Medical terms - Letter P (page 17) | MedicalVocabulary.org

Pneumonectomy

An operation to remove an entire lung or part of a lung
Pneumonia

Pneumonia: Inflammation of one or both lungs with consolidation. Pneumonia is frequently but not always due to infection. The infection may be bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic. Symptoms may include fever, chills…
Pneumonia, aspiration

Inflammation of the lungs due to aspiration (the sucking in of food particles or fluids into the lungs).
Pneumonia, bilateral

Pneumonia in both lungs. Bilateral pulmonary inflammation. Familiarly known as double pneumonia
Pneumonia, giant cell

Pneumonia, giant cell: Also known as Hecht's pneumonia, this is a deadly but fortunately rare complication of measles. It tends to strike children who are immunodeficient as from leukemia or HIV/AIDS. The postmortem…
Pneumonia, Hecht's

Pneumonia, Hecht's: Also known as giant cell pneumonia, this is a deadly but fortunately rare complication of measles. It tends to strike children who are immunodeficient as from leukemia or HIV/AIDS. The postmortem…
Pneumonic plague

Infection of the lungs by Yersina pestis, the bacterial agent that causes the plague, a disease of animals (rodents and their fleas) and humans. The first signs of the pneumonic plague are fever, headache, weakness, and…
Pneumonitis, radiation

Inflammation of the lungs as a result of radiation. Although the radiation can be from various sources including accidents, today it is usually from radiation therapy. Radiation pneumonitis typically occurs after…
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanosconiosis

Allegedly, 'a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silicate or quartz dust.' The word was invented by compounding pneumo-(lung) + ultramicroscopic + silicon + volcano + coniosis, from the Greek konis…
Pneumopericardium

Air or gas in the space between the heart and the pericardium, the membrane surrounding the heart.
Pneumosilicosis

See: Silicosis
Pneumothorax

Pneumothorax: Free air in the chest outside the lung. Pneumothorax can occur spontaneously ('out of the blue', with or without underlying lung disease), follow a fractured rib, occur in the wake of chest surgery, or be…
PNL (percutaneous nephrolithotripsy)

A technique for removing large and/or dense stones and staghorn stones. PNL is done via a port created by puncturing the kidney through the skin and enlarging the access port to 1 cm (about 3/8 inch) in diameter. There…
PNS (peripheral nervous system)

That portion of the nervous system that is outside the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is one of the two major divisions of the nervous system. The other is the central nervous system (CNS)…
Podiatrist

A podiatrist is a physician that specializes in the evaluation and treatment of diseases of the foot. The modern specialty of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery requires a minimum of three years of college education and…
Podocyte

A cell with branching tentacle-shaped extensions that constitutes the barrier through which blood is filtered in the glomerulus of the kidney. From the Greek pod- (foot) + -cyte (cell).
Poikiloderma

Extra pigmentation of the skin demonstrating a variety of shades and associated with widened capillaries (telangiectasia) in the affected area
Poikiloderma atrophicans with cataract

Better known as the Rothmund-Thomson syndrome, this is an hereditary disease characterized by progressive degeneration (atrophy), scarring and abnormal pigmentation of the skin together with stunting of growth…
Poikiloderma congenita

Better known as the Rothmund-Thomson syndrome, this is an hereditary disease characterized by progressive degeneration (atrophy), scarring and abnormal pigmentation of the skin together with stunting of growth…
Point mutation

A single nucleotide base change in the DNA. A point mutation may consist of the loss of a nucleotide, the insertion of an additional nucleotide, or the substitution of one nucleotide for another. The first point…
Point, McBurney's

McBurney's point is the most tender area of the abdomen of patients in the early stage of appendicitis. McBurney's point is named after the 19th-century New York surgeon Charles McBurney (1845-1913) who was the leading…
Poison

Any substance that can cause severe distress or death if ingested, breathed in, or absorbed through the skin. Many substances that normally cause no problems, including water and most vitamins, can be poisonous if taken…
Poison Control Center

Special information centers set up to inform Americans about how to respond to potential poisoning. These centers maintain a database of poisons and appropriate emergency treatment. The Poison Control Center in your…
Poison ivy

Poison ivy: Skin inflammation resulting from contact with oils from the poison ivy vine. Chemicals produced by this vine cause an immune reaction, producing redness, itching, and blistering of the skin. Poison ivy (Rhus…
Poison oak

