Category: Aa-Ab

to wear away by friction or erosion. The term “abrasion” comes from the verb abrade and is used in medicine to refer to an injury characterized by scraping or wearing away of tissue, most often on the skin. Synonyms include excoriate, scrape, scratch, rub raw, and chafe.

Auditory brainstem response test. An automated test for hearing and brain (neurological) functioning that is performed by applying wires to the skin around the ear. ABR may be used in the evaluation of: Hearing integrity (and neurologic normalcy) in infants and young children. Neurologic integrity (and hearing) in patients who are comatose, unresponsive, or impaired due to…

Abortive polio is a minor illness. It accounts for 80-90% of clinically apparent cases of polio infection, chiefly in young children. It does not involve the CNS. The usual symptoms are slight fever, malaise, headache, sore throat and vomiting which hit 3-5 days after exposure to the polio virus. Full recovery occurs in 24-72 hours. There are no permanent disabilities of…

Tending to cut short the course of a disease, as in abortive polio (polio cut short).

An abortion that is brought about intentionally. Also called an artificial or induced abortion. As opposed to a spontaneous abortion (a miscarriage).

A miscarriage is the spontaneous loss of pregnancy from conception to 20 weeks gestation. The term stillbirth refers to the death of a fetus after 20 weeks of gestation. Miscarriage is sometimes referred to as spontaneous abortion because the medical term abortion means ending a pregnancy, whether intentional or unintentional. Most miscarriages occur in the first trimester of pregnancy, from seven to twelve weeks…

The occurrence of 3 or more miscarriages (which are medically termed “spontaneous abortions”) with no intervening pregnancies. Recurrent abortion (or, as it is sometimes called, habitual abortion) is a form of infertility. It may be due to chromosome abnormalities.

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.

An abortion that is brought about intentionally. Also called an artificial or therapeutic abortion. As opposed to a spontaneous abortion (a miscarriage).

The miscarriage of three or more consecutive pregnancies with no intervening pregnancies. Habitual abortion is a form of infertility. Also known as recurrent abortion and multiple abortion.