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


deep femoral artery
origin, femoral artery; branches, medial and lateral circumflex arteries of thigh, perforating arteries; distribution, thigh muscles, hip joint, gluteal muscles, femur.

deep femoral vein
a vein that follows the distribution of the deep femoral artery and opens into the femoral vein.

deep inguinal ring
an aperture in the transverse fascia for the spermatic cord or the round ligament. Called also abdominal ring and internal inguinal ring.

deep lingual artery
origin, lingual artery; branches, none; distribution, tongue.

deep lingual vein
a vein that drains blood from the deep aspect of the tongue and joins the sublingual vein to form the accompanying vein of hypoglossal nerve.

deep middle cerebral vein
the vein that accompanies the middle cerebral artery in the floor of the lateral cerebral sulcus, and joins the basal vein.

deep morphea
a type that involves the deep dermis, subcutaneous tissue, and sometimes underlying muscle and bone; the tissue collapses to form a hard plaque that may interfere with motility.

deep peroneal nerve
origin, a terminal branch of common peroneal nerve; branches and distribution, winds around the neck of the fibula and descends on the interosseous membrane to the front of the ankle; gives off muscular branches to tibialis anterior, extensor hallucis longus, extensor digitorum longus, and peroneus tertius muscles, and a small ...

deep petrosal nerve
origin, internal carotid plexus; distribution, joins greater petrosal nerve to form nerve of pterygoid canal, and supplies lacrimal, nasal, and palatine glands via pterygopalatine ganglion and its branches; modality, sympathetic.

deep plantar artery
origin, dorsalis pedis artery; branches, none; distribution, sole of foot to help form plantar arch.

deep reflex
one elicited by a sharp tap on the appropriate tendon or muscle to induce brief stretch of the muscle.

deep sensibility
the sensibility of deep tissue (such as muscles or tendons) to pressure, pain, and movement.

deep sleep
NREM sleep.

deep temporal nerves
number, usually two, anterior and posterior, with a third middle one often seen: origin, mandibular nerve; distribution, temporalis muscle; modality, motor.

deep temporal veins
veins that drain the deep portions of the temporalis muscle and empty into the pterygoid plexus.

deep transverse perineal muscle
origin, ramus of ischium; insertion, tendinous center of perineum; innervation, perineal nerve; action, fixes tendinous center of perineum.

deep trigonal muscle
the deep layer of trigonal muscles, which is continuous with the detrusor muscle of bladder.

deep veins of clitoris
small veins of the clitoris that drain into the vesical venous plexus.

deep veins of lower limb
veins that drain the lower limb, found accompanying arteries that have the same names, and interconnecting freely with the superficial veins; the principal ones are the femoral and popliteal veins.

deep veins of penis
veins that follow the distribution of the deep artery of the penis and empty into the dorsal vein of the penis.

deer fly fever
(dēr fli) tularemia.

DEF
decayed/extraction/filled; see DEF rate.

DEF rate
an expression of dental caries experienced in primary teeth, calculated by adding number of those requiring filling (D), decayed teeth requiring extraction (E), and those that have already been successfully filled (F); missing primary teeth are not included in the calculation.

defatted
(de-fat´әd) deprived of fat.

defecation
(def″ә-ka´shәn) the removal of impurities, such as chemically. elimination of wastes and undigested food from the rectum in the form of feces, made possible by a voluntary relaxation of the sphincter muscles around the outer part of the anus.

defecation reflex
rectal reflex.

defecography
(def″ә-kog´rә-fe) the recording, by videotape or high-speed radiographs, of defecation after barium has been instilled into the rectum; used in the evaluation of fecal incontinence.

defect
(de´fekt) an imperfection, failure, or absence. adj., defec´tive., adj.

defective virus
one that cannot be completely replicated or cannot form a protein coat; in some cases replication can proceed if missing gene functions are supplied by other (helper) viruses; see helper virus.

defeminization
(de-fem″ĭ-nĭ-za´shәn) loss of female sexual characteristics.

defense
(de-fens´) behavior directed to protection of the individual from injury. character defense any character trait, such as a mannerism, attitude, or affectation, that serves as a defense mechanism. insanity defense a legal concept that a person cannot be conv...

defense mechanism
in psychology, an unconscious mental process or coping pattern that lessens the anxiety associated with a situation or internal conflict and protects the person from mental discomfort. In the theory of psychoanalysis, the ego, following the reality principle, conforms to the demands of the outside world, but the id (repressed u...

