Medical terms - Letter P (page 22) | MedicalVocabulary.org

Prehypertension

A systolic pressure of 120 to 139 mm Hg or a diastolic pressure of between 80 and 89 mm Hg. Prehypertension is a precursor to chronic high blood pressure. Lifestyle changes are therefore recommended for anyone with…
Preleukemia

A condition in which the bone marrow does not produce enough blood cells. This condition may progress to become acute leukemia. Preleukemia also is called myelodysplastic syndrome or smoldering leukemia
Prelingual

Before the development of speech and language. 'She showed that in prelingually deaf people (that is, those who had been born deaf or become deaf before the age of two or so), the auditory parts of the brain had not…
Premacular fibrosis

See: Macular pucker
Premalignant

Pertaining to tissue that is not yet malignant, but is poised to become malignant. Appropriate clinical and laboratory studies are designed to detect premalignant tissue while it is still in a premalignant stages. A…
Premature baby

A baby born before 37 weeks of gestation have passed. Historically, the definition of prematurity was 2500 grams (about 5 1/2 pounds) or less at birth. The current World Health Organization definition of prematurity is…
Premature beat

See: Extrasystole
Premature birth

A birth that takes place before 37 weeks of gestation have passed. Historically, the definition of prematurity was 2500 grams (about 5 1/2 pounds) or less at birth. The current World Health Organization definition of…
Premature contraction

See: Extrasystole
Premature contraction of the heart

When a single heartbeat occurs earlier than normal. This phenomenon can be within normal limits or represent a medically significant arrhythmia.
Premature ejaculation

Premature ejaculation is ejecting semen from the penis, usually accompanied by orgasm occurring sooner than a man wishes during sexual activity. Premature ejaculation is characterized by a lack of voluntary control over…
Premature menopause

Premature menopause: Menopause (permanent cessation of menses) occurring before age 40 due to ovarian failure. Premature menopause may be associated with smoking, living at high altitude, or poor nutritional status.
Premature systole

See: Extrasystole
Premature ventricular beat

See: Extrasystole
Premature ventricular contraction

PVC. A contraction of the lower chambers of the heart, the ventricles, which occur earlier than usual, because of abnormal electrical activity of the ventricles. The premature contraction is followed by a pause, as the…
Prematurity

Historically, the definition of prematurity was 2500 grams (about 5 1/2 pounds) or less at birth. The current World Health Organization definition of prematurity is a baby born before 37 weeks of gestation, counting…
Premenstrual

Just before the start of menstruation. As in a premenstrual headache
Premenstrual syndrome

Premenstrual syndrome: A combination of physical and mood disturbances that occur in the last half of a woman's menstrual cycle after ovulation and normally end with the onset of the menstrual flow. Physical features of…
Premie

Short and slangy for a premature baby. A preterm infant. Also often spelled (for obscure reasons) preemie.
Prenatal

Occurring or existing before birth. Prenatal care is the regular health care women should receive during pregnancy from an obstetrician or midwife. Prenatal development is the growth and development of a single-celled…
Prenatal care

During pregnancy, women should receive regular health care from an obstetrician or midwife. Services needed include dietary and lifestyle advice, weighing to ensure proper weight gain, and examination for problems of…
Prenatal development

The process of growth and development within the womb, in which a single-cell zygote (the cell formed by the combination of a sperm and an egg) becomes an embryo, a fetus, and then a baby. The first two weeks of…
Prenatal diagnosis

Diagnosis before birth. Methods for prenatal diagnosis include ultrasound of the uterus, placenta, and/or developing fetus; chorionic villus sampling (CVS) to obtain tissue for chromosome or biochemical analysis; and…
Prenatal radiation exposure

The exposure of an unborn baby to radiation. Radiation exposure of the fetus can occur when the mother's abdomen is exposed to radiation from outside her body as, for example, by diagnostic X-rays. A pregnant woman may…
Prenatal surgery

