Sinuses

Air-filled pockets within the cranium whose narrow openings are easily occluded, which may cause inflammation or sinusitis.

Uvula

A free projection hanging down from the middle of the soft palate in the oral cavity.

Stensen's Duct

The duct of the parotid salivary gland that runs forward to open on the buccal mucosa opposite the second molar.

Bifid Uvula

A condition in which the uvula is split either completely or partially, occurring in 10% of some American Indian groups.

Leukoedema

A benign, grayish-opaque area occurring on the buccal mucosa, seen most frequently in African Americans and East Indians.

Deciduous Teeth

Temporary teeth in children (20 total) that erupt between 6 and 24 months of age and are lost beginning at age 6 through 12.

Epstein Pearls

Normal, small whitish retention cysts found on the palate of newborns and infants.

Epistaxis

The medical term for a nosebleed.

Tonsil Grading Scale

A scale rating tonsil size from 1+ to 4+: 1+ Visible, 2+ Halfway between tonsillar pillars and uvula, 3+ Touching uvula, 4+ Touching each other.

Cerumen

A yellow waxy material secreted by glands in the external auditory canal that lubricates, protects, and forms a sticky barrier in the ear.

Tympanic Membrane

Also called the eardrum; a translucent, pearly gray, oval, and slightly concave membrane that separates the external and middle ear.

Eustachian Tube

A tube connecting the middle ear with the nasopharynx that allows equalization of air pressure on each side of the tympanic membrane.

Vertigo

A strong spinning, whirling sensation and staggering gait caused by inflammation of the labyrinth in the inner ear.

Conductive Hearing Loss

Hearing loss involving a mechanical dysfunction of the external or middle ear, caused by impacted cerumen, foreign bodies, perforated TM, or otosclerosis.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Hearing loss caused by presbycusis (nerve degeneration in the inner ear/auditory nerve) or ototoxic drugs affecting hair cells in the cochlea.

Presbycusis

A gradual sensorineural hearing loss caused by nerve degeneration in the inner ear or auditory nerve that occurs with aging, usually starting in the 50s.

Otosclerosis

A common cause of conductive hearing loss in young adults between 20 and 40 years, caused by gradual hardening that fixes the stapes footplate in the oval window.

Darwin's Tubercle

A small, painless congenital nodule at the helix of the external ear that is not clinically significant.

Weber Test

A tuning fork test evaluating hearing lateralization, where sound lateralizes to the poorer ear in conductive loss and to the better ear in sensorineural loss.

Rinne Test

A tuning fork test comparing air conduction (AC) to bone conduction (BC); normally AC is greater than BC.

Romberg Test

An assessment of standing balance used to evaluate the function of the vestibular apparatus in the inner ear, cerebellum, and proprioception.

Direct Light Reflex

The constriction of the pupil in the specific eye that is directly exposed to a bright light.

Consensual Light Reflex

The simultaneous constriction of the opposite pupil when a bright light shines into one eye.

Accommodation

The adaptation of the eye for near vision, demonstrated by pupillary constriction and convergence of the eyes towards the center.

Presbyopia

Age-related farsightedness caused by the lens losing elasticity and becoming hard and glasslike, making near vision difficult.

Cataract

Opacity of the crystalline lens resulting from a clumping of proteins, causing blurry or hazy vision.

Glaucoma

An eye condition characterized by increased intraocular pressure leading to loss of peripheral vision; chronic open-angle is the most common type.

Macular Degeneration

The breakdown of cells in the macula of the retina, causing a loss of central vision while peripheral vision remains intact.

Diabetic Retinopathy

A leading cause of blindness in adults aged 25 to 74 years caused by chronic uncontrolled diabetes damaging retinal blood vessels.

Myopia

Nearsightedness; the condition where a person can see near objects clearly but distant objects appear blurry.

Hyperopia

Farsightedness; the condition where a person can see distant objects clearly but near objects appear blurry.

Snellen Alphabet Chart

The standard and most accurate tool for measuring central visual acuity, performed with the patient standing 20 feet away.

Jaeger Card

A handheld vision screener with various sizes of print used to test near vision at a distance of 14 inches.

Confrontation Test

A gross measurement of peripheral vision that compares the patient's peripheral vision with the examiner's.

Corneal Light Reflex

Also called the Hirschberg test; assesses parallel alignment of eye axes by shining a light toward the person's eyes and noting reflection symmetry on the corneas.

Diagnostic Positions Test

An assessment of extraocular muscle function testing the six cardinal positions of gaze to elicit muscle weakness or nystagmus.

Nystagmus

A fine, oscillating movement of the eye best seen around the iris during extraocular muscle testing.

PERRLA

A clinical acronym standing for Pupils Equal, Round, React to Light, and Accommodation.

Pingueculae

Yellowish elevated nodules on the sclera caused by thickening of the bulbar conjunctiva from prolonged exposure to sun, wind, and dust.

Arcus Senilis

A gray-white arc or circle around the limbus of the cornea caused by lipid deposition in older adults, which has no effect on vision.

Xanthelasma

Soft, raised yellow plaques occurring on the eyelids at the inner canthus, commonly seen in the fifth decade of life with no pathologic significance.

Strabismus

Misalignment of the axes of the eyes (cross-eyed); includes esotropia (inward deviation) and exotropia (outward deviation).

Ptosis

An abnormal drooping of the upper eyelid.

Blepharitis

Inflammation of the eyelids.

Sternomastoid Muscle

A major neck muscle that enables head rotation and flexion and divides each side of the neck into anterior and posterior triangles.

Trapezius Muscle

Major neck muscles that move the shoulders and extend and turn the head.

Thyroid Gland

An endocrine gland in the neck that synthesizes and secretes triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) to stimulate cellular metabolism.

Isthmus

The thin tissue connection joining the two lateral lobes of the thyroid gland across the trachea.

Fontanels

Membrane-covered spaces ('soft spots') where sutures intersect on a neonatal skull, allowing brain growth before gradually ossifying.

Caput Succedaneum

Edematous swelling and ecchymosis of the presenting part of the infant head caused by birth trauma, resolving in a few days without treatment.

Cephalhematoma

A subperiosteal hemorrhage resulting from birth trauma that appears hours after birth and reabsorbs over the first few weeks without treatment.

Hydrocephalus

Excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid due to obstructed drainage, increasing intracranial pressure and causing head enlargement.

Bell's Palsy

Cranial nerve VII (facial nerve) paralysis causing asymmetry and paralysis of facial muscles on one side of the face.