Medical terms - Letter F (page 6) | MedicalVocabulary.org

Fertility

The ability to conceive and have children, the ability to become pregnant through normal sexual activity. Infertility is defined as the failure to conceive after a year of regular intercourse without contraception…
Fertility awareness

Also known as natural family planning, periodic abstinence and the rhythm method, this approach entails not having sexual intercourse on the days of a woman's menstrual cycle when she could become pregnant or using a…
Fertilization

Fertilization is the process of combining the male gamete, or 'sperm,' with the female gamete, or 'ovum.' The product of this combination is a cell called a zygote.
Fertilization, in vitro

IVF, a laboratory procedure in which sperm are placed with an unfertilized egg in a Petri dish to achieve fertilization. The embryo is then transferred into the uterus to begin a pregnancy or cryopreserved (frozen) for…
FET1

See: ETM1
Fetal alcohol effects (FAE)

A softer diagnosis than fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). The diagnosis of possible FAE is considered when: 1. The person has some signs of FAS; 2. The person does not meet all of the necessary criteria for FAS; and 3…
Fetal alcohol syndrome

Fetal alcohol syndrome: The sum total of the damage done to the child before birth as a result of the mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) always involves brain damage, impaired growth…
Fetal alcohol syndrome diagnosis

>Small size and weight before and after birth (pre- and postnatal growth retardation); >Brain involvement with evidence for delay in development, intellectual impairment, or neurologic abnormalities; and >Specific…
Fetal circulation

The blood circulation in the fetus before birth. Before birth, the blood from the heart headed for the lungs in the aptly named pulmonary artery is shunted away from the lungs and returned to the greatest of arteries…
Fetal distress

Compromise of the fetus during the antepartum period (before labor) or intrapartum period (birth process). The term 'fetal distress' is commonly used to describe fetal hypoxia (low oxygen levels in the fetus). The…
Fetal dystocia

Difficult labor and delivery caused by the size (too big), shape or position of the fetus. Dystocia comes from the Greek 'dys' meaning 'difficult, painful, disordered, abnormal' + 'tokos' meaning 'birth.
Fetal fibronectin

A protein produced during pregnancy and the basis of a test for preterm delivery. Fetal fibronectin (fFN) functions as a 'glue' attaching the fetal sac to the uterine lining. The presence of fFN during weeks 22-34 of a…
Fetal infant

An extremely low birth weight infant. A very, small infant. One, for example, with a birth weight of 400 to 500 grams
Fetal mortality rate

The ratio of fetal deaths divided by the sum of the births (the live births + the fetal deaths) in that year. In the United States, the fetal mortality rate plummeted from 19.2 per 1,000 births in 1950 to 9.2 per 1,000…
Fetal pleural effusion

In the fetus, excess fluid between the two membranes (the pleurae) that envelop the lungs. The pleural effusion may be unilateral (in one lung) or bilateral (in both lungs) and it may be an isolated finding in an…
Fetal rubella effects

The constellation of abnormalities, also called the rubella syndrome, caused by infection with the rubella (German measles) A virus before birth. The syndrome is characterized by multiple congenital malformations (birth…
Fetal surgery

The surgical treatment of the fetus before birth. Also called prenatal or antenatal surgery. Fetal surgery is done when the fetus is not expected to live long enough to make it through to delivery or to live long after…
Fetal vaccinia

See Congenital vaccinia
Fetishism

Fetishism is a problem in which a person has sexual urges associated with non-living objects. The person becomes sexually aroused by wearing or touching the object. For example, the object of a fetish could be an…
Fetoprotein, alpha- (AFP)

AFP is a plasma protein that is normally produced by the fetus. It serves as the basis for some valuable tests. AFP is manufactured principally in the fetus's liver and, also, in the fetal gastrointestinal (GI) tract…
Fetoscope

(1) A flexible fiberoptic device used to view or operate upon a fetus within the womb (to do fetal surgery).(2) A stethoscope designed for listening to the fetal heart beat
Fetoscopy

A technique for looking directly at the fetus within the uterus (using a fetoscope).
Fetus

The unborn offspring from the end of the 8th week after conception (when the major structures have formed) until birth. Up until the eighth week, the developing offspring is called an embryo.
FEV1

Forced Expiratory Volume in the first second. The volume of air that can be forced out in one second after taking a deep breath, an important measure of pulmonary function
Fever

Fever: Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degrees F. (37 degrees C.), in practice a person is usually not considered to have a significant fever until the temperature is above…
Fever blister