The surgical treatment of the fetus before birth. Also called antenatal surgery or, most often, fetal surgery. Fetal surgery is done when the fetus is not expected to live long enough to make it through to delivery or…
Preop

Short for preoperative, before surgery. The opposite of preop is postop
Preoperative

Before surgery. As opposed to postoperative, after surgery
Preoperative care

Care given before surgery when physical and psychological preparations are made for the operation, according to the individual needs of the patient. The preoperative period runs from the time the patient is admitted to…
Prepatellar bursitis

Inflammation of the bursa that is positioned in front of the kneecap (patella). Prepatellar bursitis commonly occurs as a result of repeated trauma to the knee such as from kneeling on hard surfaces in an occupation…
Prepubertal

Before puberty, the period during which secondary sex characteristics start to develop and the capability for sexual reproduction is attained
Prepuce

The fold of skin that covers the head of the penis. Also known as the foreskin. Only about 1 in every 20 boys is born with a retractable foreskin. This reflects the fact that the histologic (tissue) development of the…
Prepuce, inflammation of the

Inflammation of the prepuce (the foreskin of the penis) is called posthitis. In the uncircumcised male, posthitis and balanitis (inflammation of the glans, the rounded head of the penis) usually occur together as…
Presbyacousia

See: Presbycusis
Presbyacusia

See: Presbycusis
Presbyacusis

See: Presbycusis
Presbycusis

Age-related hearing loss with gradually progressive inability to hear, especially high frequency sounds. Presbycusis most often occurs in both ears. Because the loss of hearing is so gradual, people with presbycusis may…
Presbyopia

Presbyopia: The loss of the eye's ability to change focus to see near objects. The reasons for this loss of the power of accommodation are not yet fully known. It is conventionally said to be due to the lens becoming…
Prescription

A physician's order for the preparation and administration of a drug or device for a patient. A prescription has several parts. They include the superscription or heading with the symbol 'R' or 'Rx', which stands for…
Prescription abbreviations

A prescription, as is well known, is a physician's order for the preparation and administration of a drug or device for a patient. What may be less well known is that a prescription has several parts: > >The…
Prescription drug

A drug requiring a prescription, as opposed to an over-the-counter drug, which can be purchased without one. The word 'prescription' comes from the Latin 'praescriptus' compounded from 'prae', before + scribere, to…
Presentation, breech

Birth in which the buttocks present before the head
Presentation, footling

There are single-footling or double-footling presentations depending upon whether the presenting part of the baby at delivery is just one foot or both feet
Presentation, vertex

In a vertex presentation, the top of the baby's head comes first at delivery. The vertex here refers specifically to the top of the head The word 'vertex' in Latin means a 'whirlpool, whirlwind, top of the mountain, or…
Presenteeism

The problem of workers being on the job but, because of medical conditions, not fully functioning. The health problems that result in presenteeism include such chronic or episodic ailments as seasonal include…
Pressor

Causing a rise in blood pressure. A pressor base is a substance (chemically classified as a base) capable of raising the blood pressure. A pressor nerve is a nerve that, when stimulated, increases the blood pressure. A…
Pressor substance

A substance that elevates the arterial blood pressure. For example, prostacyclin (prostaglandin PGI2) is a potent pressor substance. In medicine, pressor refers to raising the blood pressure. The word comes from the…
Pressure hives

See Pressure urticaria
Pressure neuropathy

Neuropathy: 'Pinching' a nerve by putting too much pressure on it. For example, the sciatic nerve may be painfully compressed by a ruptured disc in the lower spine, causing sciatica. Pressure neuropathy is also called…
Pressure sore

A sore area of skin that develops when the blood supply to it is cut off for more than two to three hours due to pressure on it and lack of movement. As the skin dies, the pressure sore first appears as a red painful…
Pressure urticaria

A common type of hives (urticaria) that occurs after the skin has been under pressure, often the feet after standing or the buttocks after sitting for a long time or areas where clothing is tight. The hives are…