Medical Dictionary

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aerophagia, aerophagy (ar-o-fa′je-a, -of′a-je)
An abnormal swallowing of air as seen in crib-biting and wind-sucking. SYN: pneumophagia. [aero- + G. phago, to eat]

aerophil, aerophile (ar′o-fil, -fil)
1. Air-loving. 2. An aerobic organism (aerobe), especially an obligate aerobe. [aero- + G. philos, fond]

aerophilic, aerophilous (ar-o-fil′ik, ar-of′i-lus)
SYN: aerobic.

aerophobia (ar-o-fo′be-a)
Morbid dread of fresh air or of air in motion. [aero- + G. phobos, fear]

aeropiesotherapy (ar′o-pi-e′so-thar′a-pe)
Treatment of disease by compressed (or rarified) air. [aero- + G. piesis, pressure, + therapeia, medical treatment]

aeroplankton (ar-o-plank′ton)
An organism or a substance carried by air, e.g., bacterium, pollen, grain. [aero- + G. planktos, ntr. -on, wandering]

aerosialophagy (ar′o-si-al-of′a-je)
SYN: sialoaerophagy.

aerosinusitis (ar-o-si-nu-si′tis)
SYN: barosinusitis.

aerosis (ar-o′sis)
Generation of gas in the tissues. [aero- + G. -osis, condition]

aerosol (ar′o-sol)
1. Liquid or particulate matter dispersed in air, gas, or vapor in the form of a fine mist for therapeutic, insecticidal, or other purposes. 2. A product that is packaged under pressure and contains therapeutically or chemically active ingredients intended for topical application, inhalation, or introduction into body orifices. [aero- + solution] respirable aerosols aerosols with an aerodynamic size under 10 μm.

aerosolization (ar-o-sol-i-za′shun)
Dispersion in air of a liquid material or a solution in the form of a fine mist, usually for therapeutic purposes, especially to the respiratory passages.

aerotherapeutics, aerotherapy (ar′o-thar-a-pu′tiks, -thar′a-pe)
Treatment of disease by fresh air, by air of different degrees of pressure or rarity, or by air medicated in various ways.

aerotitis media (ar-o-ti′tis me′de-a)
SYN: barotitis media. [aero- + G. ous, ear, + -itis, inflammation]

aerotonometer (ar′o-ton-om′e-ter)
1. An instrument for estimating the tension or pressure of a gas. 2. SYN: tonometer (2) . [aero- + G. tonos, tension, + metron, measure]

aesculapian (es-ku-la′pe-an)
Relating to Aesculapius, the art of medicine, or a medical practitioner. SYN: esculapian. [L. Aesculapius, G. Asklepios, the god of medicine]

aesculin (es′ku-lin)
SYN: esculin.

aestival (es′ti-val)
SYN: estival.

AFB
1. Abbreviation for acid-fast bacillus. See acid-fast. 2. Abbreviation for aortofemoral bypass (vascular prosthetic surgery), the surgical procedure or its result.

afebrile (a-feb′ril)
Without fever, denoting apyrexia; having a normal body temperature. SYN: apyretic, apyrexial.

afetal (a-fe′tal)
Without relation to a fetus or intrauterine life.

affect (af′fekt)
The emotional feeling, tone, and mood attached to a thought, including its external manifestations. [L. affectus, state of mind, fr. afficio, to have influence on] blunted a. a disturbance in mood seen in schizophrenic patients manifested by shallowness and a severe reduction in the expression of feeling. flat a. absence of or diminution in the amount of emotional tone or outward emotional reaction typically shown by others or oneself under similar circumstances; a milder form is termed blunted a.. inappropriate a. emotional tone or outward emotional reaction out of harmony with the idea, object, or thought accompanying it. labile a. rapid shifts in outward emotional expressions; often associated with organic brain syndromes such as intoxication.

affect display
Facial expressions, postures, and gestures indicating emotional states.

affection (a-fek′shun)
1. A moderate feeling of tenderness, caring, or love. 2. An abnormal condition of body or mind. [L. affectio, fr. af-ficio, to affect, influence]

affective (af-fek′tiv)
Pertaining to mood, emotion, feeling, sensibility, or a mental state.

affectivity (af-fek-tiv′i-te)
SYN: feeling tone.

affectomotor (af′fek-to-mo′ter)
Pertaining to muscular manifestations associated with affective tone.

