P
Palliative
Palliative means "relief of symptoms." Most often, palliation
is the relief of pain.
Pallor
Unnatural lack of color in the skin (as from bruising or sickness
or emotional distress)
Pancytopenia
An abnormal deficiency in all blood cells (red blood cells and
white blood cells and platelets); usually associated with bone
marrow tumor or with aplastic anemia
Panniculitis
Inflammation of subcutaneous fat.
Papilla
(pl. papillae)
A hump or swelling.
Parenchyma
The essential elements of an organ, used in anatomical nomenclature
as a general term to designate the functional elements of an organ,
as distinguished from its framework or stroma.
Parietal
Peritoneum
The peritoneum is a thin membrane that lines the abdominal and
pelvic cavities, and covers most abdominal viscera. It is composed
of layer of mesthelium supported by a thin layer of connective
tissue. Parietal peritoneum is that portion that lines the abdominal
and pelvic cavities.
Pathogen
A specific causative agent (such as a bacterium or virus) of disease.
Patency
The state of being freely open or exposed.
Perichondrium
The smooth serous membrane which lines the cavity of the abdomen,
or the whole body cavity when there is no diaphragm, and, turning
back, surrounds the viscera, forming a closed, or nearly closed,
sac.
Peritoneum
The smooth serous membrane which lines the cavity of the abdomen,
or the whole body cavity when there is no diaphragm, and, turning
back, surrounds the viscera, forming a closed, or nearly closed,
sac.
Petechiae
Pin-head-sized sites of bleeding in the skin. This type of bleeding
results from a very low platelet count. The small punctate hemorrhages
are frequently seen on the legs, feet, trunk and arms. They evolve
from red to brown and are eventually disappear. They stop developing
when the platelet count increases.
Peyer's
patch
These are quite large aggregates of lymphoid tissue found in the
small intestine, part of the lymphatic system which help to fight
infection.
pH
A measure of acidity and alkalinity of a solution. The measure
is a number on a scale on which a value of 7 represents neutrality
and lower numbers indicate increasing acidity and higher numbers
increasing alkalinity. On the scale, each unit of change represents
a tenfold change in acidity or alkalinity.
Pheochromocytoma
A tumor that is derived from chromaffin cells and is usually associated
with paroxysmal or sustained hypertension.
Phenotype
A set of observable physical characteristics of an individual
organism. A single characteristic can be referred to as a "trait,"
although a single trait is sometimes also called a phenotype.
For example, blond hair could be called a trait or a phenotype,
as could obesity. A phenotype can be the result of many factors,
including an individual's genotype, environment, and lifestyle,
and the interactions among these factors. The observed manifestation
of a genotype, a phenotype may be expressed physically, biochemically,
or physiologically.
Philadelphia chromosome
Characteristic chromosomal abnormality in which a portion of chromosome
22 is translocated to chromosome 9. This abnormality is found
in nearly all cases of chronic myeloid leukaemia and some cases
of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Placenta
The vascular organ in mammals, except monotremes and marsupials,
that unites the fetus to the maternal uterus and mediates its
metabolic exchanges through a more or less intimate association
of uterine mucosal with chorionic and usually allantoic tissues.
Plasma
The fluid part of blood, lymph, or milk as distinguished from
suspended material.
Plasmacytoma
Any discrete, presumably solitary, mass of neoplastic plasma cells
either in bone marrow or various extramedullary sites.
Platelets
A particle found in the bloodstream that binds at the site
of a wound to begin the blood clotting process. Platelets are
formed in bone marrow.
Pleura
The delicate serous membrane that lines each half of the thorax
of mammals and is folded back over the surface of the lung of
the same side.
Pleural
Effusion
A collection of fluid (or blood) in the pleural space (in one
side of the chest cavity around the lung). May be secondary to
trauma, cancer, nephrotic syndrome, kidney disease, pancreatitis,
congestive heart failure and cirrhosis.
Plicae
circulares
Plicae circulares are macroscopically visible, crescent-shaped
folds of the mucosa and submucosa. Plicae circulares extend around
one-half to two-thirds of the circumference of the lumen of the
small intestine.
Polypectomy
Excision of a polyp.
Primary
Site
The anatomic site where the original tumor is located. Primary
cancer is usually named after the organ in which it starts. For
example, cancer that starts in the breast is always breast cancer
even if it spreads (metastasizes) to other organs such as bones
or lungs.
Process
Any marked prominence or projecting part.
Progesterone
A female steroid sex hormone C21 H30
O2 that is secreted by the corpus luteum
to prepare the endometrium for implantation and later by the placenta
during pregnancy to prevent rejection of the developing embryo
or fetus.
Prognosis
The patient's potential clinical outlook based on the status and
probable course of his disease.
Prolactin
Prolactin is produced from the anterior pituitary gland, it's
found in the serum of normal females and males. Prolactin's principal
physiological action is to initiate and sustain lactation.
Proliferation
The reproduction or multiplication of similar forms, especially
of cells and morbid cysts.
Proptosis
Forward displacement (bulging) of an organ, typically the eyeball(s).
Protein
Any of numerous naturally occurring extremely complex substances
that consist of amino-acid residues joined by peptide bonds, contain
the elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, usually sulfur,
and occasionally other elements (as phosphorus or iron), and include
many essential biological compounds (as enzymes, hormones, or
immunoglobulins).
Proton
A proton is a subatomic particle found in the nucleus of every
atom. The particle has a positive electrical charge, equal and
opposite to that of the electron.
Puberty
The condition of being or the period of becoming first capable
of reproducing sexually marked by maturing of the genital organs,
development of secondary sex characteristics, and in the human
and in higher primates by the first occurrence of menstruation
in the female.
Puerperium
The period between childbirth and the return of the uterus to
its normal size.
Purpura
Hemorrhage under a surface that is about 1.0 cm. in diameter.
Pyelogram
X-ray study of the kidney especially showing the pelvis (urine-collecting
basin) of the kidney and the ureter.
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