Medical terms - Letter A (page 31) | MedicalVocabulary.org

Autistic savant

A person with autism who is exceptionally gifted in a specialized field. That field may, for example, be mathematics. The autistic savant may be able to do rapid, complex mental calculations. Or the field may be music…
Autoantibody

An antibody directed against the patient's own body tissue
Autochthonous

(Pronounced au-toch-tho-nous)1. Native. Poison ivy is an autochthonous plant. 2. Found in the place where it formed. As an autochthonous thrombus. 3. From the same individual. As an autochthonous graft. Or autochthonous…
Autoclave

A chamber for sterilizing with steam under pressure. The original autoclave was essentially a pressure cooker. The steam tightened the lid. The device was called an autoclave (from the Greek auto, self + clavis, key)…
Autogenous

Self-produced
Autograft

Tissue transplanted from one part of the body to another in the same individual. Also called an autotransplant
Autoimmune

Pertaining to autoimmunity, a misdirected immune response that occurs when the immune system goes awry and attacks the body itself. Autoimmunity is present to some extent in everyone and is usually harmless. However…
Autoimmune disease

An illness that occurs when the body tissues are attacked by its own immune system. The immune system is a complex organization within the body that is designed normally to 'seek and destroy' invaders of the body…
Autoimmune hemolytic anemia

A condition in which the immune system attacks the red blood cells, resulting in fewer of these oxygen-transporting cells. See also: Hemolytic anemia
Autoimmune hepatitis

A disease in which the body's immune system attacks liver cells, causing inflammation of the liver (hepatitis). If not treated, autoimmune hepatitis can lead to cirrhosis (scarring and hardening) of the liver and…
Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS)

A disease caused by failure of lymphocytes to die once they have finished doing their job. As a result, lymphocytes hang around in the spleen and lymph nodes which grow large, and immune cells attack the body's own…
Autoimmune polyendocrinopathy

Idiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED): A genetic autoimmune disease with an extraordinary array of clinical features but characterized most often by at least 2 of the following 3 findings: hypoparathyroidism --…
Autoimmune polyendocrinopathy syndrome

A genetic autoimmune disease with an extraordinary array of clinical features but characterized most often by at least 2 of the following 3 findings: hypoparathyroidism -- underfunction of the parathyroid glands which…
Autoimmune polyglandular syndrome (APS)

A genetic autoimmune disease with an extraordinary array of clinical features but characterized most often by at least 2 of the following 3 findings: hypoparathyroidism -- underfunction of the parathyroid glands which…
Autoimmune process

A process in which the body's immune system attacks and destroys body tissue that it mistakes for foreign matter. See also: Autoimmune disease; and Autoimmunity
Autoimmune thyroid disease

Disease of the thyroid gland due to autoimmunity in which the patient's immune system attacks and damages their thyroid. Graves disease and Hashimoto thyroiditis are forms of autoimmune thyroid disease. In these…
Autoimmune thyroiditis

See: Hashimoto thyroiditis
Autoimmunity

A misdirected immune response that occurs when the immune system goes awry and attacks the body itself. Autoimmunity is present to some extent in everyone and is usually harmless. However, autoimmunity can cause a broad…
Autoinnoculation

Inoculation of a microorganism obtained by contact with a lesion on one's own body, producing a secondary infection. This can happen, for example, with a fresh smallpox vaccination if the person who has been vaccinated…
Autologous

In blood transfusion and transplantation, a situation in which the donor and recipient are the same person. Patients scheduled for non-emergency surgery may be autologous donors by donating blood for themselves that…
Autologous blood donation

Giving blood to yourself. For example, patients scheduled for non-emergency surgery may be eligible to donate blood for themselves that will be stored until the surgical procedure.
Autolysis

The enzymatic digestion of cells by enzymes present within them. The cells most susceptible to autolysis tend to be dying or dead cells. Pronounced aw-tol´i-sis
Automated external defibrillator

A device that automatically analyzes the heart rhythm and, if it detects a problem that may respond to an electrical shock, that permits a shock to be delivered to restore a normal heart rhythm. Abbreviated AED. Thanks…
Automated white cell differential

A machine-generated percentage of the different types of white blood cells, usually split into granulocytes, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils
Automatic behavior

