| crypto- | Crypt- Hidden, obscure; without apparent cause. Origin: G. Kryptos, hidden, concealed (05 Mar 2000) |
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| cryptococcal meningitis | <pathology> An opportunistic infection caused by the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans and involving the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms may include severe headache, confusion, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, fever and speech difficulties. Left untreated, the disease can lead to coma and death. Standard treatments are amphotericin B (induction) and fluconazole (maintenance). (09 Oct 1997) |
| cryptococcoma | An infectious granuloma, typically in the brain, but also found in the lung and elsewhere, caused by Cryptococcus neoformans. Synonym: toruloma. Origin: Cryptococcus (genus name) + -oma (05 Mar 2000) |
| cryptococcosis | An acute, subacute or chronic infection by the fungal organism, Cryptococcus neoformans. Infection generally causes a pulmonary infection but may also disseminate to the meninges. The pulmonary form is generally mild and transient (often unrecognised). With dissemination lesions may occur in the skeletal, cutaneus and visceral tissues. The most commonly recognised dissemination is to the central nervous system (meningitis). (27 Sep 1997) |
| Cryptococcus | A genus of yeastlike fungi that reproduce by budding. Origin: crypto-+ G. Kokkos, berry Cryptococcus neoformans, a species that causes cryptococcosis in humans and other mammalians and parasitises cats in some areas, although strains vary in virulence; the cells are spherical and may bud at any point on the surface or simultaneously at several points; a prominent feature is a mucoid polysaccharide capsule which may vary in width from very thin to several times the radius of the parent cell and buds combined. Once thought to be widespread in nature, its true niche appears to be narrowing to a saprobic association with the manure and nests of pigeons; it is therefore essentially global in distribution. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cryptococcus neoformans | A species of the fungus cryptococcus, which causes cryptococcosis. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cryptocrystalline | Having very minute crystals. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Cryptocystis trichodectis | Name formerly applied to the larval form of the dog tapeworm, Dipylidium caninum, named for the cysticercoids found in the dog louse, Trichodectes. Origin: crypto-+ G. Kystis, bladder; tricho-+ G. Dektes, a beggar (05 Mar 2000) |
| cryptodidymus | Conjoined twins, with the poorly developed parasitic twin concealed within the larger autosite. See: conjoined twins. Origin: crypto-+ G. Didymos, twin (05 Mar 2000) |
| cryptogam | A plant whose sexual reproductive parts are not conspicuous, a plant that produces spores, not seeds, in its sexual reproductive cycle, for example ferns, mosses, algae. Compare: phanerogam. (09 Oct 1997) |
| Cryptogamia | A montaxonomic division of the plant kingdom containing all forms of plant life that do not reproduce by means of seeds; included are the algae, bacteria, fungi, lichens, mosses, liverworts, ferns, horsetails, and club mosses. Origin: crypto-+ G. Gamos, marriage (05 Mar 2000) |
| cryptogenic | Of obscure, indeterminate aetiology or origin, in contrast to phanerogenic. Origin: crypto-+ G. Genesis, origin (05 Mar 2000) |
| cryptogenic cirrhosis | Cirrhosis of unknown aetiology, with no history of alcoholism or previous acute hepatitis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cryptogenic epilepsy | tonic-clonic seizure |
| cryptogenic infection | Bacterial, viral, or other infection, the source of which is unknown. (05 Mar 2000) |