Medical terms - Letter P (page 8) | MedicalVocabulary.org

Pediatric urinary tract infection

See: Urinary tract infection in children
Pediatric urine infection

See: Urinary tract infection in children
Pediatric UTI

See: Urinary tract infection in children
Pediatrics

'Pediatrics is concerned with the health of infants, children and adolescents, their growth and development, and their opportunity to achieve full potential as adults.' (Richard E.Behrman in Nelson's Textbook of…
Pediculicide

An agent that destroys lice. From pediculus, lice + -cide, killer or killing
Pediculosis

Infested with lice. See also: Head lice; Pubic lice
Pedigree

In medicine, a family health history diagrammed with a set of international symbols to indicate the individuals in the family, their relationships to one another, those with a disease, etc.
Pedodontics

Children's dentistry.
Pedophilia

People with pedophilia have fantasies, urges or behaviors that involve illegal sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger). Pedophilic behavior includes undressing the…
Pedophobia

An abnormal and persistent fear of babies and children. Sufferers experience anxiety even though they realize their fear is groundless. Rearing a child or being around active children can both produce anxiety. From the…
Pee

An informal term for piss, meant to lessen its vulgarity, but synonymous with it
Peeling agent

An agent that promotes the softening and shedding of the horny outer layer of the skin. Also called a keratolytic
PEEP

Peeping tom (voyeurism) is a disorder that involves achieving sexual arousal by observing an unsuspecting and non-consenting person who is undressing or unclothed, and/or engaged in sexual activity. This behavior may…
Peeping tom

Eurism): Peeping tom (voyeurism) is a disorder that involves achieving sexual arousal by observing an unsuspecting and non-consenting person who is undressing or unclothed, and/or engaged in sexual activity. This…
Peer review

Scrutiny by one's peers (equals). Peer-reviewed articles appearing in medical journals have been scrutinized by members of the biomedical community before publication
PEF

Peak expiratory flow
PEG

Stands for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, a surgical procedure for placing a feeding tube without having to perform an open laparotomy (operation on the abdomen). The aim of PEG is to feed those who cannot…
PEJ

Percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy
PELD

Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease. A disease severity scoring system for children under 18 years of age, designed to improve the organ allocation in transplantation based on the severity of liver disease rather than…
Peliosis hepatis

A rare condition in which the liver contains multiple, randomly-distributed blood-filled spaces or cavities ranging in size from millimeters to several centimeters in diameter. Peliosis hepatis has been associated with…
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease

A disease that is virtually identical to Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD) but without a mutation in the PLP1 gene that causes PMD. Both PMD and Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-like disease (PMLD) are characterized by rapid…
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-like disease

A disease that is virtually identical to Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD) but without a mutation in the PLP1 gene that causes PMD. Both PMD and Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-like disease (PMLD) are characterized by rapid…
Pellagra

>Diarrhea; >Dermatitis: A scaly rash on skin exposed to light or trauma; >Dementia: Mental disorientation, delusions and depression; and >Death. Other features are ulcerations within the mouth (glossitis), nausea…
Pelvic

Having to do with the pelvis, the lower part of the abdomen, located between the hip bones
Pelvic exam

An examination of the organs of the female reproductive system. In a pelvic exam, a speculum (an instrument for opening and widening certain passages of the body) is used to open the vagina and aid in visualizing the…
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)

Ascending infection of the female upper genital tract (the female structures above the cervix). PID is the most common and serious complication of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), aside from AIDS, among women. The…
Pelvis

The lower part of the abdomen located between the hip bones
Pelvis, android

There are significant differences in the anatomy of the pelvis in the female and male. The android or male pelvis is more robust, narrower, and taller than the female pelvis. The angle of the male pubic arch and the…
Pelvis, female

See: Female pelvis
Pelvis, gynecoid

The gynecoid pelvis is one that is generally characteristic of a woman in its bone structure and therefore its shape. Gynecoid means like a woman, womanly, female. The gynecoid pelvis is more delicate, wider and not as…
Pelvis, male

See: Male pelvis
Pemphigus

One of a group of chronic, relapsing autoimmune skin diseases that cause blisters and erosions of the skin and mucous membranes. The immune system mistakenly regards the cells in the skin and mucous membranes as foreign…
Pendred syndrome

Pendred syndrome: A genetic disease characterized by congenital deafness, abnormality of the bony labyrinth in the inner ear, and goiter (enlargement of the thyroid gland). The congenital nerve deafness is severe to…
Penetrance

The likelihood a given gene will result in disease. For example, if half (50%) of the people with the neurofibromatosis (NF) gene have the disease NF, the penetrance of the NF gene is 0.5.
Penetrant trait

A genetic trait (characteristic) that is present in the genome and manifests itself in the individual. By contrast, a nonpenetrant trait is one that, although present, does not manifest itself. If, for example, 100…
Penicillin

Penicillin: The most famous of all antibiotics, named for the fungal mold Penicillium notatum from which it is derived. Penicillin acts by destroying the cell wall of bacteria. Penicillin is active against a number of…
Penicillin history

The discovery of penicillin, one of the major events in the history of medicine. In 1871 the scientist Joseph Lister by chance noticed that the mould which grows on cheese and fruit can make microbes (germs) grow…
Penicillin-resistant bacteria

Bacteria that are unaffected by penicillin. Such organisms can sometimes be killed using sulfa drugs, combinations of several medications, or other tactics, but some resistant infections cannot be treated successfully…
Penicillium notatus

The species of bread mold that produces penicillin. See also: Penicillin history
Penile

Of or pertaining to the penis
Penis

The external male sex organ used to copulate and ejaculate semen and to convey urine outside the body. In Latin, the word 'penis' originally meant 'a tail.' The Latin 'penis' is related to the verb pendere meaning 'to…
Penis, cancer of the

Cancer of the penis is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells originate in the tissues of the penis. Cancer of the penis is rare in the United States. Men who are not circumcised at birth may have a higher risk for…
Penis, erection of the

When the penis fills with blood and is rigid. The penis contains two chambers, called the corpora cavernosa, which run the length of the organ, are filled with spongy tissue, and surrounded by a membrane, called the…
Penis, hypospadias of the

Birth defect of the penis involving the urethra (the transport tube leading from the bladder to discharge urine outside the body). The urethra in the male normally travels through the full length of the penis so that…
Penis, inflammation of the foreskin and glans

In the uncircumcised male, balanitis (inflammation of the glans, the rounded head of the penis) and posthitis (inflammation of the foreskin) usually occur together as balanoposthitis:lammation of both the glans and…
Penis, inflammation of the head of the

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

A penis that is abnormally small, also known as micropenis. In medical practice, the dimension of the penis that is measured is the length. This measurement is taken along the upper surface of the shaft of the penis to…
Penrose drain

A soft tube-shaped rubber or silicone drain. Named for the American gynecologist Charles Bingham Penrose (1862-1925)
Pentapeptide

A peptide consisting of five amino acids
PEP

The abbreviation PEP stands for a number of things in medicine including post-exposure prophylaxis. Prophylaxis means a defense or protection. Post-exposure prophylaxis, for example, might concern the treatment of a…