Medical terms - Letter S (page 3) | MedicalVocabulary.org

Scale, Fahrenheit

Thermometer scale in which the freezing point of water is 32°F and the boiling point of water 212°F. The Fahrenheit scale is still obstinately in use in the US. This anachronism requires conversion from Centigrade (°C)…
Scale, skin

A thin piece of the outermost layer of skin resembling a fish scale. They represent a heaping up of the outermost layer of the skin (the stratum corneum) and can be due to a variety of skin conditions, most frequently…
Scales, body fat

See: Bioelectric impedance analysis
Scaling

Abnormal shedding or accumulation of an upper layer of skin (the stratum corneum)
Scalp ringworm

Ringworm: A superficial fungus infection of the skin, affecting the scalp. Also known as ringworm. It appears as scalp scaling associated with bald spots (in contrast to seborrhea or dandruff, for instance, which do not…
Scan

As a noun, the data or image obtained from the examination of organs or regions of the body by gathering information with a sensing device. For specific scans, please see their alphabetical listings (such as Bone scan…
Scan, bone

A technique to create images of bones on a computer screen or on film. A small amount of radioactive material is injected and travels through the bloodstream. It collects in the bones, especially in abnormal areas of…
Scan, CAT

Pictures of structures within the body created by a computer that takes the data from multiple X-ray images and turns them in pictures. The CAT (computerized axial tomography) scan can reveal some soft-tissue and other…
Scan, computerized axial tomography

Pictures of structures within the body created by a computer that takes the data from multiple X-ray images and turns them in pictures. The CAT (computerized axial tomography) scan can reveal some soft-tissue and other…
Scan, computerized tomography

Pictures of structures within the body created by a computer that takes the data from multiple X-ray images and turns them in pictures. The computerized tomography (CT) scan can reveal some soft-tissue and other…
Scan, CT

Pictures of structures within the body created by a computer that takes the data from multiple X-ray images and turns them in pictures. CT stands for computerized tomography. The CT scan can reveal some soft-tissue and…
Scan, DXA

See: DXA
Scan, helical CAT

A conventional computerized axial tomography scan (CAT scan or CT scan) is an x-ray procedure which combines many x-ray images with the aid of a computer to generate cross-sectional views and, if needed…
Scan, radionuclide

See: Radionuclide scan
Scan, SPECT

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, a nuclear medicine procedure in which a gamma camera rotates around the patient and takes pictures from many angles, which a computer then uses to form a tomographic…
Scan, spiral CAT

A conventional computerized axial tomography scan (CAT scan or CT scan) is an x-ray procedure which combines many x-ray images with the aid of a computer to generate cross-sectional views and, if needed…
Scan, thyroid

An image taken of the thyroid gland after radioactive iodine is taken by mouth. The thyroid gland is in front of the neck: NTER> Thyroid scanning is a nuclear medicine procedure. As the thyroid gland accumulates…
Scanning electron microscope

Abbreviated SEM. A microscope in which a finely focused beam of electrons is scanned across a specimen, and the electron intensity variations are used to construct an image of the specimen. This type of microscope can…
Scapula

The shoulder blade (or 'wingbone'), the familiar flat triangular bone at the back of the shoulder. The word 'scapula' (with the accent on the first syllable) is Latin. The Romans always employed the plural 'scapulae'…
Scarification

The making of many small, superficial scratches in the skin. Scarification may be done in giving a smallpox vaccination or in removing a tattoo and leaving a scar in its place
Scarlatina

Also called scarlet fever, a disease caused by infection with group A streptococcal bacteria that occurs in a small proportion of people with strep throat. The incubation period between contracting strep and the onset…
Scarlet fever

Also called scarlatina, a disease caused by infection with group A streptococcal bacteria that occurs in a small proportion of people with strep throat. The incubation period between contracting strep and the onset of…
SCFE

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis.
Schadenfreude

Pleasure from the misfortune of others. The word entered English in 1895 from the German 'Schade', harm, + 'Freude,' joy = joy (over) harm (suffered by another)
Schedules, Gesell Developmental

