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Affect
Objective view of the patient's emotional status.
Antidepressant discontinuation syndrome
Symptoms that present with the sudden cessation of antidepressant medications.
Atrial kick
Increased ventricular filling produced by atrial contraction.
Coagulopathy
A defect in the blood-clotting mechanism.
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP)
Infection of the lungs in individuals who don't live in long-term care facilities and haven't recently been hospitalized.
Conduction
Direct transfer of heat from one object to another.
Consolidation
When normally air-filled spaces in the lung become stiff due to fluid engorgement.
Convection
Transfer of heat via moving air or water.
Depolarization
Reduction of the heart cell membrane potential to a less negative value.
Depression
Mood disorder characterized by extreme feelings of sadness, melancholy, worthlessness and emptiness.
Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)
A pathologic condition in which clotting occurs unchecked and clotting factors are consumed. The clotting within organs leads to multisystem organ failure; once clotting factors are consumed, patients may bleed uncontrollably.
Dysthymia
Chronic mild condition that leads to a depressed mood for at least two consecutive years that affects women two to three times more than men.
Ectopic beat
Abnormal cardiac beat resulting from a non-pacemaker heart cell that depolarizes.
Embolism
An obstruction in a blood vessel caused by a blood clot or foreign body.
Endochondral
Intracartilaginous (within a cartilage).
Ergogenic
Intended to improve performance, stamina or recovery.
Evaporation
Transformation of liquid into vapor.
Fasciotomy
Surgical procedure to cut the fascia surrounding muscle compartments in order to relieve pressure within the compartment. The increased pressure typically results from bleeding or swelling within the compartment.
Fibrinolysis
Enzymatic breakdown of fibrin protein in blood clots, allowing for clot resolution.
Hemiparesis
Weakness or partial paralysis of one side of the body.
Hypercarbia
Higher-than-normal carbon dioxide level in the blood.
Hypohydration
State in which the human body has less than the normal volume of water in the cells, blood and interstitial spaces.
Ideation
Forming or entertaining ideas about something, such as suicide.
Infiltrates
Presence of fluid-filled alveoli on chest radiography.
Major depressive disorder
One or more depressive episodes, lasting more than two weeks, without experiencing mania or elation.
Mental disorder
Emotional disturbance that results in maladaptive behavior and impaired functioning, caused by genetic, physical, chemical, biological, psychological or social/cultural factors.
Mesenchyme
An aggregation of mesenchymal cells, which are capable of differentiating into specialized connective tissues.
Mitral valve
The two-cusp valve between the left atrium and left ventricle of the heart.
Myoglobinuria
A pathologic condition in which myoglobin (a muscle protein) is found in the urine.
Nosocomial
Pneumonia acquired during hospitalization.
Ossification
The formation of bone or bone-like tissue from connective tissues, such as cartilage.
Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT)
An ectopic atrial rhythm that begins abruptly, is perfectly clock regular, and is 150 bpm or greater.
Ptosis
The formation of bone or bone-like tissue from connective tissues, such as cartilage.
Relative humidity
Amount of water vapor in air.
Rhabdomyolysis
The breakdown of muscle fibers leading to the release of myoglobin in the blood and eventually in the urine. This can lead to renal damage.
Sinus node
Specialized heart tissue that generates the cardiac electrical impulse in a normal heart rhythm.
Subperiosteal apposition
Beneath the periosteum, which is a thin, dense connective membrane that covers the outer surface of a bone except at joints.
Sympathetic nervous system (SNS)
System that enables the body to respond to fear (fight or flight) by increasing heart rate, blood pressure and cardiac output.
Tachycardia
Heart rate faster than 100 bpm in an adult.
Thrombocytopenia
An abnormal decrease in the number of circulating platelets in the blood (<150,000/mm3).
Thyrotoxicosis
Condition in which the thyroid gland produces an excess of thyroid hormone.
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