Category: A
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Air-puff tonometry
Assessment of intraocular pressure using a burst of air rebounding off the cornea without the instrument touching the patient’s eye.
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Airborne precautions
Actions taken to stop transmission of infectious agents by exposure to airborne droplet spray, including air filtration systems and masks.
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Afferent lymphatic vessel
A small structure that transports lymph from the periphery or distal portions of the body, draining into more central vessels or lymph nodes.
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Aerocystoscopy
Visual examination of the bladder using a cystoscope while the bladder is distended by air. Examination with a cystoscope of the bladder distended by air.
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Aerocoly
Distention of the colon with gas.
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Aerocele
Distention of a bodily cavity with gas.
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Adventitious breath sounds
Abnormal sounds, such as crackles and rhonchi, heard in the lungs during auscultation. Abnormal lung sounds heard when listening to the chest as the person breathes. These may be wheezes, crackles (rales), or stridor. They do not include sounds produced by muscular activity in the chest wall or friction of the stethoscope on the chest.…
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Adrenocortical steroid hormone
Hormones, including glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, and androgens, that are produced by the adrenal cortex.
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Adrenal virilism
Masculine facial and body features in females due to hypersecretion of androgens.
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Adductor magnus muscle
Muscle of the medial aspect of the thigh which acts to adduct the thigh; the proximal portion acts to rotate the thigh medially and to flex it on the hip. A muscle of the medial thigh originating on the ramus of the ischium and pubis and inserted in the linea aspera and adductor tubercle of…