A measure of child development devised by the American child psychologist and pediatrician Arnold Gesell (1880-1961) who founded the Clinic of Child Development at Yale in 1911 and directed it for many years. There he…
Scheuermann's disease

A species of trematode worm that parasitizes humans and causes urinary tract disease. See Schistosomiasis.
Schistosoma haematobium

A species of trematode worm that parasitizes humans and causes urinary tract disease. See Schistosomiasis
Schistosoma japonicum

A species of trematode worm that parasitizes humans and that (like S. mansoni) causes liver and gastrointestinal tract disease. See Schistosomiasis
Schistosoma mansoni

A species of trematode worm that parasitizes humans and that (like S. japonicum) causes liver and gastrointestinal tract disease. See Schistosomiasis.
Schistosome

A parasitic trematode worm contracted from infested water that is capable of causing liver, gastrointestinal tract and bladder disease. There are three main species of these trematode worms (flukes) -- Schistosoma…
Schistosomiasis

Diseases of liver, gastrointestinal tract and bladder caused by schistosomes, trematode worms that parasitize people. Infection is from infested water. There are three main species of these trematode worms (flukes)…
Schizencephaly

A developmental disorder of the brain characterized by abnormal slits, or clefts, in the cerebral hemispheres. Schizencephaly is a form of porencephaly. Individuals with clefts in both hemispheres, or bilateral clefts…
Schizoaffective disorder

Schizoaffective disorder: A mood disorder that is coupled with some symptoms resembling those of schizophrenia, particularly loss of personality (flat affect) and/or social withdrawal.
Schizoid

Having symptoms similar to those of schizophrenia. See schizophrenia
Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia: One of several brain diseases whose symptoms that may include loss of personality (flat affect), agitation, catatonia, confusion, psychosis, unusual behavior, and withdrawal. The illness usually begins in…
Schizophrenia, childhood

Schizophrenia, childhood: The onset of schizophrenia before adulthood. This condition is very rare in young children, but occurs with more frequency in the teenage years. Autism was once known as childhood…
Schizotypal personality disorder

A type of personality characterized by unusual patterns of speech and behavior and by social withdrawal. See also Asperger syndrome.
Schmorl's node

An upward and downward protrusion (pushing into) of a spinal disk's soft tissue into the bony tissue of the adjacent vertebrae (the bony building blocks of the spine). Schmorl's nodes are detectable with an x-ray test…
Schonlein-Henoch purpura

A form of blood vessel inflammation (vasculitis) that typically affects small arterial vessels (capillaries) in the skin, kidneys, and intestinal tract. The disease presents characteristically as a skin rash associated…
School, first American medical

See: First American medical school
School, medical

See: Medical school
Schwartz-Jampel syndrome

The largest nerve in the body, the sciatic nerve begins from nerve roots in the lumbar part of the spinal cord (in the low back) and extends through the buttock area to send nerve endings down to the legs. Pain…
Sciatic nerve

The largest nerve in the body, the sciatic nerve begins from nerve roots in the lumbar part of the spinal cord (in the low back) and extends through the buttock area to send nerve endings down to the legs. Pain…
Sciatica

Sciatica: Pain resulting from irritation of the sciatic nerve, typically felt from the low back to behind the thigh and radiating down below the knee. While sciatica can result from a herniated disc directly pressing on…
SCID

Severe combined immunodeficiency disease
Science (journal)

A weekly journal concerning science. Science was founded in 1880 by one of the world's most famous scientists, Thomas Alva Edison, inventor of the light bulb. Science is the world's general scientific publication with…
Science, cognitive

Cognitive science is the study of the mind. It is an interdisciplinary science that draws upon many fields including neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, computer science, artificial intelligence, and linguistics. The…
Scientist, medical

See: Medical scientist
Scintigraphy

A diagnostic test in which a two-dimensional picture of a body radiation source is obtained through the use of radioisotopes. For example, scintigraphy of the biliary system (cholescintigraphy) is done to diagnose…
Scintimammography

A scintigraphic imaging technique that uses the radioisotope technetium tetrofosmin (Tc-99 tetrofosmin) to search for breast cancer. Scintimammography can sometimes detect breast cancer in situations in which there is…