Copy of `Dorland's Medical Dictionary`

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Dorland's Medical Dictionary Category: Health and Medicine > Medical Dictionary Date & country: 31/12/2010, USA Words: 39128

cochleopupillary reflex
a reaction of the iris (contraction of the pupil followed by dilatation) to a loud sound.

cochleostapedial reflex
acoustic reflex.

cochleotopic
(kok″le-o-top´ik) relating to the organization of the auditory pathways and auditory area of the brain.

cochleovestibular
(kok″le-o-ves-tib´u-lәr) pertaining to the cochlea and vestibule of the ear.

Cochliomyia
(kok″le-o-mi´yә) a genus of flies, including C. hominivo´rax (the screw-worm fly), which deposits its eggs on wounds; after hatching, the larvae burrow into the wound and feed on living tissue.

Cockayne syndrome
(CS) (kok-ān´) a rare, pleiotropic, autosomal recessive disorder characterized by a variety of cutaneous, neurologic, and somatic abnormalities that vary in severity, including growth failure; delayed psychomotor development, progressive hearing loss, and other neurologic manifestations...

coconsciousness
(ko-kon´shәs-nis) a secondary consciousness coexisting with the main stream of consciousness. the edge of consciousness.

coconut oil
the fixed oil obtained by expression or extraction from the kernels of seeds of Cocos nucifera; used as an ointment base and edible oil.

cod liver oil
partially destearinated, fixed oil from fresh livers of Gadus morrhua and other fish of the family Gadidae; used as a source of vitamins A and D.

code
(kōd) a set of rules governing one's conduct. a system by which information can be communicated.

codeine
(ko´dēn) an alkaloid obtained from opium or morphine, used as the base or as the phosphate or sulfate salt as an opioid analgesic, antitussive, and antidiarrheal.

codependence
(ko″dә-pen´dәns) codependency (ko″dә-pen´dәn-se) a condition in which one person supports, either overtly or inadvertently, the addictive (or otherwise self-destructive) behavior of another. Some authorities have attempted to characterize a codependent personality type...

Codman sign
in rupture of the supraspinatus tendon, the upper limb can be passively abducted without pain, but when support for it is removed and the deltoid muscle contracts suddenly, pain occurs again.

Codman triangle
a triangular area visible radiographically where the periosteum, elevated by a bone tumor, rejoins the cortex of normal bone.

Codman tumor
chondroblastoma.

codominance
(ko-dom´ĭ-nәns) the full phenotypic expression in a heterozygote of both alleles of a pair, with each contributing to the phenotype, as in a person with blood group AB. adj., codom´inant, adj. .

codominant allele
one of two or more alleles at a locus that are each fully expressed in a heterozygote and thus each contribute to the phenotype.

codominant gene
codominant allele.

codon
(ko´don) a set of three adjacent bases on an mRNA that specifies an amino acid to be added to the growing polypeptide chain, or directs chain initiation or termination.

Coe virus
former name for coxsackievirus A21.

coefficient
(ko″ә-fish´әnt) an expression of the change or effect produced by the variation in certain variables, or of the ratio between two different quantities. in chemistry, a number or figure put before a chemical formula to indicate how many times the formula is to be multiplied.

coefficient of digestibility
the proportion of a food that is digested compared to what is absorbed, expressed as a percentage.

Coelenterata
(se-len″tәr-a´tә) former name for a phylum of marine invertebrates now assigned to the phylum Cnidaria.

coelenterate
(se-len´tәr-āt) pertaining or belonging to the phylum Cnidaria (Coelenterata). an individual member of the phylum Cnidaria.

coelom
(se´lәm) body cavity, especially the cavity in the mammalian embryo between the somatopleure and splanchnopleure, which is both intra- and extraembryonic; it develops into the pleural, peritoneal, and pericardial cavities. adj., coelom´ic., adj.

coelozoic
(se″lo-zo´ik) inhabiting the intestinal canal of the body; said of parasites.

coenzyme
(ko-en´zīm) an organic molecule, usually containing phosphorus and some vitamins, sometimes separable from the enzyme protein; a coenzyme and an apoenzyme must unite in order to function (as a holoenzyme). coenzyme A(CoA) a coenzyme essential for carbohydrate and fa...

coeur
(kur) French word meaning heart. coeur en sabot (ah să-bo´) a heart whose shape on a radiograph vaguely resembles that of a wooden shoe; noted in tetralogy of Fallot.

cofactor
(ko´fak-tәr) an element or principle (such as a coenzyme) with which another must unite in order to function. heparin cofactor II a member of the serpin group that inhibits thrombin.

Coffin-Lowry syndrome
(kof´in lou´re) a condition with onset in the postnatal period characterized by incapability of speech, severe mental deficiency, and muscle, ligament, and skeletal abnormalities; it is transmitted with X-linked intermediate inheritance.

Coffin-Siris syndrome
(kof´in sir´is) hypoplasia or absence of the nails of the fifth fingers and toes associated with growth and mental deficiencies, coarse facies, mild microcephaly, hypotonia, lax joints, mild hirsutism, and occasionally cardiac, vertebral, or gastrointestinal anomalies.