defense reaction
a mental reaction that shuts out from consciousness ideas not acceptable to the ego. See also defense mechanism.

defensin
(de-fen´sin) any of a group of small antimicrobial proteins that occur in neutrophils and macrophages. They are active against fungi and bacteria. Defensins attach to the cell membrane and create pores through which the contents of the cell can escape.

defensive circle
the coexistence of two conditions which tend to have an antagonistic or inhibiting effect on each other.

deferens
(def´әr-enz) Latin word meaning carrying downward, used in anatomy. See deferent.

deferent
(def´әr-әnt) conducting or progressing away, as from a center or specific site of reference.

deferent duct
ductus deferens.

deferential
(def″әr-en´shәl) pertaining to the ductus deferens.

deferential artery
artery of ductus deferens.

deferentitis
(def″әr-әn-ti´tis) inflammation of the ductus deferens.

deferoxamine
(de″fәr-oks´ә-mēn) an iron-chelating agent isolated from Streptomyces pilosus, used as an antidote in iron poisoning.

deferred fracture
in the horse, one that does not separate at the time of injury because of the presence of powerful muscles or a strong covering of periosteum, but does separate when extra strain is put upon the injured part.

defervescence
(def″әr-ves´әns) abatement of fever. the period of abatement of fever.

defibrillation
(de-fib″rĭ-la´shәn) termination of atrial or ventricular fibrillation, usually by electric shock. Defibrillation by precordial shock is done by delivering a nonsynchronized direct current to the myocardium; this is an emergency procedure, used to stop life-threatening ventricular arrhythmia. The electric shoc...

defibrillation threshold
(DFT) the minimum amount of energy in joules that will consistently terminate ventricular fibrillation.

defibrillator
(de-fib″rĭ-la´tәr) an apparatus used to produce defibrillation by application of brief electroshock to the heart, directly or through electrodes placed on the chest wall. automatic external defibrillator(AED) a portable defibrillator designed to be...

defibrinated blood
whole blood from which fibrin has been separated during the clotting process.

defibrination
(de-fi″brĭ-na´shәn) the destruction or removal of fibrin, as from the blood.

defibrination syndrome
disseminated intravascular coagulation.

defibrinogenation
(de″fi-brin″ә-jә-na´shәn) induced removal of fibrin from the blood, as in fibrinolytic therapy.

deficiency
(de-fish´әn-se) a lack or shortage; a condition characterized by the presence of less than the normal or necessary supply or competence.

deficiency anemia
nutritional anemia.

deficiency disease
a condition due to dietary or metabolic deficiency, including all diseases caused by an insufficient supply of essential nutrients.

deficit
(def´ĭ-sit) a lack or deficiency. fluid volume deficit inadequate fluid volume in the body, which may be due to either dehydration or loss of water alone without change in sodium. See also hypovolemia oxygen deficit a lack of oxygen, as in hypoxia, ano...

definitive host
a host in which a parasite attains sexual maturity.

definitive zone of adrenal cortex
the smaller outer zone of the primordial adrenal cortex and that of the fetus and newborn, which develops into the two zones called the zona fasciculata and zona glomerulosa. See also fetal zone of adrenal cortex.

deflection
(de-flek´shәn) a turning aside. In the electrocardiogram, a deviation of the curve from the isoelectric baseline; that is, any wave or complex. H deflection , His bundle deflection the segment on an electrocardiogram that represents activation of the bundle of His. ...

defluvium
(de-floo´ve-әm) Latin word meaning a falling out, as of hair.

defluxion
(de-fluk´shәn) a sudden disappearance. a copious discharge, as of catarrh. a falling out, as of hair.

deformability
(de-form″ә-bil´ĭ-te) the ability of cells to change shape as they pass through narrow spaces, such as erythrocytes passing through the microvasculature.

deformation
(de″for-ma´shәn) deformity, especially an alteration in shape or structure. the process of adapting in shape or form. elastic deformation temporary elongation of tissue when a prolonged force has been applied. See also creep. plastic deformation&nb...

deformity
(dә-for´mĭ-te) distortion of any part or of the body in general. reduction deformity congenital absence of a portion or all of a body part, especially of the limbs.

degeneracy
(de-jen´әr-ә-se) the state of being degenerate. the process of degenerating.

degenerate
(de-jen´er-āt) to change from a higher to a lower form.

degenerate
(de-jen´er-әt) characterized by degeneration.

degeneration
(de-jen″әr-a´shәn) deterioration; change from a higher to a lower form, especially change of tissue to a less functionally active form. When there is chemical change of the tissue itself, it is true degeneration; when the change consists in the deposit of abnormal matter in the tissues, it is onl...

