Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «M»:
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Multifactorial inheritance
Multifactorial inheritance: The type of hereditary
pattern seen when there is more than one genetic factor involved and,
sometimes, when there are also environmental factors participating in the causation of a condition.
Many common traits are multifactorial. Skin color, for example, is multifacto...
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Multifocal
Multifocal: Having to do with two or more foci or arising from two or more places. For example, aortic aneurysm disease is often multifocal and needs total aortic screening for diagnosis....
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Multipara
Multipara: A woman who has had 2 or more pregnancies
resulting in potentially viable offspring. A woman who is "para
III" has had 3 such pregnancies. A woman who is "para
VI" or more is called a grand multipara. ...
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Multipara, grand
Multipara, grand: The term "multipara" applies to any woman who has given birth 2 or more times. A woman who has given birth 5 or more times is called a grand multipara.
For a pregnancy to count as a "birth," it must go to at least 20 weeks' gestation (the mid-point of a full-term pregnancy) or yiel...
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Multiparous
Multiparous: 1) Having two or more offspring at
one birth. 2) Related to a multipara. See also
uniparous....
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Multiple abortions
Multiple abortions: Two or
more miscarriages (spontaneous abortions) by a woman. Couples who have had
multiple abortions have about a 5% chance that one member of the couple is
carrying a chromosome translocation responsible for the miscarriages....
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Multiple daily injections
Multiple daily injections: Abbreviated MDI. Several shots every day as of insulin to provide tight control of blood sugar....
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Multiple lentigines syndrome
Multiple lentigines syndrome: See: LEOPARD syndrome....
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Multiple miscarriage
Multiple miscarriage: More than one miscarriage for a woman. In multiple miscarriages, there is about a 5 percent chance that one member of the couple is carrying a chromosome translocation responsible for the miscarriages. Other causes of multiple miscarriage include Rh incompatibility, continuing ...
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Multiple myeloma
Multiple myeloma: A malignancy of plasma cells (a form of
lymphocyte) that typically involves multiple sites within the bone morrow and secretes all or part of a monoclonal antibody . Also called plasma cell myeloma. ...
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Multiple organ failure
Multiple organ failure: A term synonymous with multiple system failure and equally vague and nonspecific. See: Multiple system failure....
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Multiple personality disorder
Multiple personality disorder: A neurosis in which the personality becomes dissociated into two or more distinct parts each of which becomes dominant and controls behavior from time to time to the exclusion of the other parts....
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Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis: Abbreviated MS. A disease of the central nervous system (CNS) marked by numbness, weakness, loss of muscle coordination, and problems with vision, speech, and bladder control. MS is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks myelin, a key substance that serve...
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Multiple subpial transection
Multiple subpial transection
(MST): A multiple subpial transection (MST) is a procedure is used to help
control seizures that begin in areas of the
brain that cannot be
safely removed. The surgeon makes a series of shallow cuts (transections) in the
brain tissue. These cuts interrupt the move...
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Multiple symmetric lipomatosis
Multiple symmetric lipomatosis: A disorder characterized by painless symmetrical diffuse deposits of fat beneath the skin of the neck, upper trunk, arms and legs.
The condition is thought to be genetic although its exact mode of inheritance is uncertain. It may be a mitochondrial DNA disease. It fre...