afferent (af′er-ent)
Inflowing; conducting toward a center, denoting certain arteries, veins, lymphatics, and nerves. Opposite of efferent. SYN: centripetal (1) , esodic. [L. afferens, fr. af-fero, to bring to]

affinity (a-fin′i-te)
1. In chemistry, the force that impels certain atoms to bind to or unite with certain others to form complexes or compounds; chemical attraction. 2. Selective staining of a tissue by a dye or the selective uptake of a dye, chemical, or other substance by a tissue. [L. affinis, neighboring, fr. ad, to, + finis, end, boundary] residual a. secondary forces that enable apparently saturated atoms, ions, or molecules to attract other atoms or groups, causing such phenomena as complex formation, hydration, adsorption, etc.

affinous (af′i-nus)
Pertaining to a marriage in which the partners are related, not by consanguinity, but through another marriage. [L. affinis, related by marriage, fr. ad, to + finis, limit]

affirmation (af-fer-ma′shun)
The stage in autosuggestion in which one exhibits a positive reactive tendency. [L. affirmatio, fr. affirm, to make strong, fr firmus, strong]

affusion (a-fu′zhun)
Pouring of water upon the body or any of its parts for therapeutic purposes. [L. af- fundo, to pour into]

AFH
Abbreviation for anterior facial height.

afibrillar (a-fi′bri-lar)
Denoting a biological structure that does not contain fibrils.

afibrinogenemia (a-fi′brin-o-je-ne′me-a)
The absence of fibrinogen in the plasma. SEE ALSO: hypofibrinogenemia. congenital a. [MIM*202400] a rare disorder of blood coagulation in which little or no fibrinogen can be found in plasma because of a mutant form in one of the three fibrinogen loci. Leads to defective platelet aggregation; autosomal recessive inheritance.

Afipia (a-fip′e-a)
A genus of Gram-negative, oxidase-positive, motile, nonfermenting bacteria that have been placed in the class Proteobacteria. They are morphologically variable, appearing as rods or filaments that may stain poorly. Over 10 species have been identified; originally reported to be the agent of catscratch disease, their current pathogenic role remains uncertain. The type strain is A. felis.

aflatoxicosis (af′la-toks-e-co′sis)
A disease caused by ingestion of aflatoxin.

aflatoxin (af′la-tok′sin)
Toxic metabolites of some Aspergillus strains including the fungi Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus, and Aspergillus oryzae. They may play a role in the etiology of primary cancer of the liver in humans and produce disease in animals eating peanut meal and other feed contaminated by these fungi.

AFORMED
See A. phenomenon.

AFP
Abbreviation for α-fetoproteins. See fetoproteins.

afterbirth (af′ter-berth)
The placenta and membranes that are extruded from the uterus after birth. SYN: secundina, secundines.

aftercare (af′ter-kar)
1. The care and treatment of a patient after an operation,delivery, or convalescence from an illness. 2. Following psychiatric hospitalization, a continuing program of rehabilitation designed to reinforce the effects of the therapy; may include partial hospitalization, day hospital, or outpatient treatment.

afterchroming (af′ter-krom′ing)
Additional treatment of a tissue specimen with chromate or a metal mordant to impart special staining properties. SYN: postchroming.

aftercontraction (af′ter-kon-trak′shun)
A muscular contraction persisting a noticeable time after the stimulus has ceased.

aftercurrent (af′ter-kur-ent)
An electrical current induced in a muscle upon the termination of a constant current that has been passed through it.

afterdischarge (af-ter-dis′charj)
Persistance of response of muscle or neural elements after cessation of stimulation. Myotonia is a clinical manifestation of prolonged muscle a..

aftereffect (af′ter-e-fekt′)
A physical, physiologic, psychologic, or emotional effect that continues after removal of the stimulus. See flashback.

aftergilding (af′ter-gild′ing)
The treatment of a fixed and hardened histologic specimen of nervous tissue with gold salts.

afterimage (af′ter-im′ij)
Persistence of a visual response after cessation of the stimulus. SYN: accidental image, negative image. negative a. a. in which the lightness relationship is reversed; if chromatic, it appears in complementary color. positive a. a. in which the lightness relationship is the same as the original one; if chromatic, it appears in the same color.

afterimpression (af′ter-im-presh′un)
SYN: aftersensation.