degenerative arthritis
degenerative joint disease osteoarthritis.

degenerative atrophy
the wasting of a part due to a degeneration of its cells.

degloving
(de-gluv´ing) intraoral surgical exposure of the bony mandibular chin; it can be performed in the posterior region if necessary.

deglutition
(deg″loo-tish´әn) swallowing.

deglutition apnea
a temporary arrest of the activity of the respiratory nerve center during an act of swallowing.

deglutition center
a nerve center in the medulla oblongata that controls swallowing.

deglutition pneumonia
aspiration pneumonia.

deglycerolize
(de-glis´әr-ol-īz) to remove the glycerol cryopreservative medium from frozen red blood cells and replace it with an isotonic solution for transfusion.

Degos disease
(dә-go´) malignant atrophic papulosis.

degradation
(deg″rә-da´shәn) conversion of a chemical compound to one less complex, as by splitting off one or more groups of atoms. See also lysis.

degree
(dә-gre´) a grade or rank within a series, especially a rank awarded to scholars by a college or university. a unit of measure of temperature. a unit of measure of arcs and angles, one degree being 1/360 of a circle. one of the ranks or stages in a progressive series. ...

degustation
(de″gәs-ta´shәn) the act or function of tasting.

dehiscence
(de·his·cence) (de-his´ins) a splitting open. wound dehiscence separation of the layers of a surgical wound.

dehydratase
(de·hy·dra·tase) (de-hi´drah-tās) a common name for a hydro-lyase.

dehydrate
(de·hy·drate) (de-hi´drāt) to remove water from (a compound, the body, etc.).

dehydrated alcohol
an extremely hygroscopic, transparent, colorless, volatile liquid used as a solvent and injected into nerves and ganglia for relief of pain. Called also absolute alcohol.

dehydration
(de·hy·dra·tion) (de″hi-dra´shun) removal of water from a substance. the condition that results from excessive loss of body water. hypernatremic dehydration a condition in which electrolyte losses are disproportionately smaller tha...

dehydration fever
inanition fever. fever due to loss of body water or inadequate fluid intake, sometimes occurring as a postoperative complication.

dehydrocholate test
(for the speed of blood circulation) sodium dehydrocholate solution is injected intravenously; the usual time elapsing until a bitter taste in the mouth occurs is between 10 and 14 seconds.

dehydroepiandrosterone
(de·hy·dro·epi·an·dros·ter·one) (DHEA) (-ep″e-an-dros´ter-ōn) a steroid secreted by the adrenal cortex, the major androgen precursor in females; often present in excessive amounts in patients with adrenal virilism.

dehydrogenase
(de·hy·dro·gen·ase) (de-hi´dro-jen-ās″) an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of hydrogen or electrons from a donor, oxidizing it, to an acceptor, reducing it.

dehydroretinol
(de·hy·dro·ret·i·nol) (-ret´ĭ-nol) vitamin A2, a form of vitamin A found with retinol (vitamin A1) in freshwater fish; it has one more conjugated double bond than retinol and approximately one-third its biological activity.

deionization
(de·ion·iza·tion) (de-i″on-ĭ-za´shun) the production of a mineral-free state by the removal of ions.

Deiters cells
the outer phalangeal cells of the organ of Corti; they support the outer hair cells.

déjà vu
(da´zhah voo´) an illusion that a new situation is a repetition of a previous experience.

Dejean syndrome
(dә-zhah´) orbital floor syndrome.

dejection
(de·jec·tion) (de-jek´shun) a mental state marked by sadness; the lowered mood characteristic of depression.

Dejerine disease
(dĕ-zhĕ-rēn´) progressive hypertrophic neuropathy.

Dejerine sign
aggravation of symptoms of radiculitis produced by coughing, sneezing, and straining at stool.

Dejerine syndrome
(dĕ-zhĕ-rēn´) symptoms of radiculitis; namely, distribution of the pain, motor, and sensory defects in the region of the radicular or segmental disturbance of the nerve roots rather than along the course of the peripheral nerve. bulbar syndrome. a polyneuropathy resembling tabe...

Dejerine-Klumpke paralysis
(dĕ-zhĕ-rēn´-kloomp´kә) Dejerine-Klumpke syndrome Klumpke paralysis.

Dejerine-Lichtheim phenomenon
Lichtheim sign.

Dejerine-Roussy syndrome
(dĕ-zhĕ-rēn´ roo-se´) thalamic syndrome.