Category: C
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Critical list
The list of patients in a hospital whose condition is medically life-threatening.
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Critical
Referring to a crisis. Extremely serious. Being in or approaching a state of crisis in a disease. Pertaining to a period of crisis in a person with a life-threatening medical condition. In critical or intensive care, doctors use technologically sophisticated equipment to treat and monitor the conditions of people who are recovering from surgery or…
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Crista galli
A projection from the ethmoid bone. A ridge on the ethmoid bone to which the falx cerebri is attached.
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Crista
A ridge, e.g. the border of a bone. A fold in the inner membrane of a mitrochondrion. The sensory structure within the ampulla of a semicircular canal within the inner ear. The cristae respond to changes in the rate of movement of the head, being activated by pressure from the fluid in the semicircular canals.…
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Crigler-Najjar syndrome
A genetically controlled condition in which bilirubin cannot be formed, leading to jaundice or even brain damage. One of two familial forms of congenital hyperbilirubinemia associated with brain damage as a result of bilirubin deposition in the brain (kernicterus). The syndrome is caused by an enzyme deficiency in the liver that causes faulty bilirubin conjugation.…
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Crick
A painful stiffness in the neck or back (informal). A muscle spasm or cramp, especially in the neck.
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Creeping eruption
An itching skin complaint, caused by larvae of various parasites which creep under the skin. A skin disease caused either by larvae of nematode worms (e.g. Ancylostoma braziliense) normally parasitic in dogs and cats or by the maggots of certain flies. The larvae burrow within the skin tissues, their movements marked by long thin red…
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Creatorrhoea
The presence of undigested muscle fibre in the faeces, occurring in some pancreatic diseases.
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Creatinuria
Excess creatine in the urine. An excess of the nitrogenous compound creatine in the urine.
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Creatinine clearance
Removal of creatinine from the blood by the kidneys. A test for renal function which measures the degree to which creatinine is cleared from the blood. A method of assessing the function of the kidney by comparing the amount of creatinine — a product of body metabolism which is normally excreted by the kidneys —…