Cogan syndrome
(ko´gәn) nonsyphilitic interstitial keratitis with tinnitus and deafness; it usually occurs in children, often associated with polyarteritis nodosa.

cogener
(ko´jә-nәr) congener.

Cogentin
(ko-jen´tin) trademark for preparations of benztropine mesylate, an antidyskinetic.

cognition
(kog-nish´әn) the act or process of knowing, perceiving, or remembering. adj., cog´nitive., adj.

cognitive development
the development of intelligence, conscious thought, and problem-solving ability that begins in infancy.

cognitive dissonance
anxiety or similar unpleasant feelings resulting from a lack of agreement between a person's established ideas, beliefs, and attitudes and some more recently acquired information or experience.

cognitive therapy
cognitive-behavioral therapy a directive form of psychotherapy based on the theory that emotional problems result from distorted attitudes and ways of thinking that can be corrected. Using techniques drawn in part from behavior therapy, the therapist actively seeks to guide the patient in altering or revising negative or e...

cogwheel phenomenon
cogwheel rigiditycogwheel sign tension in a muscle that gives way in little jerks when the muscle is passively stretched; seen in Parkinson disease.

cogwheel respiration
breathing with jerky inhalation.

cohesion
(ko-he´zhәn) the intermolecular attractive force causing various particles of a single material to unite. adj., cohe´sive., adj.

Cohn test
a test for color perception by the use of variously colored embroidery patterns.

Cohnheim's theory
tumors develop from embryonic rests that do not participate in the formation of normal surrounding tissue.

cohort
(ko´hort) in research and statistics, a group of individuals who share a characteristic at some specific time and who are then followed forward in time, with data being collected at one or more suitable intervals. The most common use of the term is to describe a birth cohort, in which all the group members are bor...

cohort life table
a life table giving the survival data of a cohort of individuals in a clinical study or trial, i.e., the number alive and under observation (not lost to follow-up) at the beginning of each year, the number dying in each year, the number lost to follow-up each year, the conditional probability of survival for each year, an...

cohort study
prospective study.

coil
(koil) a winding structure. See also helix and spiral.

coiled bodies
Cajal bodies.

coiled position
the patient lies on one side with hips and knees flexed and thighs drawn up to the body.

coiled spring sign
a concentric ring pattern of the mucosa of the intestine, seen on barium enema examination in a variety of diseases, including posttraumatic hematoma of the duodenum, acute appendicitis, intussusception of the appendix, mucocele, endometriosis of the appendix, and carcinoma.

coinfection
(ko´in-fek″shәn) simultaneous infection by separate pathogens, as by hepatitis B and hepatitis D viruses.

coinosite
(koi´no-sīt) a free commensal organism.

coition
(ko-ish´әn) coitus.

coitophobia
(ko″ĭ-to-fo´be-ә) irrational fear of coitus.

coitus
(ko´ĭ-tәs) sexual union by vagina between male and female; usually applied to the mating process in human beings. adj., co´ital., adj. coitus incompletus , coitus interruptus coitus in which the penis is withdrawn from the vagina before ejaculation, a ...

Cokeromyces
(ko″kә-ro-mi´sēz) a genus of fungi. C. recurva´tus is occasionally found in cases of mucormycosis and cystitis.

colation
(ko-la´shәn) the separation of solid particles from a liquid, by filtration or straining. the product of such a process.

Colcemid
(kol´sĕ-mid) trademark for a preparation of demecolcine, a cytotoxic alkaloid used in chromosome analysis.

colchicine
(kol´chĭ-sēn) an alkaloid from Colchicum autumnale (meadow saffron), used in treatment of gout, including for termination of an attack of acute gout. Side effects include gastrointestinal symptoms and hypotension.

colchicine test
see Zeisel test.

cold
(kōld) common cold. a relatively low temperature; the lack of heat. A total absence of heat is absolute zero, at which all molecular motion ceases. See also hypothermia and frostbite. low in physiological activity. low in radioactivity.

cold abscess
one of slow development and with little inflammation, usually tuberculous.

cold agglutinin
antibody that agglutinates erythrocytes or bacteria more efficiently at temperatures below 37° C than at 37° C.

cold agglutinin pneumonia
primary atypical pneumonia.

cold agglutinin syndrome
the presence of circulating cold agglutinins, usually immunoglobulin M, which are directed against antigens on red blood cells. The primary symptoms are breakdown of red blood cells in the blood vessels of exposed limbs and mild hemolytic anemia due to complement fixation when the limb is exposed to cold. Chronic cold agglutini...

cold allergy
any condition in which signs and symptoms of allergy are produced by exposure to cold, such as cold urticaria.

cold erythema
a congenital hypersensitivity to cold seen in children, characterized by localized pain, widespread erythema, occasional muscle spasms, and vascular collapse on exposure to cold, and vomiting after drinking cold liquids.

cold ischemia time
the time between the placement of a traumatically amputated body part in ice and the time of surgical replantation.

cold pressor reflex
immersion of the hand in ice water for several minutes causes vasoconstriction, tachycardia, and transient hypertension due to activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

cold pressor test
immersion of one hand in ice water for several minutes, causing vasoconstriction, tachycardia, and transient hypertension; it is used as an alternative stress test for detection of coronary artery disease in patients incapable of undergoing an exercise stress test and as a test of vasomotor function.

cold spot
see temperature spots.

cold urticaria
a type of physical urticaria precipitated by cold air, water, or objects, with wheals appearing on cold-exposed areas when they have been rewarmed. There are two types: The more common acquired form is usually self-limited, occurs most often in young adults, and has an unknown etiology. The familial form is much rarer, is inher...

