| staircase phenomenon | A phenomenon in cardiac muscle first observed by H.P. Bowditch; if a number of stimuli of the same intensity are sent into the muscle after a quiescent period, the first few contractions of the series show a successive increase in amplitude (strength). Synonym: staircase phenomenon. Origin: Ger. Treppe, staircase (05 Mar 2000) |
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| Staub-Traugott phenomenon | The increased rate of removal of loads of glucose given shortly after administration of an initial glucose load. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Negro's phenomenon | A sudden brief halt in usually smooth respiration or other motor activity. Synonym: Negro's phenomenon. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Strassman's phenomenon | In the third stage of labour, failure of placental detachment indicated by transmission of pressure from the fundus uteri to the umbilical vein which becomes engorged; obsolete term. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Strumpell's phenomenon | Dorsal flexion of the great toe, sometimes of the entire foot, in a paralysed limb when the extremity is drawn up against the body, flexing both knee and hip. Synonym: tibial phenomenon. (05 Mar 2000) |
| no reflow phenomenon | Absence of blood flow in a portion of the brain which has been damaged, usually by ischemia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Danysz phenomenon | Reduction of the neutralizing effect of an antitoxin when toxin is mixed with it in divided portions, rather than adding the same total quantity of toxin in one step. (05 Mar 2000) |
| dawn phenomenon | Abrupt increases in fasting levels of plasma glucose concentrations between 5 and 9 a.m., in the absence of antecedent hypoglycaemia; occurs in diabetic patients receiving insulin therapy. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Debre phenomenon | In measles, the failure of the rash to develop at the site of immune serum injection. (05 Mar 2000) |
| declamping phenomenon | Shock or hypotension following abrupt release of clamps from a large portion of the vascular bed, as from the aorta; apparently caused by transient pooling of blood in a previously ischemic area. Synonym: declamping shock. (05 Mar 2000) |
| deja vu phenomenon | The mental impression that a new experience (e.g., a scene, sight, sound, or action) has happened before; a common phenomenon in normal persons that may occur more frequently or continuously in certain emotional or organic disorders. Also variously referred to as deja entendu, deja eprouve, deja fait, deja pense, deja raconte, deja vecu, or deja voulu, depending on the experience or sense that is evoked. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Dejerine-Lichtheim phenomenon | <clinical sign> In subcortical aphasia, the patient can indicate by use of the fingers the number of syllables of a word he has in mind but cannot speak. Synonym: Dejerine-Lichtheim phenomenon. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Dejerine's hand phenomenon | Clonic contractions of the flexors of the hand (wrist) on tapping the dorsum of the hand or the volar side of the forearm near the wrist; occurs in normal persons but is exaggerated in pyramidal tract lesions. Synonym: Dejerine's reflex. (05 Mar 2000) |
| symbiotic fermentation phenomenon | "two organisms, neither of which alone produces gas fermentation in certain carbohydrates, may do so when living in symbiosis or when artificially mixed" (Castellani). (05 Mar 2000) |
| Denys-Leclef phenomenon | Enhanced phagocytosis by leukocytes of microorganisms in the presence of immune serum. (05 Mar 2000) |