Terms 2 Flashcards
Analgesia
A deadening or absence of the sense of pain without loss of consciousness.
Atrophy
a wasting or decrease in size or physiologic activity of a part of the body because of disease or other influences. A skeletal muscle may undergo atrophy as a result of lack of physical exercise or neurologic or musculoskeletal disease. Cells of the brain and central nervous system may atrophy in old age because of restricted blood flow to those areas
Chorea
a condition characterized by involuntary purposeless, rapid motions, as flexing and extending of the fingers, raising and lowering of the shoulders, or grimacing. The movements often appear to be well coordinated. In some forms the person is also irritable, emotionally unstable, physically weak, restless, and fretful.
- Huntington’s disease
Cogwheel rigidity
an abnormal rigor in muscle tissue characterized by jerky movements when the muscle is passively stretched. The condition is often found in cases of Parkinson’s disease.
Fasciculation
a localized uncoordinated, uncontrollable twitching of a single muscle group innervated by a single motor nerve fiber or filament that may be palpated and seen under the skin. In anesthesia it refers to muscle twitches that occur with administration of the depolarizing muscle relaxant succinylcholine. It also may be symptomatic of a number of disorders, including dietary deficiency, cerebral palsy, fever, neuralgia, polio, rheumatic heart disease, sodium deficiency, tic, or uremia.
Hemiparesis
Slight paralysis or weakness affecting one side of the body
Paralysis
the loss of muscle function, sensation, or both. It may be caused by a variety of problems, such as trauma, disease, and poisoning. Paralyses may be classified according to the cause, muscle tone, distribution, or body part affected
Paresthesias
A prickly, tingling sensation
Quadriplegia
paralysis of all four limbs
Spasticity
a form of muscular hypertonicity with increased resistance to stretch. It usually involves the flexors of the arms and the extensors of the legs. The hypertonicity is often associated with weakness, increased deep reflexes, and diminished superficial reflexes. Moderate spasticity is characterized by movements that require great effort and lack of normal coordination. Slight spasticity may be marked by gross movements that are coordinated smoothly but combine selective movement patterns that are incoordinated or impossible.
Tremor
a continuous repetitive twitching of skeletal muscle, usually palpable and visible. The diseases characterized by tremor only, the tremor syndromes, may be caused by degenerative disease of the nervous system, e.g. hypomyelinogenesis, and by many toxins, especially plant ones. Tremor is also a sign in many other diseases of the nervous system.
Xanthochromia
yellowish discoloration of the skin or spinal fluid. Xanthochromic spinal fluid usually indicates hemorrhage into the central nervous system and is due to the presence of xanthematin, a yellow pigment derived from hematin.
Somatoform
: denoting physical symptoms that cannot be attributed to organic disease and appear to be psychogenic.
Ataxia
Loss of the ability to coordinate muscular movement
Bradykinesia
abnormal slowness of movement
Clonus
: A form of movement marked by contractions and relaxations of a muscle, occurring in rapid succession, after forcible extension or flexion of a part
Dystonia
A movement disorder characterized by sustained muscle contractions that result in writhing or twisting movements and unsual body postures
Flaccid
Lacking firmness, resilience, or muscle tone
Hemiplegia
Paralysis affecting only one side of the body.
Paraplegia
Complete paralysis of the lower half of the body including both legs, usually caused by damage to the spinal cord.
Postictal
following a seizure.
Seizure
A paroxysmal episode, caused by abnormal electrical conduction in the brain, resulting in the abrupt onset of transient neurologic symptoms such as involuntary muscle movements, sensory disturbances and altered consciousness.
Syncope
a faint; temporary loss of consciousness due to generalized cerebral ischemia.
Pleocytosis
presence of a greater than normal number of cells in the cerebrospinal fluid.
Psychosomatic
Referring to physical symptoms that are caused or significantly influenced by emotional factors.
