Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «E»:
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Excess, calcium
Excess, calcium: See: Calcium excess....
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Excessive daytime sleepiness
Excessive daytime sleepiness: A neurological disorder in which there is a sudden recurrent uncontrollable compulsion to sleep. Excessive daytime sleepiness is also known as narcolepsy.
The condition is often associated with:
Cataplexy -- a sudden loss of muscle tone and paralysis of voluntary musc...
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Exchange, gas
Exchange, gas: The primary function of the lungs involving the transfer of oxygen from inhaled air into the blood and the transfer of carbon dioxide from the blood into the exhaled air....
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Excimer laser
Excimer laser: A laser that emits very concentrated light in the ultraviolet (UV) region of the spectrum.
Excimer lasers are used, for example, in:
Ophthalmology -- to vaporize part of the surface layer of the cornea and thus reshape the cornea to correct refractive errors from myopia (nearsightedn...
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Excise
Excise: To cut out. A laser beam may be used to excise a tumor, much as a scalpel does. The terms excise and resect are not synonymous. Excise implies total removal whereas resect does not....
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Excision
Excision: 1. Surgical removal, as in the excision of a tumor.
2. The removal as if by surgery, as in base excision repair.
From the Greek ektome meaning excision....
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Excisional
Excisional: Pertaining to the act of excision, of removal by surgery. An excisional biopsy is one in which the lesion is removed by the biopsy. From the Greek ektome meaning excision....
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Excisional biopsy
Excisional biopsy: A biopsy in which an entire biopsy in which an entire lesion, is removed. A excisional biopsy is in contrast to an incisional biopsy in which only a sample of tissue is cut into (incised) and removed....
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Exclamation point hair
Exclamation point hair: Exclamation point hair is a key diagnostic finding in a disorder called alopecia areata.
Alopecia areata is patchy baldness (alopecia means baldness and areata means occurring in patches) which
typically begins with patchy hair loss on the scalp and sometimes
progresses to...
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Excrescence
Excrescence: An abnormal outgrowth as, for example, a wart. From the Latin ex- (out), + crescere (to grow)....
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Exemestane
Exemestane: An oral antiestrogen. Exemestane inhibits the enzyme aromatase in the
adrenal glands that produces the estrogens (estradiol and estrone) and thereby lowers their levels. Brand name: Aromasin.
See also: Aromatase inhibitor....
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Exercise cardiac stress testing
Exercise cardiac stress testing: The most widely used cardiac (heart) screening test. The patient exercises on a treadmill according to a standardized protocol, with progressive increases in the speed and elevation of the treadmill (typically changing at three-minute intervals). During the exercise ...
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Exercise cardiac treadmill
Exercise cardiac treadmill: A machine used to obtain a continuous
electrocardiogram (EKG, ECG) recording of the heart as a patient performs
increasing levels of exercise. An
exercise cardiac treadmill permits the
detection of abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) and provides a screening test
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Exercise test
Exercise test: See exercise cardiac treadmill....
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Exercise treadmill test
Exercise treadmill test: See exercise cardiac treadmill....
