| Calabar bean | The dried seed of Physostigma venenosum (family Leguminosae), a vine of western Africa; it contains the alkaloids physostigmine (eserine), eseramine, eseridine (geneserine) and physovenine; in toxic doses it causes vomiting, colic, salivation, diarrhoea, convulsions, sweating, dyspnea, vertigo, slow pulse, and extreme prostration. Synonym: Calabar bean, ordeal bean. Origin: G. Physa, bellows, + stigma, a mark, spot; so called because of the shape of the stigma (05 Mar 2000) |
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| Calabar swelling | A parasitic infection caused by the nematode loa loa. The vector in the transmission of this infection is the horsefly (tabanus) or the deerfly or mango fly (chrysops). The larvae may be seen just beneath the skin or passing through the conjunctiva. Eye lesions are not uncommon. The disease is generally mild and painless. (12 Dec 1998) |
| edema | <clinical sign> The presence of abnormally large amounts of fluid in the intercellular tissue spaces of the body, usually applied to demonstrable accumulation of excessive fluid in the subcutaneous tissues. Oedema may be localised, due to venous or lymphatic obstruction or to increased vascular permeability or it may be systemic due to heart failure or renal disease. Collections of oedema fluid are designated according to the site, for example ascites (peritoneal cavity), hydrothorax (pleural cavity) and hydropericardium (pericardial sac). Massive generalised oedema is called anasarca. Origin: Gr. Oide ma = swelling (18 Nov 1997) |
| edema, cardiac | A manifestation of congestive heart failure caused by increased venous and capillary pressures and often associated with the retention of sodium by the kidneys. (12 Dec 1998) |