| acute extrinsic allergic alveolitis | <radiology> No chest X-ray findings in 30-95%, diffuse acinar consolidative pattern (oedema and exudative filling of alveoli), basilar distribution, lymph node enlargement (unusual, more common with recurrence) see: extrinsic allergic alveolitis (12 Dec 1998) |
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| acute febrile illness | An illness of sudden onset that manifests with fever. (27 Sep 1997) |
| acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis | A rare dermatosis, predominant in women, of rapid onset and characterised by plaque-like lesions, usually multiple, on the face, neck, and upper extremities, accompanied by conjunctivitis, mucosal lesions, fever, malaise, arthralgia, and peripheral blood neutrophilia in many cases; biopsy reveals polymorphonuclear infiltrate of the dermis; rapid remission occurs with systemic steroid therapy. Synonym: Sweet's disease. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute fibrinous pericarditis | The usual lesion of acute pericarditis in which inflammation produces large quantities of fibrin. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute follicular conjunctivitis | An obsolete term for acute viral conjunctivitis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute fulminating meningococcaemia | Rapidly moving systemic infection with Neisseria meningitidis, usually without meningitis, characterised by rash, usually petechial or purpuric, high fever, and hypotension. May lead to death within hours. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute fulminating meningococcal septicaemia | <radiology> Septicaemia (e.g., meningococcaemia), haemorrhagic necrosis of adrenals due to, septic emboli, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC), most likely to be adrenal haemorrhage and/or calcification (12 Dec 1998) |
| acute glaucoma | <ophthalmology> A sudden blockage of the normal fluid circulation within the eyeball resulting in increased intraocular pressure. Increased pressure within the eyeball can cause damage to the optic nerve and blindness. Symptom include severe eye or facial pain, nausea, vomiting, decreased vision, blurred vision and seeing halos around objects. The eye appears red with a steamy cornea and a fixed (nonreactive) dilated pupil. Treatment is emergent with medications to lower the pressure within the eye. (27 Sep 1997) |
| acute glomerulonephritis | <nephrology> A disease of the kidneys that results in inflammation of the glomerulus (the portion of the kidney that filters the blood). Conditions which may cause glomerulonephritis include post-streptococcal disease (strep throat), lupus, syphilis, bacterial endocarditis, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, sepsis, vasculitis, Goodpasture's syndrome, typhoid fever, Henoch-Schonlein purpura, hepatitis or a viral infection (for example mumps, measles, mononucleosis). (27 Sep 1997) |
| acute goiter | A goiter that develops very rapidly. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute granulocytic leukaemia | <haematology> A form of leukaemia which is characterised by the proliferation of immature white blood cells (granulocytes) in the bloodstream. Occurs primarily in adults and in infants under 1 year of age. Complications include abnormal bleeding and susceptibility to infections. Symptoms include fatigue, weight loss, fevers, weakness, pallor, bone pains, bleeding gums, nosebleeds, easy bruising, enlarged lymph nodes and joint pains. Treatment includes chemotherapy and/or bone marrow transplant. Origin: Gr. Haima = blood (27 Sep 1997) |
| acute idiopathic polyneuritis | <neurology, syndrome> Acute infective polyneuritis that results in a form of peripheral neuropathy with temporary loss of movement and sensation due to inflammation of multiple nerves and loss of myelin. The exact cause is unknown but has been associated with an abnormal immune response to viral infection, particularly cytomegalovirus infection, in which there is cell-mediated immunity to a component of myelin. The disease may be autoimmune in origin and complete recovery can take up to six months. Synonym: Guillain-Barre syndrome (12 Jul 2000) |
| acute illness | A disease with an abrupt onset and usually a short course. (12 Dec 1998) |
| acute inclusion body encephalitis | The most common acute encephalitis, caused by HSV-1; affects persons of any age; preferentially involves the inferomedial portions of the temporal lobe and the orbital portions of the frontal lobes; pathologically, severe haemorrhagic necrosis is present along with, in the acute stages, intranuclear eosinophilic inclusion bodies in the neurons and glial cells. Synonym: acute inclusion body encephalitis, herpes encephalitis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute infectious nonbacterial gastroenteritis | An epidemic, highly communicable but rather mild disease of sudden onset, caused by the epidemic gastroenteritis virus (especially Norwalk agent), with an incubation period of 16 to 48 hours and a duration of 1 to 2 days, which affects all age groups; infection is associated with some fever, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and headache, one or another of which may be predominant. Synonym: acute infectious nonbacterial gastroenteritis. (05 Mar 2000) |