| bronchial hyperreactivity | Tendency of the smooth muscle of the tracheobronchial tree to contract more intensely in response to a given stimulus than it does in the response seen in normal individuals. This condition is present in virtually all symptomatic patients with asthma. The most prominent manifestation of this smooth muscle contraction is a decrease in airway caliber that can be readily measured in the pulmonary function laboratory. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| bronchial pneumonia | <chest medicine> A name given to an inflammation of the lungs which usually begins in the terminal bronchioles. These become clogged with a mucopurulent exudate forming consolidated patches in adjacent lobules. The disease is frequently secondary in character, following infections of the upper respiratory tract, specific infectious fevers and debilitating diseases. In infants and debilitated persons of any age it may occur as a primary affection. Synonym: bronchial pneumonia, bronchoalveolitis, bronchopneumonitis, lobular pneumonia. (11 Jan 1998) |
| bronchial polyp | A polyp growing from the bronchial mucosa. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bronchial respiration | A tubular blowing sound caused by the passage of air through a bronchus in an area of consolidated lung tissue. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bronchial spasm | Spasmodic contraction of the smooth muscle of the bronchi. (12 Dec 1998) |
| bronchial tubes | <anatomy> The bronchial tubes which arise from the branching of the trachea, especially. The subdivision of the bronchi. Origin: L, pl. Cf. Bronchus. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bronchial veins | Many veins running in front of and behind the bronchi and uniting into two main trunks which empty on the right side into the azygos vein, on the left into the accessory hemiazygos or the left superior intercostal vein. Synonym: venae bronchiales. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bronchial voice | A modification of the voice sounds, by which they are intensified and heightened in pitch; observed in auscultation of the chest in certain cases of intro-thoracic disease. Origin: Gr. Windpipe + sound. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| trans-bronchial biopsy | <chest medicine, procedure> A biopsy that is performed through the wall of the bronchus (using the bronchoscope). This involves obtaining a small piece of lung tissue for microscopic analysis. This is a useful alternative to an open surgical biopsy, where an incision must be made. (17 Mar 1998) |
| acoustic impedance tests | Objective tests of middle ear function based on the difficulty (impedance) or ease (admittance) of sound flow through the middle ear. These include static impedance and dynamic impedance (i.e., tympanometry and impedance tests in conjunction with intra-aural muscle reflex elicitation). This term is used also for various components of impedance and admittance (e.g., compliance, conductance, reactance, resistance, susceptance). (12 Dec 1998) |
| Alpha tests | A set of paper and pencil-administered mental tests first used in the United States Army in 1917-1918 to determine the mental ability of literate recruits; the set includes 8 different types of tests: i.e., directions, arithmetical problems, practical judgement, synonyms and antonyms, disarrayed sentences, number series completions, analogies, and information; they are designed especially for testing large groups of individuals simultaneously, and for rapid machine scoring; distinguished from the Army Beta tests, a complementary set for administration to recruits who could not read or write English, in which the instructions are given in signs and the test material is pictorial. See: Beta tests. Synonym: Army Alpha tests. (05 Mar 2000) |
| aptitude tests | Primarily non-verbal tests designed to predict an individual's future learning ability or performance. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Beta tests | <psychiatry> A set of pictorially administered mental tests first used in the United States Army in 1917-1918 to determine the relative mental ability of recruits who were illiterate or deficient in reading and writing English, the instructions being given in signs and the test material's pictorial in characters; distinguished from the Army Alpha tests, which were administered at the same time to literate recruits. Synonym: Army Beta tests. (05 Mar 2000) |
| blood coagulation tests | Laboratory tests for evaluating the individual's clotting mechanism. (12 Dec 1998) |
| breath tests | Any tests done on exhaled air. (12 Dec 1998) |