Medical terms - Letter L (page 2) | MedicalVocabulary.org

LAM

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis
Lamarckism

The theory of acquired characteristics put forth by Jean-Baptiste P.A. Lamarck (1744-1829), a French botanist, zoologist and biological philosopher. According to Lamarck, evolution occurs because organisms can inherit…
LAMB syndrome

Acronym for Lentigines, Atrial myxomas, Mucocutaneous myxomas, and Blue nevi. Now included in the Carney complex. See: Carney complex
Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome

An autoimmune disease characterized by weakness and fatigue of the proximal muscles (those near the trunk), particularly the muscles of the pelvic girdle (the pelvis and hips) and the thighs, with relative sparing of…
Lamella

A thin leaf, plate, disk, wafer
Lamin A

Abbreviated LMNA. A gene on chromosome 1 that encodes a protein which is a key component of the membrane surrounding the cell nucleus. Mutations in the LMNA gene are responsible for a number of genetic disorders…
Lamin A/C

The lamin family of proteins that make up the nuclear lamina, a matrix of protein located next to the inner nuclear membrane. Also known as LMNA. Lamin proteins are involved in nuclear stability, chromatin structure and…
Lamina

A plate or layer. For example, the lamina arcus vertebrae, usually just called the lamina, are plates of bone in each vertebral body
Laminaria

A small rod-shaped piece of dried seaweed; when placed within the cervix, a laminaria causes it to gradually dilate (widen). The species of seaweed serving this purpose is Laminaria digitata
Laminectomy

A surgical procedure in which the posterior arch of a vertebra is removed. Laminectomy is done to relieve pressure on the spinal cord or on the nerve roots that emerge from the spinal canal. The procedure may be used to…
Laminopathy

A disease due to mutation of the lamin A/C gene. The laminopathies include: Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy type 2, familial partial lipodystrophy, limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 1B, dilated cardiomyopathy…
LaMontagne

See: La Montagne, John
Lancet

See: Lancing device.
Lancet device

See: Lancing device
Lancet, The

A weekly medical journal headquartered in London. Published uninterruptedly and with the same title since 1823, The Lancet is 'the longest running medical journal in the world.' Thomas Wakley founded The Lancet and…
Lancing device

A device that holds a lancet firmly, and when triggered, moves the lancet linearly ahead to prick the skin in a controlled manner. Lancing devices usually can be adjusted to alter the depth that the lancet goes into the…
Landau-Kleffner syndrome

Landau-Kleffner syndrome: A disorder with seizures starting in childhood in which the patient loses skills, such as speech, and develops behavior characteristic of autism. A major feature of the Landau-Kleffner syndrome…
Landry ascending paralysis

A particularly virulent form of Guillain-Barre syndrome. The disorder often begins with a flu-like illness that brings on general physical weakness, but is then characterized by rapidly progressing paralysis that starts…
Landry's ascending paralysis

A particularly virulent form of Guillain-Barre syndrome. The disorder often begins with a flu-like illness that brings on general physical weakness, but is then characterized by rapidly progressing paralysis that starts…
Landslide injury

Injury from a landslide or mudslide. A landslide is when masses of rock, earth, or debris move down a slope. Debris flows, also known as mudslides, are a common type of fast-moving landslide that tends to flow in…
Langer-Saldino type achondrogenesis

See: Achondrogenesis type II
Langerhans, islets of

Best known as the insulin-producing tissue, the islets of Langerhans do more than that. They are groups of specialized cells in the pancreas that make and secrete hormones. Named after the German pathologist Paul…
Lansing virus

Type 2 poliovirus. Named after the city in Michigan where the first patient lived who was found to have this virus. There are two other strains of poliovirus: Type 1 (known as the Brunhilde virus) and Type 3 (known as…
Lanugo

Downy hair on the body of the fetus and newborn baby. It is the first hair to be produced by the fetal hair follicles, usually appearing on the fetus at about five months of gestation. It is very fine, soft, and usually…
Laparoscope

An instrument through which structures within the abdomen and pelvis can be seen. A small surgical incision (cut) is made in the abdominal wall to permit the laparoscope to enter the abdomen or pelvis. A diversity of…
Laparoscopic