Affect
The subjective and immediate experience of emotion attached to ideas or mental representations of objects. Has outward manifestations that can be blunted, flattened, broad, appropriate or inappropriate. This is external whereas mood is internal and external
Broca’s aphasia
A condition characterized by either partial or total loss of the ability to express oneself, either through speech or writing. Hearing comprehension is not affected. This condition may result from a stroke, head injury, brain tumor, or infection
delirium
A temporary state of mental confusion resulting from high fever, intoxication, shock, or other causes, and characterized by anxiety, disorientation, memory impairment, hallucinations, trembling, and incoherent speech.
delusion
an idiosyncratic false belief that is firmly maintained in spite of incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence to the contrary.
dementia
Deterioration of intellectual faculties, such as memory, concentration, and judgment, resulting from an organic disease or a disorder of the brain, and often accompanied by emotional disturbance and personality changes
echolalia
Psychopathological repeating of words or phrases of one person by another; tends to be repetitive and persistent. Seen in schizophrenia esp. catatonic
flight of ideas
Rapid succession of fragmentary thoughts or speech I which content changes abruptly and speech may be incoherent. Seen in mania
hallucination
: A sensory experience of something that does not exist outside the mind. A person can experience a hallucination in any of the five senses. Auditory hallucinations are a common symptom of schizophrenia.
lethargy
sluggishness or fatigue; a feeling of listlessness.
neologism
: A new word or phrase of the patient’s own making often seen in schizophrenia (e.g., headshoe to mean hat), or an existing word used in a new sense; in psychiatry, such usages may have meaning only to the patient or be indicative of the underlying condition.
perseveration
the involuntary and pathologic persistence of the same verbal response or motor activity regardless of the stimulus or its duration. The condition occurs primarily in patients with brain damage or organic mental disorders, although it may also appear in schizophrenia as an association disturbance. It is caused by a neurologic deficit.
obtundation
a greatly reduced level of consciousness. The patient is not yet comatose but is close, arousing only with very strong stimulus
orientation
awareness of one’s environment with reference to time, place, and people.
Wernicke’s aphasia
a form of aphasia affecting comprehension of written and spoken words, possibly caused by a lesion in Wernicke’s center. The patient may articulate normally, but speech is incoherent, with malformed or substitute words and grammatical errors
Annular
ring shaped
Beau’s lines
transverse depressions that appear as white lines across the fingernails as a sign of an acute severe illness such as malnutrition, systemic disease, thyroid dysfunction, trauma, or coronary occlusion.
Comedone
a plug of keratin and sebum within the dilated orifice of a hair follicle frequently containing the bacteria Corynebacterium acnes, Staphylococcus albus, and Pityrosporum ovale
Cyanosis
a bluish discoloration of skin and mucous membranes due to excessive concentration of reduced hemoglobin in the blood
Eccrine
exocrine, with special reference to ordinary sweat glands
Hyperkeratosis
Hypertrophy of the cornea or the horny layer of the skin
Jaundice
icterus; yellowness of the skin, scleras, mucous membranes, and excretions due to hyperbilirubinemia and deposition of bile pigments.
Lentigines
a tan or brown macule on the skin brought on by sun exposure, usually in a middle-aged or older person. It is benign, and no treatment is necessary. However, in some cases it may mimic melanoma and should be biopsied
Melanin
dark amorphous pigment of melanotic tumors, skin, oral mucosa, hair, choroid coat of the eye, and substantia nigra of the brain.
Nits
The eggs produced by head or pubic lice, usually grayish-white in color and visible at the base of hair shafts.
Petechiae
Tiny purple or red spots on the skin associated with endocarditis, resulting from hemorrhages under the skin’s surface.
Pupura
A large, purplish-red circle on the skin. Caused by the leakage of blood out of a vessel and under the skin.
Splinter hemorrhage
linear bleeding under a fingernail or toenail, resembling a splinter. It is seen after trauma and in bacterial endocarditis.
Turgor
skin turgor a reflection of the skin’s elasticity, measured by monitoring the time it takes for the skin of the forearm to return to position after it is lightly pinched between the examiner’s thumb and forefinger. Normal turgor is a return to normal contour within three seconds; if the skin remains elevated (tented) more than three seconds, turgor is decreased.