A small sore situated on the face or in the mouth that causes pain, burning, or itching before bursting and crusting over. The favorite locations are on the lips, chin or cheeks and in the nostrils. Less frequented…
Fever of Unknown Origin

Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is a fever greater than 38.3°C (101 °F) that has occurred intermittently for over three weeks, for which no specific cause readily identified. In 85 to 95% of cases, the specific cause for…
Fever therapy

Fever therapy: Using abnormal elevations in body temperature as a tool to treat disease. This was done in the past by deliberately raising the patient's temperature to cause fever. Fever therapy was pioneered by the…
Fever with renal syndrome, hemorrhagic

A set of diseases, also known as hemorrhagic fever, characterized by the abrupt onset of high fever and chills, headache, cold and cough, and pain in the muscles, joints and abdomen with nausea and vomiting followed by…
Fever, breakbone

An acute mosquito-borne viral illness of sudden onset that usually follows a benign course with headache, fever, prostration, severe joint and muscle pain, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy) and rash. The presence (the…
Fever, cat scratch

A bacterial infection due to a cat scratch seen most often today in people with HIV. The disease characteristically presents with swollen lymph nodes (lymphadenitis), sore throat, fatigue, and fever, chills, sweats…
Fever, chikungunya

See: Chikungunya
Fever, dandy

An acute mosquito- borne viral illness of sudden onset that usually follows a benign course with headache, fever, prostration, severe joint and muscle pain, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy) and rash. The presence (the…
Fever, dengue

An acute mosquito-borne viral illness of sudden onset that usually follows a benign course with headache, fever, prostration, severe joint and muscle pain, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy) and rash. The presence (the…
Fever, dengue hemorrhagic (DHF)

A syndrome due to the dengue virus that tends to affect children under 10, causing abdominal pain, hemorrhage (bleeding) and circulatory collapse (shock). DHF starts abruptly with high continuous fever and headache plus…
Fever, desert

A disease also called coccidioidomycosis (CM) due to a fungus called Coccidioides immitis. About 40% of people infected with this fungus develop symptoms. Most often they have an influenza-like illness with fever…
Fever, dumdum

Also called kala-azar, a chronic, potentially fatal parasitic disease of the viscera (the internal organs) due to infection by an agent called Leishmania donovani. Leishmania donovani is transmitted by sandfly bites in…
Fever, Ebola virus

A notoriously deadly virus that causes fearsome symptoms, the most prominent being high fever and massive internal bleeding. Ebola virus kills as many as 90% of the people it infects. It is one of the viruses that is…
Fever, epidemic hemorrhagic

A number of diseases characterized by an abrupt onset of high fever and chills, headache, cold and cough, and pain in the muscles, joints and abdomen with nausea and vomiting followed by bleeding into the kidney and…
Fever, familial Mediterranean (FMF)

An inherited disorder featuring short recurring crises of severe abdominal pain and bouts of fever. Other symptoms include arthritis, chest pain from inflammation of the lung cavity, and skin rashes. Between attacks…
Fever, five-day

Fever, five-day: Also called trench fever, this is a disease borne by body lice that was first recognized in the trenches of World War I, when it is estimated to have affected more than a million people in Russia and on…
Fever, hemorrhagic

A number of diseases characterized by an abrupt onset of high fever and chills, headache, cold and cough, and pain in the muscles, joints and abdomen with nausea and vomiting followed by bleeding into the kidney and…
Fever, jail

See: Typhus, epidemic
Fever, Lassa

See: Lassa fever
Fever, Mediterranean

Fever, Mediterranean: A inherited disorder of unknown cause featuring short recurring bouts of fever together with pain in the joints, chest or abdomen. Also called Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF). Between attacks…
Fever, Meuse

Fever, Meuse: Named for the Meuse River area, one of the great battlegrounds of World War I. Also known as trench fever. Meuse or trench fever is a disease borne by body lice that was first recognized in the trenches of…
Fever, Philippine hemorrhagic

A syndrome due to the dengue virus that tends to affect children under 10, causing abdominal pain, hemorrhage (bleeding) and circulatory collapse (shock). Known also as dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), it starts abruptly…
Fever, Pontiac

See: Pontiac fever
Fever, puerperal

Fever that lasts for more than 24 hours within the first 10 days after a woman has had a baby. Puerperal fever is due to an infection, most often of the placental site within the uterus. If the infection involves the…
Fever, Q

Quintan means recurring every 5 days, the characteristic duration of trench fever. Quintan or trench fever is a disease borne by body lice that was first recognized in the trenches of World War I, when it is estimated…