| acute haemorrhagic 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) |
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| acute haemorrhagic leukoencephalitis | A fulminating demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system that affects mainly children and young adults. Almost always preceded by a respiratory infection, characterised by the abrupt onset of fever, headache, confusion, and nuchal rigidity, soon followed by focal seizures, hemiplegia, or quadriplegia, brainstem findings, and coma; the CSF shows evidence of an inflammatory process; due to the massive destruction of the white matter of one or both hemispheres, often accompanied by similar destruction of the white matter of the brainstem and cerebellar peduncles; of unknown aetiology. Synonym: acute haemorrhagic leukoencephalitis, acute necrotizing haemorrhagic leukoencephalitis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| 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) |
| acute inflammation | Any inflammation that has a fairly rapid onset, quickly becomes severe, usually manifested for only a few days, but may persist for several days or even a few weeks. Synonym: active inflammation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute inflammatory polyneuropathy | <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 intermittent porphyria | <gastroenterology, haematology> A group of rare inherited metabolic disorders that result from a disturbance in porphyrin metabolism, causing increased formation and excretion of porphyrin or its precursors. It is caused by hepatic overproduction of d-aminolevulinic acid, which has greatly increased urinary excretion and of porphobilinogen, and some increase of uroporphyrin, due to a deficiency of porphobilinogen deaminase. Clinical features: intermittent acute attacks of hypertension, abdominal colic, psychosis, and polyneuropathy, but with no photosensitivity. It is exacerbated by the ingestion of certain drugs such as; barbiturates). Inheritance: autosomal dominant. (20 Sep 2002) |
| acute interstitial nephritis | <nephrology> A relatively uncommon condition which is characterised by inflammation of the renal tubules, glomeruli and surrounding tissue. Interstitial nephritis is usually be temporary and often associated with the use of a particular medication. Chronic and progressive forms do exist. Drugs that have been associated with interstitial nephritis include penicillins, ampicillin, sulpha drugs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, furosemide and thiazide diuretics. May result in mild kidney dysfunction or acute renal failure. Treatment may be with corticosteroids. Incidence: 1 in 25,000. (29 Dec 1997) |
| acute interstitial pneumonia | A severe and usually fatal form of pneumonia occurring primarily in infants usually considered a form of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute interstitial pneumonitis | Usually considered a form of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute kidney failure | <nephrology> A sudden decline in renal function may be triggered by a number of acute disease processes. Examples include sepsis (infection), shock, trauma, kidney stones, kidney infection, drug toxicity (aspirin or lithium), poisons or toxins (drug abuse) or after injection with an iodinated contrast dye (adverse effect). Chronic renal failure represents a slow decline in kidney function over time. Chronic renal failure may be caused by a number of disorders which include long-standing hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, lupus or sickle cell anaemia. Both forms of renal failure result in a life-threatening metabolic derangement. (27 Sep 1997) |
| acute kidney transplant rejection | <radiology> Findings on ultrasound: globular enlargment of the kidney, swelling and hypoechogenicity of the medullary pyramids, indistinct cortico-medullary junction, foci in the renal cortex (12 Dec 1998) |
| acute leukaemia | <haematology> A rapidly progressive cancer of the blood of sudden onset and characterised by the uncontrolled proliferation of immature blood cells which take over the bone marrow and spill into the blood stream. If left untreated is fatal within a few weeks or months. See: acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, acute myeloid leukaemia. Origin: Gr. Haima = blood (11 Nov 1997) |