Vellus
: Fine, nonpigmented hair covering most of the body
Apocrine Glands
: sudoriferous glands that develop in association with hair follicles and undergo enlargement and secretory development at puberty; they secrete a viscous, odorless sweat that supports bacteria growth leading to production of an acrid odor; secretion is by a merocrine, not apocrine, mechanism.
Cherry angioma
a small, bright red, clearly circumscribed vascular tumor on the skin. It occurs most often on the trunk but may appear anywhere on the body. The lesion is common; more than 85% of people over 45 years of age have several cherry angiomas
Confluent
: Flowing together; blended into one.
Ecchymosis
The passage of blood from ruptured blood vessels into subcutaneous tissue, marked by a purple discoloration of the skin.
Hirsutism
The presence of excessive body and facial hair, especially in women
Intertriginous
an erythematous skin eruption occurring on apposed skin surfaces.
Keratosis
Excessive growth of horny tissue of the skin
Lunula
A small crescent-shaped structure or marking, especially the proximal region at the base of a fingernail that resembles a half-moon.
Nevus
any congenital skin lesion; a birthmark.
Paronychia
Inflammation of the tissue surrounding a nail.
Pruritus
Severe itching, often of undamaged skin.
Serpiginous
Relating to or being a cutaneous lesion, such as an ulcer, having an arciform border and a wavy margin.
Subcutaneous
Located, found, or placed just beneath the skin; hypodermic.
Urticaria
(hives) a vascular reaction of the skin marked by transient appearance of slightly elevated patches (WHEALS) that are redder or paler than the surrounding skin and often attended by severe itching; the cause may be certain foods, infection, or emotional stress.
Abduct
To draw away from the midline of the body or from an adjacent part or limb.
Anterior drawer sign
In a knee examination, abnormal forward or backward sliding of the tibia with respect to the femur indicating laxity or tear of the anterior (forward slide) or posterior (backward slide) cruciate ligament of the knee.
Bouchard’s nodes
cartilaginous and bony enlargements of the proximal interphalangeal joints of the fingers in degenerative joint disease.
Bursitis
Inflammation of a bursa, especially in the shoulder, elbow, or knee joint.
Cartilaginous joints
a type of SYNARTHROSIS in which the bones are united by cartilage, providing slight flexible movement; the two types are SYNCHONDROSIS and SYMPHYSIS.
Dupuytren’s contracture
flexion deformity of the fingers or toes, due to shortening, thickening, and fibrosis of the palmar or plantar fascia.
Ganglion
mall, usually hard bump above a tendon or in the capsule that encloses a joint. A ganglion is also called a synovial hernia or synovial cyst.
Hammer toe
deformity of a toe, most often the second, in which the proximal phalanx is extended and the second and distal phalanges are flexed, giving a clawlike appearance
Hinge joints
A uniaxial joint in which a broad, transversely cylindrical convexity on one bone fits into a corresponding concavity on the other, allowing motion in one plane only, as in the elbow. Also called ginglymoid joint.
Ligament
a band of fibrous tissue connecting bones or cartilages, serving to support and strengthen joints.
McMurray test
A test for injury to meniscal structures of the knee in which the lower leg is rotated while the leg is extended; pain and a cracking in the knee indicates meniscal injury
Metatarsalgia
A cramping burning pain that focuses in the region of the metatarsal bones of the foot
Rotator cuff
a musculotendinous structure about the capsule of the shoulder joint, formed by the inserting fibers of the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis muscles, which blend with the capsule and provide mobility and strength to the shoulder joint.
Spheroidal joints
a multiaxial synovial joint in which a more or less extensive sphere on the head of one bone fits into a rounded cavity in the other bone, as in the hip joint. (Ball and socket joint)
Synovial Joints
a freely movable joint in which contiguous bony surfaces are covered by articular cartilage and connected by a fibrous connective tissue capsule lined with synovial membrane.
