| FHP | family history positive |
|---|---|
| FHx | family history |
| FMH | family medical history; fat-mobilizing hormone; feto-maternal hemorrhage; fibromuscular hyperplasia |
| SFH | schizophrenia family history; serum-free hemoglobin; stroma-free hemoglobin |
| AAFP | American Academy of Family Physicians; American Academy of Family Practice |
| bands of colon | teniae coli |
|---|---|
| cancer, colon | A malignant tumour arising from the inner wall of the large intestine. The third leading cause of cancer in males, fourth in females in the U.S. Risk factors for cancer of the colon and rectum (colorectal cancer) include heredity, colon polyps, and long standing ulcerative colitis. most colorectal cancers develop from polyps. Removal of colon polyps can prevent colorectal cancer. Colon polyps and early cancer can have no symptoms. Therefore, regular screening is important. Diagnosis can be made by barium enema or by colonoscopy with biopsy confirmation of cancer tissue. Surgery is the most common treatment for colorectal cancer. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cancer, colon: screening and surveillance | Colon cancer is both preventable and curable. It is preventable by removing precancerous colon polyps. It is curable if early cancer is surgically removed before cancer spread to other parts of the body. Therefore, if screening and surveillance programs were practiced universally, there would be a major reduction in the incidence and mortality of colon cancer. (12 Dec 1998) |
| marginal artery of colon | Artery formed by anastomoses between the right and left colic artery's; it passes downward from the left colic flexure to the aboral end of the pelvic colon. Synonym: artery of Drummond, Riolan's arc. (05 Mar 2000) |
| giant colon | An abnormally large or dilated colon, the condition may be congenital or acquired, acute or chronic. (18 Nov 1997) |
| mesentery of sigmoid colon | See: mesocolon. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mesentery of transverse colon | See: mesocolon. (05 Mar 2000) |
| colon | <anatomy> Also called the large intestine. This structure has 6 major divisions: caecum, ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, sigmoid colon and rectum. The total length is approximately 5 feet in the adult and it is responsible for forming, storing and expelling waste matter. (27 Sep 1997) |
| colon ascendens | <anatomy> The first part of the colon (large intestine) that starts in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen and ends at the transverse colon in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. (27 Sep 1997) |
| colon bacillus | <bacteria> The archetypal bacterium for biochemists, used very extensively in experimental work. A rod shaped gram-negative bacillus (0.5 x 3-5 m) abundant in the large intestine (colon) of mammals. Abbreviation: E. Coli (18 Nov 1997) |
| colon cancer | <oncology> A malignancy that arises from the lining of either the colon or the rectum. Cancers of the large intestine are the second most common form of cancer found in males and females. Symptoms include rectal bleeding, occult blood in stools, bowel obstruction and weight loss. Treatment is based largely on the extent of cancer penetration into the intestinal wall. Surgical cures are possible if the malignancy is confined to the intestine. Risk can be reduced when following a diet which is low in fat and high in fibre. (27 Sep 1997) |
| colon carcinoma | <radiology> Risk factors: colonic adenoma, 93% of colorectal CA arises from adenomatous polyps, 5% of adenomas 5mm in size develop into carcinoma, family history and polyposis syndromes, chronic ulcerative colitis, prominent lymphoid follicular pattern, history of endometrial and breast carcinoma, metastasis: liver (25%); retroperitoneal/mesenteric nodes (15%); hydronephrosis (13%); adrenal (10%); ovary; psoas muscle; ascites, risk of: 1% for synchronous colon carcinoma, 3% for metachronous colon CA, 3.8% for extracolonic malignancy, Dukes A: bowel wall; B: serosa/mesentery; C: lymph nodes; D: metastasis (12 Dec 1998) |
| colon cutoff sign | Radiographic sign of (usually) inflammatory disease preventing distention of the distal transverse colon. (05 Mar 2000) |
| colon descendens | The fourth portion of the large intestine (colon) that communicates with the transverse colon in the left-upper quadrant of the abdomen and the rectum below. (27 Sep 1997) |
| colon obstruction | <radiology> Primary colon carcinoma (70%), diverticulitis (spasm, scarring), volvulus (caecal, sigmoid), inflammatory stricture (IBD, etc.), extrinsic lesion (hernia, neoplasm), faecal impaction, intussusception, Hirschsprung disease, imperforate anus, meconium plug, adhesions, retractile mesenteritis Note: left colon more common, more subacute than SBO (12 Dec 1998) |