| RBC | red blood cell; red blood corpuscle; red blood count |
|---|---|
| WBC | well baby care/clinic; white blood cell; white blood cell count; whole blood cell count |
| CFDU | color-flow Doppler ultrasonography; color flow Doppler ultrasound |
| FEF50/FIF50 | ratio of expiratory flow to inspiratory flow at 50% of forced vital capacity |
| FMF | familial Mediterranean fever; fetal movement felt; flow microfluorometry; forced midexpiratory flow |
| end-systolic volume | The amount of blood in the ventricle at the end of the cardiac ejection period and immediately preceding the beginning of ventricular relaxation; a measurement of the adequacy of cardiac emptying, related to systolic function. (05 Mar 2000) |
|---|---|
| erythrocyte volume | Volume of circulating erythrocytes. It is usually measured by radioisotope dilution technique. (12 Dec 1998) |
| expiratory reserve volume | The extra volume of air that can be expired with maximum effort beyond the level reached at the end of a normal, quiet expiration. Common abbreviation is erv. (12 Dec 1998) |
| extracellular fluid volume | The fraction of body wate rnot in cells; about 25% of body weight. It consists of plasma water (4.5% of body weight), water between cells (interstitial water-lymph, 11.5% of body weight), water in dense bone and connective tissue (7.5% of body weight) and water secretions.See transcellular water, about 1.5% of body weight.. (05 Mar 2000) |
| foliage volume | <botany> The space, expressed in cubic metres, occupied by a tree. (12 Nov 1997) |
| forced expiratory volume | Measure of the maximum amount of air during a forced vital capacity determination that can be expelled in a given number of seconds. It is usually given as fev followed by a subscript indicating the number of seconds over which the measurement is made, although it is sometimes given as a percentage of forced vital capacity. (12 Dec 1998) |
| left ventricular volume overload | <radiology> VSD, patent ductus arteriosus, mitral incompetence, aortic incompetence (12 Dec 1998) |
| lung volume measurements | Measurement of the amount of air that the lungs may contain at various points in the respiratory cycle. (12 Dec 1998) |
| ABO blood group | <haematology> The major human blood type system which describes the oligosaccharide glycoprotein antigens found on the surface of human blood cells. According to the type of antigen present, a person may be assigned a blood type of A, B, AB or O. A second type of antigen, the Rh factor, renders a positive or negative blood type. The ABO blood group system is important because it determines who can donate blood to or accept blood from whom. Type A or AB blood will cause an immune reaction in people with type B blood and type B and AB blood will cause a reaction in people with type A blood. Conversely, type O blood has no A or B antigens, so people with type O blood are universal donors. And since AB blood already produces both antigens, people who are type AB can accept any of the other blood types without suffering an immune reaction. (04 Jul 1999) |
| Almen's test for blood | Glacial acetic acid, gum guaiac solution, and hydrogen peroxide are added to an aqueous suspension of the suspected stain; if occult blood or blood pigment is present, a blue colour develops. Synonym: guaiac test, Schonbein's test, van Deen's test. (05 Mar 2000) |
| arterial blood | Blood that is oxygenated in the lungs, found in the left chambers of the heart and in the arteries, and relatively bright red. (05 Mar 2000) |
| arterial blood gas | A test which analyses arterial blood for oxygen, carbon dioxide and bicarbonate content in addition to blood pH. Used to test the effectiveness of respiration. Acronym: ABG (17 Oct 1997) |
| blood | <haematology> Considered a circulating tissue composed of a fluid portion (plasma) with suspended formed elements (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets). Arterial blood is the means by which oxygen and nutrients are transported to tissues, venous blood is the means by which carbon dioxide and metabolic by-products are transported for excretion. (05 Jan 1998) |
| blood agar | <cell culture> An agar-based medium which hasbeen enriched with sterilised, defibinated blood (sheep, rabbit or horse). It is used for primary plating andsubculturing, especially to determine bacterial haemolysis. (09 Oct 1997) |
| blood-air barrier | The barrier between capillary blood and alveolar air comprising the alveolar epithelium and capillary endothelium with their adherent basement membranes and epithelial cell cytoplasm. Gaseous exchange occurs across this membrane. (12 Dec 1998) |