| false pain | <obstetrics> Ineffective uterine contractions, preceding and sometimes resembling true labour, but distinguishable from it by the lack of progressive effacement and dilation of the cervix. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| false paracusis | <otolaryngology> The apparent increase in auditory acuity of a deaf person to conversation in noisy surroundings due to his companion unconsciously raising his voice. Synonym: Willis' paracusis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| false pelvis | The expanded portion of the pelvis above the brim. Synonym: pelvis major, false pelvis, large pelvis, pelvis spuria. (05 Mar 2000) |
| false positive | <statistics> A test result that is read as positive when it is really negative. (27 Sep 1997) |
| false-positive reaction | <statistics> An erroneous or mistakenly positive response. Positive test results in subjects who do not possess the attribute for which the test is conducted. The labeling of healthy persons as diseased when screening in the detection of disease. (05 Mar 2000) |
| false pregnancy | <obstetrics, psychiatry> A condition in which some signs and symptoms suggest pregnancy, although the woman is not pregnant. Synonym: hysterical pregnancy, pseudocyesis, pseudopregnancy, spurious pregnancy. (05 Mar 2000) |
| false projection | <ophthalmology> The faulty visual sensation arising secondarily to underaction of an ocular muscle. Synonym: erroneous projection. (05 Mar 2000) |
| false rib | <anatomy> Five lower ribs on either side that do not articulate with the sternum directly. Synonym: costae spuriae, vertebrochondral ribs. (05 Mar 2000) |
| false ringbone | <veterinary> An exostosis on the middle or upper part of the long pastern bone in the horse. (05 Mar 2000) |
| false suture | <anatomy> One whose opposing margins are smooth or present only a few ill-defined projections. Synonym: sutura notha. (05 Mar 2000) |
| false vertebrae | <anatomy> The fused vertebral segments of the sacrum and coccyx. Synonym: vertebrae spuriae. (05 Mar 2000) |
| false vocal cord | One of the pair of folds of mucous membrane stretching across the laryngeal cavity from the angle of the thyroid cartilage to the arytenoid cartilage; they enclose a space called the rima vestibuli or false glottis. Synonym: plica vestibularis, false vocal cord, plica ventricularis, ventricular band of larynx, ventricular fold. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bone scan: falsely negative metastases | <radiology> Anaplastic tumours, reticulum cell sarcoma, renal cell carcinoma, thyroid carcinoma, histiocytosis, neuroblastoma, multiple myeloma (positive scan usually due to recent or impending fracture) (12 Dec 1998) |
| ventilators, negative-pressure | Body ventilators that assist ventilation by applying intermittent subatmospheric pressure around the thorax, abdomen, or airway and periodically expand the chest wall and inflate the lungs. They are relatively simple to operate and do not require tracheostomy. These devices include the tank ventilators ("iron lung"), portalung, pneumowrap, and chest cuirass ("tortoise shell"). (12 Dec 1998) |
| gram-negative | <microbiology> A common class of bacteria normally found in the gastrointestinal tract that can be responsible for disease in man (sepsis). Bacteria are considered to be gram-negative because of their characteristic staining properties under the microscope, where they either do not stain or are decolourised by alcohol during Gram's method of staining. This is a primary characteristic of bacteria that have a cell wall composed of a thin layer of peptidoglycan covered by an outer membrane of lipoprotein and lipopolysaccharide containing endotoxin. The gram staining characteristics of bacteria have resulted in an important classification system for the identification of bacteria. See: gram-positive (06 Oct 1997) |