Tenosynovitis
: inflammation of a tendon sheath caused by calcium deposits, repeated strain or trauma, high levels of blood cholesterol, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, or gonorrhea.
Valgus
bent out, twisted; denoting a deformity in which the angulation is away from the midline of the body, as in talipes valgus
Varus
bent inward; denoting a deformity in which the angulation of the part is toward the midline of the body, as in talipes varus
Adduct
to draw toward the median plane or (in the digits) toward the axial line of a limb.
Arthritis
Inflammation of a joint, usually accompanied by pain, swelling, and stiffness, resulting from infection, trauma, degenerative changes, metabolic disturbances, or other causes
Bulge sign
used for small effusions of the knee; examiner uses ball of hand over medial knee and milkes the fluid distally from the suprapatellar pouch and then presses behind the patellar lateral margin. Swelling reappears in a knee joint effusion.
Cartilage
nonvascular dense supporting connective tissue composed of chondrocytes and various fibers or ground substance. It is found chiefly in the joints, the thorax, and various rigid tubes, such as the larynx, trachea, nose, and ear. Temporary cartilage, such as sesamoid bones (knee) and those that compose most of the fetal skeleton at an early stage, are later replaced by bone. Permanent cartilage remains unossified, except in certain diseases and, sometimes, in advanced age. Kinds of permanent cartilage are elastic cartilage, hyaline cartilage, and white fibrocartilage
Condylar Joints
one in which an ovoid head of one bone moves in an elliptical cavity of another, permitting all movements except axial rotation; this type is found at the wrist, connecting the radius and carpal bones, and at the base of the index finger
Fibrous joints
a joint in which the union of bony elements is by continuous intervening fibrous tissue, which makes little motion possible; the three types are SUTURE, SYNDESMOSIS, and GOMPHOSIS. Called also immovable or synarthrodial joint and synarthrosis.
Hallux valgus
angulation of the great toe toward the other toes.
Heberden’s node
an abnormal cartilaginous or bony enlargement of a distal interphalangeal joint of a finger, usually occurring in degenerative diseases of the joints
Lachman test
a maneuver to detect deficiency of the anterior cruciate ligament; with the knee flexed 20-30°, the tibia is displaced anteriorly relative to the femur; a soft endpoint or greater than 4 mm of displacement is positive (abnormal).
Lordosis
An abnormal forward curvature of the spine in the lumbar region. (anterior concavity in the curvature of the lumbar and cervical spine as viewed from the side.)
Meniscus
the cartilaginous intracapsular disc interposed between the mandibular condyle and the glenoid fossa of the temporal bone at the temporomandibular joint.
Posterior drawer sign
an orthopedic test used to determine laxity of the posterior cruciate ligament of the knee. The patient is positioned with hips at 45 degrees and knees flexed at 90 degrees while the examiner stabilizes the foot and pushes the tibia backward. Also, with both the hips and knees flexed at 90 degrees, the examiner holds the heels together and observes the knees to compare the relative posterior sag of the tibia.
Scoliosis
lateral curvature of vertebral column
Synovial fluid
the transparent, viscid fluid secreted by the synovial membrane and found in joint cavities, bursae, and tendon sheaths.
Tendonitis
the inflammation of a tendon, usually stress or strain related.
Trigger finger
a phenomenon in which the movement of a finger is halted momentarily in flexion or extension and then continues with a jerk
Valgus stress test
test for ligament damage. Place leg into extension, with one hand placed as a pivot on the knee. With the other hand placed upon the foot applying an abducting force, an attempt is then made to force the leg at the knee into valgus. If the knee is seen to open up on the medial side, this is indicative of medial collateral ligament damage and may also indicate capsular or cruciate ligament laxity
Varus Stress test
Test integrity of LCL. The examiner should passively bend the affected leg to about 30 degrees of flexion. While palpating the lateral joint line, the examiner should apply a varus force to the patient’s knee. A positive test occurs when pain or excessive gapping occur
