| widal test | <investigation> A test involving agglutination of typhoid bacilli when they are mixed with serum containing typhoid antibodies from an individual having typhoid fever, used to detect the presence of Salmonella typhi and s. Paratyphi. Pronounced: vidal (13 Nov 1997) |
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| complementation-fixation test | <investigation> A test for the presence of antibodies in a serum, based on whether an antigen and complement, when put together with some red blood cells, are able to destroy them. If the red blood cells are destroyed, then antibodies were not present to prevent it. If the red blood cells are not destroyed, then antibodies were present to combine with the antigen and bind the complement, making them unable to attack the red blood cells. (09 Oct 1997) |
| complement-fixation test | An immunological test for determining the presence of a particular antigen or antibody when one of the two is known to be present, based on the fact that complement is "fixed" in the presence of antigen and its specific antibody. See: Bordet-Gengou phenomenon. (05 Mar 2000) |
| plasmacrit test | A serologic screening method used as an aid in the diagnosis of syphilis; after only a few drops of heparinised blood (obtained from a pricked finger) are collected in a special capillary tube, the capillary tube is centrifugated in order to collect plasma, which is then mixed with a 0.01-ml drop of antigen (cardiolipin previously treated with choline chloride as an anti-inhibitor, in order to avoid falsely negative results that may occur with nonheated plasma or serum). After mechanically agitating the antigen-plasma mixture for 4 min, the presence or absence of flocculation is observed. A positive result should not be regarded as conclusively diagnostic, but a negative result excludes the likelihood of syphilis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mucin clot test | A test that reflects the polymerization of synovial fluid hyaluronate; a few drops of synovial fluid added to acetic acid form a clot; poor clot formation occurs in a variety of inflammatory conditions including septic arthritis, gouty arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Synonym: Ropes test. (05 Mar 2000) |
| platelet aggregation test | A test of the ability of platelets to adhere to each other and hence form a haemostatic plug to prevent bleeding; failure to aggregate occurs in several conditions, e.g., thrombasthenia, Von Willebrand's disease, and following administration of aspirin, phenylbutazone, and indomethacin; the test is conducted by quantitating the decrease in turbidity that occurs in platelet-rich plasma following the in vitro addition of one or several platelet-aggregating agents (e.g., ADP, epinephrine, or serotonin). (05 Mar 2000) |
| Mulder's test | A qualitative test for proteins; a yellow product is formed by reacting proteins with hot, concentrated nitric acid. (05 Mar 2000) |
| multiple sleep latency test | A test of the propensity to fall asleep, done by performing polysomnography during multiple brief opportunities to sleep. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Wormley's test | A test for alkaloids, by treating the solution with picric acid or a dilute iodine-potassium-iodide solution, the presence of alkaloids being shown by a colour reaction. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mumps sensitivity test | A skin test for sensitivity to mumps, in which inactivated mumps virus is used as antigen. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mumps skin test antigen | A sterile suspension of killed mumps virus in isotonic sodium chloride solution, used to determine susceptibility to mumps or to confirm previous exposure. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Wurster's test | A test for tyrosine; the substance is dissolved in boiling water and quinone is added; if tyrosine is present a ruby-coloured reaction takes place, the solution changing to brown after a few hours. (05 Mar 2000) |
| contraction stress test | A test used to evaluate foetal well-being by inducing contractions and analyzing the foetal heart rate response. (05 Mar 2000) |
| coombs' test | Haemagglutination test in which coombs' reagent (antiglobulin, or anti-human globulin rabbit immune serum) is added to detect incomplete (non-agglutinating, univalent, blocking) antibodies coating erythrocytes. The direct test is applied to red cells which have been coated with antibody in vivo (e.g., in haemolytic disease of newborn, autoimmune haemolytic anaemia, and transfusion reactions). The indirect test is applied to serum to detect the presence of antibody (e.g., in detection of incompatibility in cross-matching tests, detection and identification of irregular antibodies, and in detection of antibodies not identifiable by other means). (12 Dec 1998) |
| point system test types | A near-vision test chart in which the various test types are multiples of a point (1/72 inch), lower-case letters being one-half the designated point size; reading 4-point at 16 inches is normal, and is designated N-4. (05 Mar 2000) |