Cole sign
deformity of the duodenal contour as seen in the radiograph, a sign of the presence of duodenal ulcer.

colectomy
(ko-lek´tә-me) excision of the colon or of a portion of it.

colesevelam
(ko″lә-sev´ә-lam) a polymer that binds bile acids in the intestine and prevents them from being reabsorbed, resulting in decreased serum levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), and apolipoprotein B and increased levels of HDL cholesterol (HDL-C); administered orally as the hydrochloride salt as...

Colestid
(ko-les´tid) trademark for a preparation of colestipol, used in treatment of primary hypercholesterolemia.

colestipol
(ko-les´tĭ-pol) an anion exchange resin used as adjunctive therapy to diet for the reduction of elevated serum cholesterol in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia.

colfosceril
(kol-fos´ә-ril) a synthetic pulmonary surfactant used as the palmitate ester in combination with tyloxapol and an alcohol in prophylaxis and treatment of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome; instilled into the endotracheal tube for intratracheal administration.

colibacillosis
(ko″lĭ-bas-ĭ-lo´sis) infection with Escherichia coli.

colibacilluria
(ko″lĭ-bas″ĭl-u´re-ә) bacteriuria with Escherichia coli in the urine; called also coliuria.

colibacillus
(ko″lĭ-bә-sil´әs) Escherichia coli.

colic
(kol´ik) acute paroxysmal abdominal pain. Infantile colic is a type particularly common during the first three months of life; the infant has paroxysmal, unexplained crying and may pull up arms and legs, become red-faced, and expel gas from the anus or belch it up from the stomach. The exact cause is not known but...

colicky
(kol´ik-e) pertaining to or affected by colic.

coliform
(ko´lĭ-form) pertaining to fermentative gram-negative enteric bacilli, sometimes restricted to those fermenting lactose, which are the genera Citrobacter, Enterobacter,Escherichia, and Klebsiella.

coliform bacilli
gram-negative bacilli found in the intestinal tract that resemble Escherichia coli, particularly in the fermentation of lactose with gas.

coliform bacterium
one of the gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria that are normal inhabitants of the intestinal tract of humans and animals.

colistimethate
(ko-lis″tĭ-meth´āt) an antibiotic that is a colistin derivative; the sodium salt is used in treatment of infections.

colistin
(ko-lis´tin) an antibiotic produced by Bacillus polymyxa var. colistinus, or the same substance produced by other means; it is related chemically to polymyxin, and used in treatment of infections.

colitis
(ko-li´tis) inflammation of the colon; there are many types, with a variety of causes. One of the most common types is ulcerative colitis. Other types can be traced to factors such as bacterial or viral infections, drugs such as antibiotics, and radiation from x-rays or other sources.

colitoxicosis
(ko″lĭ-tok″sĭ-ko´sis) toxemia caused by Escherichia coli.

colitoxin
(ko´lĭ-tok″sin) a toxin from Escherichia coli.

coliuria
(ko″lĭ-u´re-ә) coliuria.

collagen
(kol´ә-jәn) any of a family of extracellular, closely related proteins occurring as a major component of connective tissue, giving it strength and flexibility. Numerous types exist, each composed of tropocollagen units that share a common triple-helical shape but that vary somewhat in composition between types, wi...

collagen disease
any of a group of diseases that, although clinically distinct, have in common widespread pathologic changes in the connective tissue. They include lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, scleroderma, polyarteritis nodosa, rheumatic fever, and rheumatoid arthritis.

collagen disorder
any inborn error of metabolism involving abnormal structure or metabolism of collagen; the term includes Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Marfan syndrome, cutis laxa, osteogenesis imperfecta, and epidermolysis bullosa. Collagen disorder is not to be confused with collagen disease.

collagen fibers
collagenous fibers the soft, flexible, white fibers that are the most characteristic constituent of all types of connective tissue, consisting of the protein collagen, and composed of bundles of fibrils that are in turn made up of smaller unit fibrils that show a characteristic crossbanding. Type...

collagen suture
a suture made from the tendons of cattle, chemically treated, purified, and processed into strands; it is most often used in ophthalmologic surgery.

collagenase
(kә-laj´ә-nās) an enzyme that catalyzes the degradation of collagen.

collagenation
(kә-laj″ә-na´shәn) the appearance of collagen in developing cartilage.

collagenic
(kol″ә-jen´ik) producing collagen. pertaining to collagen.