A behavior that is performed without conscious knowledge and that does not appear to be under conscious control. This curious type of behavior occurs in a number of neurological and psychiatric disorders. The neurologic…
Automatic seizure

A form of complex partial seizure characterized by automatisms, which are unconscious movements that may resemble simple repetitive movements or may be complex sequences of natural-looking, almost-purposeful movements
Automatism

An unconscious movement that may resemble simple repetitive tics or may be a complex sequence of natural-looking movements. This curious type of behavior occurs in a number of neurological and psychiatric disorders. The…
Autonomic failure

Malfunction of the autonomic nervous system due to imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of that sector of the nervous system
Autonomic nervous system

Part of the nervous system that was once thought to be functionally independent of the brain. The autonomic nervous system regulates key functions of the body including the activity of the heart muscle (see below), the…
Autonomic neuropathy

Disease of the nerves affecting mostly the internal organs such as the bladder muscles, the cardiovascular system, the digestive tract, and the genital organs. These nerves are not under a person's conscious control and…
Autonomy, patient

The right of patients to make decisions about their medical care without their health care provider trying to influence the decision. Patient autonomy does allow for health care providers to educate the patient but does…
Autophobia

An abnormal and persistent fear of loneliness, of being alone. A fear of solitude. Sufferers from autophobia may experience anxiety even though they realize that being alone does not threaten their well-being. They may…
Autopsy

=4 cel ODYvAlign=top bgColor=#cccccc colSpan=2> vAlign=top width='100%' bgColor=#ffffff>Our Autopsy Main Article provides a comprehensive look at the who, what, when and how of Autopsy Autopsy: A postmortem examination…
Autoradiography

A technique using X- ray film to visualize molecules or fragments of molecules that have been radioactively labeled. Autoradiography has many applications in the laboratory. Autoradiography can, for example, be used to…
Autosomal

Pertaining to a chromosome that is not a sex chromosome; relating to any one of the chromosomes save the sex chromosomes. People normally have 22 pairs of autosomes (44 autosomes) in each cell together with two sex…
Autosomal chromosome

Any chromosome except for the sex chromosomes. Humans have 44 autosomal chromosomes, or autosomes
Autosomal dominant

A pattern of inheritance in which an affected individual has one copy of a mutant gene and one normal gene on a pair of autosomal chromosomes. (In contrast, autosomal recessive diseases require that the individual have…
Autosomal dominant hereditary spastic paraplegia

A degenerative disorder of nerves with progressive spasticity of the legs. Abbreviated as AD-HSP. Spasticity is a state of increased muscle tone. Paraplegia refers to the legs (quadriplegia refers to both the arms and…
Autosomal dominant radial drusen

See: Malattia leventinese
Autosomal recessive

A genetic condition that appears only in individuals who have received two copies of an autosomal gene, one copy from each parent. The gene is on an autosome, a nonsex chromosome. The parents are carriers who have only…
Autosome

A chromosome that is not a sex chromosome. In other words, any one of the chromosomes save the sex chromosomes. People normally have 22 pairs of autosomes in every cell (together with two sex chromosomes -- an X and a Y…
Autotransplant

The process of transplanting tissue from one part of the body to another in the same individual. The transplanted tissue is termed an autotransplant or an autograft. Ovarian autotransplantation has been done to the…
Autotransplantation

The process of transplanting tissue from one part of the body to another in the same individual. The transplanted tissue is termed an autotransplant or an autograft. Ovarian autotransplantation has been done to the…
Aux-

Prefix indicating growth or increase
AV (atrioventricular)

AV is the standard medical abbreviation for atrioventricular, a combination that means pertaining to the atria (the upper chambers of the heart) and the ventricles (the lower chambers of the heart). For example, the AV…
AV node

An electrical relay station between the atria (the upper) and the ventricles (the lower chambers of the heart). Electrical signals from the atria must pass through the AV node to reach the ventricles. The AV node is one…
Avascular necrosis

(AVN) A condition in which the poor blood supply to an area of bone leads to bone death. The head of the femur is often the site of AVN. Also called avascular necrosis and osteonecrosis
Avascular necrosis of the femoral head

See Legg-Calve-Perthes disease
Avastin

The first drug in a new class designed to treat cancer by compromising its blood supply. Avastin (bevacizumab) is believed to prevent angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels that supply the tumor with blood…
Avery

See: Avery, Oswald Theodore