| systemic sclerosis | <rheumatology> A multisystem disorder of unknown aetiology. It is characterised by fibrosis (scarring) of the skin, blood vessels and internal organs. Involvement of the gastrointestinal tract, heart, kidneys and lungs is common. (09 Jan 1998) |
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| systemic therapy | <pharmacology> Treatment that reaches and affects cells all over the body. (16 Dec 1997) |
| systemic vascular resistance | An index of arteriolar compliance or constriction throughout the body; equal to the blood pressure divided by the cardiac output. (05 Mar 2000) |
| systemic venous hypertension | Increased pressure in the veins ultimately leading to the right atrium nearly always due to disease of the right heart but occasionally due to blockade of one or both venae cavae. (05 Mar 2000) |
| juvenile chronic arthritis, systemic-onset | See: Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, systemic-onset (still's disease). (12 Dec 1998) |
| juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, systemic-onset | Also known as systemic-onset juvenile chronic arthritis. Still's disease presents with systemic (bodywide) illness including high intermittent fever, a salmon-coloured skin rash, swollen lymph glands, enlargement of the liver and spleen, and inflammation of the lungs (pleuritis) and around the heart (pericarditis). The arthritis may not be immediately apparent but it does always surface and it may persists long after the systemic symptoms are gone. (12 Dec 1998) |
| lupus erythematosus, systemic | A chronic, relapsing, inflammatory, and often febrile multisystemic disorder of connective tissue, characterised principally by involvement of the skin, joints, kidneys, and serosal membranes. It is of unknown aetiology, but is thought to represent a failure of the regulatory mechanisms of the autoimmune system. The disease is marked by a wide range of system dysfunctions, an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and the formation of le cells in the blood or bone marrow. (12 Dec 1998) |