| aplasia | <embryology> A lack of development of an organ or tissue or of the cellular products from an organ or tissue. Compare: hypoplasia. Origin: Gr. Plassein = to form (18 Nov 1997) |
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| aplasia cutis congenita | Congenital absence or deficiency of a localised area of skin, with the base of the defect covered by a thin translucent membrane; most often a single area near the vertex of the scalp, but may occur in other areas; underlying structures may also be affected; autosomal inheritance, either dominant or recessive. (05 Mar 2000) |
| radial aplasia-thrombocytopenia syndrome | <syndrome> Aplasia (absence) of the radius (the long bone on the thumb-side of the forearm) and thrombocytopenia (low blood platelets) are key features characterizing this syndrome. There is phocomelia (flipper-limb) with the thumbs always present. The fibula (the smaller bone in the lower leg) is often absent. The risk of bleeding from too few platelets is high in early infancy but lessens with age. The condition is inherited in an autosomal recessive trait with one gene (on a non-sex chromosome) coming from each parent to the child affected with the disease. Alternative names include thrombocytopenia-absent radius syndrome, tar syndrome, and tetraphocomelia-thrombocytopenia syndrome. (12 Dec 1998) |
| germinal aplasia | A disorder in which the seminiferous tubules exhibit an abnormal cytoarchitecture and extensive hyalinization; the testes are small, and few spermatozoa are formed; the body habitus may be eunuchoid, and gynaecomastia may be present; urinary gonadotropin output is usually high, and the incidence of mental deficiency and illness increased; sex chromatin may be male or female, and androgen secretion ranges from subnormal to normal. It is a constant feature of (and is often used synonymously with) Klinefelter's syndrome. Synonym: germinal aplasia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| red-cell aplasia, pure | Suppression of erythropoiesis with little or no abnormality of leukocyte or platelet production. (12 Dec 1998) |
| gonadal aplasia | Congenital absence of essentially all gonadal tissue; the external genitalia and genital ducts are female, but if interstitial cells of Leydig are present, the external genitalia are commonly ambiguous and the genital ducts are female. See: gonadal dysgenesis. Compare: Klinefelter's syndrome, Turner's syndrome. Synonym: gonadal agenesis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| congenital aplasia of thymus | diGeorge syndrome |
| pure red cell aplasia | A transitory arrest of red blood cell production which may occur in the course of a haemolytic anaemia, often preceded by infection, or as a complication of certain drugs; if the arrest persists anaemia may result. See: congenital hypoplastic anaemia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| syndrome, radial aplasia-thrombocytopenia | See syndrome, tar. (12 Dec 1998) |
| thymic aplasia | <disease, immunology> A lack of T lymphocytes, due to failure of the thymus to develop, resulting in very reduced cell-mediated immunity though serum immunoglobulin levels may be normal. See: DiGeorge syndrome. Origin: Gr. Plassein = to form (18 Nov 1997) |
| accessory breast | A milk-secreting gland located elsewhere than at the normal place on the chest and existing in addition to the two usual mammae. Synonym: mamma accessoria, accessory breast, supernumerary mamma. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bed of breast | Structures against which the posterior surface of the breast lies; includes mainly the pectoralis major muscle, but also some serratus anterior and external abdominal oblique muscle; extends from second to sixth rib, and from parasternal to anterior axillary lines. (05 Mar 2000) |
| BRCA1 breast cancer susceptibility gene | This mutated (changed) version of the BRCA1 gene makes a person susceptible to developing breast cancer. (12 Dec 1998) |
| breast | To meet, with the breast; to struggle with or oppose manfully; as, to breast the storm or waves. "The court breasted the popular current by sustaining the demurrer." (Wirt) To breast up a hedge, to cut the face of it on one side so as to lay bare the principal upright stems of the plants. Origin: Breasted; Breasted. 1. The fore part of the body, between the neck and the belly; the chest; as, the breast of a man or of a horse. 2. Either one of the protuberant glands, situated on the front of the chest or thorax in the female of man and of some other mammalia, in which milk is secreted for the nourishment of the young; a mammma; a teat. "My brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother." (Cant. Viii. 1) 3. Anything resembling the human breast, or bosom; the front or forward part of anything; as, a chimney breast; a plow breast; the breast of a hill. "Mountains on whose barren breast The laboring clouds do often rest." (Milton) 4. <chemical> The face of a coal working. The front of a furnace. 5. The seat of consciousness; the repository of thought and self-consciousness, or of secrets; the seat of the affections and passions; the heart. "He has a loyal breast." (Shak) 6. The power of singing; a musical voice; so called, probably, from the connection of the voice with the lungs, which lie within the breast. "By my troth, the fool has an excellent breast." (Shak) Breast drill, a portable drilling machine, provided with a breastplate, for forcing the drill against the work. Breast pang. See Angina pectoris, under Angina. To make a clean breast, to disclose the secrets which weigh upon one; to make full confession. Origin: OE. Brest, breost, As. Breost; akin to Icel. Brjst, Sw. Brost, Dan. Bryst, Goth. Brusts, OS. Briost, D. Borst, G. Brust. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| breast augmentation | <surgery> A surgical procedure, often involving the use of a prosthetic implant, to increase the size or alter the shape of the breast. (27 Sep 1997) |