Poison oak is a form of 'contact dermatitis' or inflammation of the skin resulting from chemicals produced from the poison oak plant contacting the skin. The chemicals cause an immune reaction producing redness, itching…
Poisoning

Taking a substance that is injurious to health or can cause death. Poisoning is still a major hazard to children, despite child-resistant (and sometimes adult-resistant) packaging and dose-limits per container. See also…
Poisoning, alcohol

A condition in which a toxic amount of alcohol (ethanol, ethyl alcohol) has been drunk, usually in a short period of time. The toxicity is related to the blood level of the alcohol. The individual may become extremely…
Poisoning, antifreeze

Poisoning from antifreeze which today is usually ethylene glycol -- a clear, colorless, odorless liquid with a sweet taste -- that can produce dramatic and dangerous toxicity. Ethylene glycol is found most commonly in…
Poisoning, carbon monoxide

See: Carbon monoxide poisoning
Poisoning, cyanide

See: Cyanide
Poisoning, ethylene glycol

Poisoning from ethylene glycol (a clear, colorless, odorless liquid with a sweet taste) that can produce dramatic and dangerous toxicity. Ethylene glycol is found most commonly in antifreeze, automotive cooling systems…
Poisoning, lead

An environmental hazard capable of causing brain damage. In the US lead poisoning is formally defined as having at least 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. (The average level of lead, for people ages 1 to 70…
Poisoning, mercury

The metallic element mercury is poisonous to humans. Mercury poisoning can occur in both acute and chronic forms. Acute mercury poisoning (which today is less common) is associated with ulcerations of the stomach and…
Poisoning, sea

An intensely itchy rash due to contact with the tiny thimble jellyfish (Linuche unguiculata). These jellyfish are common between March and August in the waters off of Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean…
Poisoning, silver

Silver poisoning, medically termed argyria, causes ashen gray discoloration of the skin (and other tissues of the body). Due to chronic use of silver salts. For example, a medical report related the case of a woman, now…
Poland anomaly

A unique pattern of one-sided malformations characterized by a defect of the chest (pectoralis) muscle on one side of the body and webbing of the fingers (cutaneous syndactyly) of the ipsilateral hand (the hand on the…
Poland sequence

A unique pattern of one-sided malformations characterized by a defect of the chest (pectoralis) muscle on one side of the body and webbing of the fingers (cutaneous syndactyly) of the ipsilateral hand (the hand on the…
Poland syndactyly

A unique pattern of one-sided malformations characterized by a defect of the chest (pectoralis) muscle on one side of the body and webbing of the fingers (cutaneous syndactyly) of the ipsilateral hand (the hand on the…
Poland syndrome

Poland syndrome: A developmental disorder of the chest wall involving a unique pattern of one-sided malformations characterized by a defect (absence or underdevelopment) of the main chest muscle (the pectoralis major)…
Policosanol

A product derived from the waxy coating of sugar cane that lowers both the total cholesterol and the 'bad' low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and raises the levels of the 'good' high density lipoprotein (HDL)…
Policy, Medigap

See: Medigap policy&gt
Polio

Abbreviation for poliomyelitis, an acute and sometimes devastating disease caused by a virus. Man is the only natural host for polio virus. The virus enters the mouth and multiplies in lymphoid tissues in the throat and…
Polio immunization

One of the two polio vaccines that are available: oral polio vaccine (OPV) and inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). OPV was formerly recommended for children in the U.S. but was shown to actually cause polio in extremely…
Polio vaccine, inactivated

See: Polio vaccine, inactivated.
Polio vaccine, killed

See: Polio vaccine, inactivated
Polio vaccine, live

See: Polio vaccine, oral
Polio vaccine, oral

A vaccine that contains live attenuated (weakened) poliovirus. Abbreviated OPV. Also referred to as polio vaccine, Sabin
Polio vaccine, Sabin

The oral polio vaccine (OPV) developed by the Polish-born American microbiologist Albert Sabin (1906-93)
Polio vaccine, Salk

See polio vaccine, inactivated
Polio, abortive

A minor form of infection with the polio virus, abortive polio accounts for 80 to 90 percent of clinically apparent cases in the US, chiefly occurring in young children. The usual symptoms emerge three to five days…