Category: A

A protease inhibitor. Amprenavir (Agenerase) is prescribed for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection. When combined with other drugs, protease inhibitors reduce the amount of HIV in the bloodstream to levels that are virtually undetectable, although the drug cannot eradicate HIV or AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).  

An antifungal drug. Amphotericin B (Abelcet, Fungizone) is used to treat severe infections caused by fungi. Amphotericin B is given by intravenous infusion, which lasts more than 1 hour and can cause the person to have fever, chills, loss of appetite, and headache. Most people receiving the drug will experience side effects and should be…

An antiarrhythmic drug. Amiodarone (Cordarone, Pacerone) is used to treat arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeat. Amiodarone works by decreasing the sensitivity of heart tissue to nerve impulses. It is usually prescribed only when other medications do not improve a person’s condition or when the abnormal heart rhythm is so severe as to be life-threatening.  

Any surgical procedure in which the patient is not admitted to a hospital; the person returns home on the same day the surgery is performed. Also known as outpatient or same-day surgery, ambulatory surgery can be performed in a surgery clinic, within a hospital setting, or in a day surgery center. Surgery performed between the…

A surgical procedure usually performed after teeth are extracted to recontour the jawbone and increase the ridge size in preparation for dentures. If teeth need to be removed because of advanced periodontal disease, severe decay, or fracture, the ridge of the jawbone that surrounded and held the roots of the teeth may need to be…

A drug that dissolves blood clots. Alteplase is used to treat heart attack, stroke, or pulmonary embolism (clot in the artery of the lungs.) Alteplase, which is also known as t-PA, or tissue-type plasminogen activator, is one of several promising drugs to dissolve blockages rather than create detours around them, such as in artery bypass…

The subtraction of two (or more) digitized x-ray images which were acquired at different times. The subtraction process eliminates information in the image which was static.  

The fraction of photons that interact per unit path length with an absorber. The calculated remainder of the x-ray beam that is received by the detectors in a computed tomography (CT) unit. This value is used to determine the CT (Hounsfield) number. The ratio of the change in x-ray beam strength (photons) as it passes…

A display on the face of a cathode ray tube of the sequence of echo signals arising from the ultrasound bombardment of bodily tissues. In a B-scan display, the echo signals are represented as a sequence of bright spots on the CRT display; the spacing of the spots corresponds, as in the A-scan, to the…

The electromagnetic energy released when a positron meets an electron, causing their mutual annihilation. The resultant radiation is embodied in the form of two gamma-ray photons, each with an energy of 0.51 1 MeV. When a positron and an electron annihilate each other, the result is the emission of electromagnetic radiation. Typically, this annihilation process…