afterload (af′ter-lod)
1. The arrangement of a muscle so that, in shortening, it lifts a weight from an adjustable support or otherwise does work against a constant opposing force to which it is not exposed at rest. 2. The load or force thus encountered in shortening. ventricular a. formerly and erroneously, the arterial pressure or some other measure of the force that a ventricle must overcome while it contracts during ejection, contributed to by aortic or pulmonic artery impedance, peripheral vascular resistance, and mass and viscosity of blood; now, more rigorously expressed in terms of the wall stress, i.e., the tension per unit cross-sectional area in the ventricular muscle fibers (calculated by an expansion of Laplace law using pressure, internal radius, and wall thickness) that is required to produce the intracavitary pressure required during ejection.

aftermovement (af′ter-moov′ment)
Involuntary arm abduction that follows sustained isometric contraction of the deltoid and supraspinatus muscles (usually performed by pushing the upper extremity forcibly and against an immovable vertical surface while standing closely beside it). SYN: Kohnstamm phenomenon.

afterpains (af′ter-panz)
Painful cramplike contractions of the uterus occurring after childbirth.

afterperception (af′ter-per-sep′shun)
SYN: aftersensation.

afterpotential (af′ter-po-ten′shal)
The small change in electrical potential in a stimulated nerve that follows the main, or spike, potential; it consists of an initial negative deflection followed by a positive deflection in the oscillograph record. diastolic a. in the heart, a transmembrane potential change following repolarization, which may reach threshold magnitude and cause a rhythm disturbance; often recorded in poisoning, as by digitalis overdosage. positive a. a spontaneous or inducible increase in transmembrane potential of a cardiac or nerve cell following the completion of repolarization. In the heart, this usually corresponds temporal to the electrocardiographic U wave.

aftersensation (af′ter-sen-sa′shun)
Subjective persistence of sensation after cessation of stimulus. SYN: afterimpression, afterperception.

aftersound (af′ter-sownd)
Subjective persistence of an auditory sensation after the stimulus stops.

aftertaste (af′ter-tast)
Subjective persistence of a gustatory sensation after contact with the stimulating substance has ceased.

aftertouch (af′ter-tuch)
Subjective persistence of tactile sensation after cessation of the stimulus; a form of aftersensation.

aftosa (af-to′sa)
SYN: foot-and-mouth disease. [Sp. fiebre a., aphthous fever]

Ag
1. Symbol for silver (argentum). 2. Abbreviation for antigen.

agalactia (a-gal-ak′she-a)
Absence of milk in the breasts after childbirth. SYN: agalactosis. [G. a- priv. + gala (galakt-), milk]

agalactorrhea (a-ga-lak-to-re′a)
Absence of the secretion or flow of breast milk. [G. a- priv. + gala, milk, + rhoia, a flow]

agalactosis (a-gal-ak-to′sis)
SYN: agalactia.

agalactous (a-gal-ak′tus)
Relating to agalactia, or to the diminution or absence of breast milk.

agamete (a-gam′et, ag′a-met)
A protozoan organism produced by asexual multiple fission. SEE ALSO: schizogony. [G. a- priv. + gametes, husband]

agamic (a-gam′ik)
Denoting nonsexual reproduction, as by fission, budding, etc. SYN: agamous.

agammaglobulinemia (a-gam′a-glob′u-li-ne′me-a)
Absence of, or extremely low levels of, the gamma fraction of serum globulin; sometimes used loosely to denote absence of immunoglobulins in general. SEE ALSO: hypogammaglobulinemia. acquired a. SYN: common variable immunodeficiency. Bruton a. an X-linked condition, with hypo- or a.; the immune deficiency becomes apparent as maternally transmitted immunoglobulin levels decline in early infancy. SYN: X-linked a.. secondary a. SYN: secondary immunodeficiency. Swiss type a. SYN: severe combined immunodeficiency. transient a. SYN: transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy. X-linked a. SYN: Bruton a..

agamocytogeny (a-gam′o-si-toj′e-ne)
SYN: schizogony. [G. agamos, unmarried, + kytos, cell, + genesis, becoming]

Agamofilaria (a-gam′o-fi-la′re-a)
A name given to immature filarial forms, the genera of the adult forms being undetermined. [G. agamos, unmarried, + L. filum, thread]

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