Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «S»:
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Six fingers or toes
Six fingers or toes: The presence of an extra sixth finger or toe, a very common congenital malformation (birth defect).
This condition is called hexadactyly. The word hexadactyly literally means six digits. In medical usage, hexadactyly does not specify whether the six digits are fingers or toes...
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Sixth cranial nerve
Sixth cranial nerve: The sixth cranial nerve is the abducent nerve, a small motor nerve that has one task: to supply a muscle called the lateral rectus muscle that moves the eye outward.
Paralysis of the abducent nerve causes inward turning of the eye (internal strabismus) leading to double vision....
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Sixth disease
Sixth disease: A viral disease of infants and young
children with sudden onset of high fever which lasts several days and then suddenly
subsides leaving in its wake a fine red rash. The causative agent is herpesvirus type 6 so
the disease is known as Sixth Disease. Also known as Exanthem subitum (su...
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Sjogren of Sjogren syndrome
Sjogren of Sjogren syndrome: Henrik Samuel Conrad Sjögren, Swedish ophthalmologist (1899-1986), who described the sicca syndrome, a chronic disease, commonly called Sjögren syndrome today.
Sjögren graduated in medicine in 1922 from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and in 1925 f...
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Sjogren syndrome
Sjogren syndrome: An autoimmune disease that classically
combines dry eyes, dry mouth, and another disease of the connective tissues such as rheumatoid arthritis (most
common), lupus, scleroderma or polymyositis. Inflammation of the glands that produce tears
(the lacrimal glands) leads to decreas...
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Sjogren-Larsson syndrome
Sjogren-Larsson syndrome: The Sjogren-Larsson syndrome is a genetic (inherited) disease usually characterized by a triad of clinical findings consisting of ichthyosis (thickened fish-like skin), spastic paraplegia (spasticity of the legs) and mental retardation.
The skin changes in the Sjogren-Lars...
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SJS
SJS: Stevens-Johnson syndrome. ...
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Skeletal
Skeletal: Pertaining to the skeleton, the bones of the body which collectively provide the framework for the body....
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Skeletal dysplasia
Skeletal dysplasia: One of a large contingent of
genetic diseases in which the bony skeleton is abnormally formed during development. For
example, achondroplasia (achondroplastic dwarfism). ...
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Skeletal muscle
Skeletal muscle: One of three types of muscle tissue in
the body (skeletal, smooth, cardiac) which represents the majority of the muscular tissue
in the body. Skeletal muscle is the type of muscle which powers movement of the skeleton
as in walking and lifting....
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Skeleton
Skeleton: The skeleton is composed of bones and is the framework
of the body....
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Skeleton, bones of the
Bones of the skeleton: The human body has 206 bones. These consist of 80 axial (head and trunk) bones and 126 appendicular (upper and lower extremity) bones.
Axial bones: The 80 axial bones comprise 29 bones in the head and 51 bones in the trunk.
Head bones: The 29 head bones consist of 8 cranial bo...
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Skin
Skin: The skin is the body's outer covering. It protects us
against heat and light, injury, and infection. It regulates body
temperature and stores water, fat, and vitamin D. Weighing about 6
pounds, the skin is the body's largest organ. It is made up of two
main layers; the outer epidermis and ...
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Skin abscess
Skin abscess: A common boil, a collection of pus beneath the skin, which may need to be surgically lanced to let it drain and heal. ...
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Skin biopsy
Skin biopsy: Removal of a piece of skin for the
purpose of further examination in the laboratory using a microscope.
Skin biopsy is most frequently done to diagnose a skin growth such as
a mole, or a skin condition such as a rash. Different techniques are
used in different situations. A shave b...
