| ACU | acquired cold urticaria; acute care unit; agar colony-forming unit; ambulatory care unit |
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| AHCA | Agency for Health Care Administration; American Health Care Association |
| CCRC | comprehensive care retirement community; continuing care retirement community |
| EC | effective concentration; ejection click; electrochemical; electron capture; embryonal carcinoma; eme... |
| ECC | electrocorticogram, electrocorticography; electronic claim capture; embryonal cell carcinoma; emerge... |
| primary aldosteronism | An adrenocortical disorder caused by excessive secretion of aldosterone and characterised by headaches, nocturia, polyuria, fatigue, hypertension, potassium depletion, hypokalaemic alkalosis, hypervolaemia, and decreased plasma renin activity; may be associated with small benign adrenocortical adenomas. Synonym: Conn's syndrome, idiopathic aldosteronism. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| primary amenorrhoea | Amenorrhoea in which the menses have never occurred. (05 Mar 2000) |
| primary amoebic meningoencephalitis | An invasive, rapidly fatal cerebral infection by soil amoebae, chiefly Naegleria fowleri, found in man and other primates and experimentally in rodents; the disease is characterised by a high fever, neck rigidity, and symptoms associated with upper respiratory infection such as cough and nausea; although organisms have been cultured from various organs, the brain is the primary focus, especially the olfactory lobes and cerebral cortex, which are first attacked by the amoebae that enter from nasal mucosa through the cribriform plate; death usually occurs two to three days after onset of symptoms. (05 Mar 2000) |
| primary amputation | An amputation formerly performed during the period between trauma or incipient gangrene and suppuration. Synonym: intrapyretic amputation, primary amputation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| primary amyloidosis | <immunology, nephrology> A disease which is characterised by the deposition of the fibrous protein amyloid in one or more locations within the body. Amyloid deposition may occur in the kidney, brain, liver, heart, skin and lungs. A recognised complication is a restrictive cardiomyopathy. (05 Mar 1998) |
| primary anaesthetic | The compound that contributes most to loss of sensation when a mixture of anaesthetics is administered. (05 Mar 2000) |
| primary antibody response | <immunology> Antibodies made upon first exposure to an antigen, mostly of the class IgM. (05 Mar 1998) |
| primary atelectasis | <chest medicine, paediatrics> A nonexpansion of the lungs after birth is known as primary atelectasis. Secondary atelectasis can occur at any age but is common in infants due to hyaline membrane disease. This form may also be seen in patients after surgery (general anaesthesia). See: atelectasis. (05 Mar 1998) |
| primary atypical pneumonia | An acute systemic disease with involvement of the lungs, caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae and marked by high fever, cough, relatively few physical signs, and scattered densities on X-rays; usually associated with development of cold agglutinins and antibodies to the bacteria. Synonym: atypical pneumonia, Eaton agent pneumonia, mycoplasmal pneumonia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| primary biliary cirrhosis | <gastroenterology> A rare form of liver disease which results in the irreversible destruction of the liver and bile ducts. The cause is unknown, but is thought to be an autoimmune mechanism. (06 Mar 1998) |
| primary brain tumour | <neurology, oncology> May be subdivided into primary brain tumours and the more common, secondary brain tumours. Primary brain tumours (for example astrocytoma, craniopharyngioma, glioma, ependymoma, neuroglioma, oligodendroglioma, glioblastoma multiforme, meningioma, medulloblastoma) arise from the uncontrolled proliferation of cells within the brain. Secondary brain tumours occur from the spread of cancer into the brain from a distant cancerous organ (metastasis). Common symptoms of a brain tumour include headache, nausea, vomiting, seizures, change in mentation, neurologic symptoms and loss of memory. (06 Mar 1998) |
| primary brain vesicle | Each of the three divisions of the early embryonic brain (prosencephalon, mesencephalon, and rhombencephalon). Synonym: encephalic vesicle, primary brain vesicle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| primary bronchus | The main bronchus arising at the tracheal bifurcation and extending into the developing lung of the embryo. (05 Mar 2000) |
| primary butyl alcohol | Propylcarbinol, CH3CH2CH2CH2OH, the butyl alcohol of fermentation; isobutyl alcohol, isopropylcarbinol, 2-methyl-1-propanol, (CH3)2CHCH2OH; narcotic in high concentrations, secondary butyl alcohol, ethylmethylcarbinol, 2-butanol, CH3CH2CH(CH3)OH; and (05 Mar 2000) |
| primary carcinoma | <tumour> Carcinoma at the site of origin, with local invasion in that organ. (05 Mar 2000) |