1. Pertaining to the procedure of laparoscopy.2. Pertaining to a laparoscope, the instrument by which laparoscopy is done.3. Performed by laparoscopy.4. Performed with a laparoscope. Laparoscopic comes from two Greek…
Laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy

A procedure using laparoscopic techniques to remove the uterus (womb) and/or tubes and ovaries through the vagina (birth canal). Laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy is often referred to, more concisely, by its…
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Cholecystectomy: Rem of the gallbladder (cholecystectomy) by laparoscopy. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is performed through several small incisions. The laparoscope, a small thin tube, is put into the abdomen through a…
Laparoscopic staging

A staging procedure for tumors of the abdomen using laparoscopy in combination with laparoscopic ultrasonography. The aim of laparoscopic staging is to prevent unnecessary laparotomies and avoid the trauma inherent in…
Laparoscopy

Laparoscopy: A type of minimally invasive surgery in which a small incision (cut) is made in the abdominal wall through which an instrument called a laparoscope is inserted to permit structures within the abdomen and…
Laparotomy

An operation to open the abdomen. The word 'laparotomy' was first used to designate this operation in 1878 by an English surgeon, Thomas Bryant. The word has an interesting derivation. It was compounded from Greek roots…
Large bowel

Another name for the large intestine. The word 'bowel' originated from the Latin 'botulus' meaning 'sausage.'
Large cell carcinoma

A group of lung cancers in which the cells are large and look abnormal
Large intestine

Comes after the small intestine. Large because it is wider than the small intestine
Large saphenous vein

The larger of the two saphenous veins, the principal veins that run up the leg superficially (near the surface). The large saphenous vein goes from the foot all the way up to the saphenous opening, an oval aperture in…
Large-cell lymphoma

A novel type of bacterium first isolated in Hong Kong in 2001 from the blood and empyema (pus in the chest) of a man with alcoholic cirrhosis. Laribacter hongkongensis has been associated with (but not yet proven to…
Laribacter hongkongensis

A novel type of bacterium first isolated in Hong Kong in 2001 from the blood and empyema (pus in the chest) of a man with alcoholic cirrhosis. Laribacter hongkongensis has been associated with (but not yet proven to…
Laryngeal

Having to do with the larynx (the voice box). NTER>
Laryngeal dystonia

See: Spasmodic dysphonia
Laryngeal framework surgery

A surgical technique designed to improve the voice by altering the cartilages of the larynx (the voice box), which houses the vocal folds (the vocal cords) in order to change the position or length of the vocal folds…
Laryngeal nerve palsy

Paralysis of the larynx (voice box) caused by damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve or its parent nerve, the vagus nerve, which originates in the brainstem and runs down to the colon. The recurrent laryngeal nerve…
Laryngeal nerve, recurrent

One of the best known branches of the vagus nerve, a very long nerve that originates in the brainstem. After the recurrent laryngeal nerve leaves the vagus nerve, it goes down into the chest and then loops back up…
Laryngeal palsy

Paralysis of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, a branch of the vagus nerve (a long and important nerve that originates in the brainstem and runs down to the colon). After the recurrent laryngeal nerve leaves the vagus…
Laryngeal papilloma

A warty growth in the larynx, usually on the vocal cords. Persistent hoarseness is a common symptom. NTER> Laryngeal papillomatosis involves numerous warty growths on the vocal cords, most commonly in young children…
Laryngeal papillomatosis

Laryngeal papillomatosis is the growth of numerous warty growths on the vocal cords. The disease is most common in young children. Laryngeal papillomatosis can be due to the baby contracting human papilloma virus (HPV)…
Laryngeal papillomatosis, juvenile

Narrowing or constricting of the larynx, the voice box.
Laryngeal stenosis

Narrowing or constricting of the larynx, the voice box
Laryngectomee

A person who has had his or her larynx (voice box) removed. A partial laryngectomy preserves the voice. The surgeon removes only part of the voice box, just one vocal cord, part of a cord, or just the epiglottis, and…
Laryngectomy

Surgery to remove part or all of the larynx is a partial or total laryngectomy. In either operation, the surgeon performs a tracheostomy, creating an opening called a stoma in the front of the neck. (The stoma may be…
Laryngectomy, partial

A surgical procedure on the voice box designed to preserve the voice. The surgeon removes part of the voice box -- one vocal cord, part of a cord, or the epiglottis -- and leaves the rest, The stoma opening into the…