| acute abdomen | Any serious acute intra-abdominal condition (such as appendicitis) attended by pain, tenderness, and muscular rigidity, and for which emergency surgery must be considered. Synonym: surgical abdomen. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| acute abscess | A recently formed abscess with little or no fibrosis in the wall of the cavity. Synonym: hot abscess. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute adrenal crisis | <endocrinology> An abrupt life-threatening state which is caused by insufficient production of cortisol by the adrenal gland. A typical finding in Addison's disease. Individuals who have been taking corticosteroids (glucocorticoids) for a prolonged period of time (weeks to months) are at risk for acute adrenal crisis if the medication is stopped abruptly. For this reason, corticosteroid medication are withdrawn slowly on a diminishing dosing schedule. Symptoms include low blood pressure (shock), weakness, headache, vomiting, fever chills, tachycardia and sweating. Treatment includes blood pressure support and intravenous hydrocortisone. (27 Sep 1997) |
| acute adrenocortical insufficiency | Severe adrenocortical insufficiency when an intercurrent illness or trauma causes an increased demand for adrenocortical hormones in a patient with adrenal insufficiency due to disease or use of relatively large amounts of similar hormones as therapy; characterised by nausea, vomiting, hypotension, and frequently hyperthemia, hyponatraemia, hyperkalaemia, and hypoglycaemia; can be fatal if untreated. Synonym: addisonian crisis, adrenal crisis, Bernard-Sergent syndrome. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute African sleeping sickness | A disease of humans caused by Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in eastern Africa from Ethiopia and Uganda south to Zimbabwe; it is clinically similar to Gambian trypanosomiasis but of shorter duration and more acute in form; patients suffer repeated episodes of pyrexia, become anaemic, and die commonly from cardiac failure. Synonym: acute African sleeping sickness, acute trypanosomiasis, East African sleeping sickness, East African trypanosomiasis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute alcoholism | A temporary deterioration in mental function, accompanied by muscular incoordination and paresis, induced by the rapid ingestion of alcoholic beverages. Synonym: intoxication. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute angle | Any angle less than 90 |
| acute angle closure glaucoma | <ophthalmology> An increase in pressure within the anterior chamber of the eye. There are two forms of glaucoma: acute angle closure and open angle glaucoma. (27 Sep 1997) |
| acute anterior poliomyelitis | Inflammation of the anterior cornua of the spinal cord; an acute infectious disease caused by the poliomyelitis virus and marked by fever, pains, and gastroenteric disturbances, followed by a flaccid paralysis of one or more muscular groups, and later by atrophy. Synonym: acute atrophic paralysis, myogenic paralysis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute aortic dissection | <cardiology> A condition in which a weakened portion of the thoracic aorta begins to tear along the longitudinal axis of the vessel. Symptoms include sudden, severe chest pain that may radiate to the back accompanied by nausea, sweating and difficulty breathing. A common risk factor for this event is atherosclerotic vascular disease and-or hypertension. Advanced cases of syphilis (syphilitic aortitis) can also result in acute thoracic dissection as a complication of infection with Treponema pallidum. (27 Sep 1997) |
| acute appendicitis | Acute inflammation of the appendix, usually due to bacterial infection, which may be precipitated by obstruction of the lumen by a fecalith; symptoms of periumbilical colicky pain and vomiting are followed by fever, leukocytosis, persistent pain, and signs of peritoneal inflammation in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen; perforation or abscess formation is a frequent complication. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute ascending paralysis | A paralysis of rapid course beginning in the legs and involving progressively the trunk, arms, and neck, ending sometimes in death in from one to three weeks. Synonym: ascending paralysis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute ataxia | Generalised ataxia of abrupt onset, most often caused by drug intoxications, poisonings, or vestibular neuronitis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute atrophic paralysis | Inflammation of the anterior cornua of the spinal cord; an acute infectious disease caused by the poliomyelitis virus and marked by fever, pains, and gastroenteric disturbances, followed by a flaccid paralysis of one or more muscular groups, and later by atrophy. Synonym: acute atrophic paralysis, myogenic paralysis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acute bacterial endocarditis | A type of bacterial endocarditis caused by pyogenic organisms such as haemolytic streptococci or staphylococci. (05 Mar 2000) |