Category: Bp-Br

Speckled iris. Little white spots that slightly elevated on the surface of the iris arranged in a ring concentric with the pupil. These spots occur in normal children but are far more frequent in Down’s syndrome (trisomy 21). They were described in 1924 by Thomas Brushfield and are due to aggregation of a normal iris element…

Type 1 poliovirus. Named after a female chimpanzee from which it was first isolated. There are two other strains of poliovirus: Type 2 (known as the Lansing virus) and Type 3 (known as the Leon virus). Immunity to one strain does not provide protection against the other two. All three strains are therefore included in…

A sound heard over an artery or vascular channel, reflecting turbulence of flow. Most commonly, a bruit is caused by abnormal narrowing of an artery. Listening for a bruit in the neck with a stethoscope is a simple way to screen for narrowing (stenosis) of the carotid artery, which can be a result of cholesterol plaque accumulation.

Injury of the soft tissues that results in breakage of the local capillaries and leakage of red blood cells. In the skin it can be seen as a reddish-purple discoloration that does not blanch when pressed. When a bruise fades, it becomes green and brown, as the body metabolizes the blood cells in the skin. It is best…

A standardized multistage treadmill test for assessing cardiovascular health, The test was developed and described in 1963 by the American cardiologist Robert A. Bruce (1916-2004). According to the original Bruce protocol, the patient walks on an uphill treadmill in a graded exercise test with electrodes on the chest to monitor the EKG. Every 3 minutes, the speed and incline of…

An abnormal and persistent fear of thunder that causes undue anxiety even though sufferers realize that thunder itself poses no threat to them. When outdoors during a thunderstorm, they may suffer excessive anxiety. When indoors, they may hide under beds or desks, behind sofas, or in closets. “Brontophobia” is derived from the Greek “bronte” (thunder)…

A large air tube that begins at the end of the trachea and branches into the lungs. The supporting walls of the bronchus are made up in part of cartilage.

A subdivision of one lobe of a lung based on the connection to the segmental bronchus. For example, the right upper lobe has apical, anterior, and posterior segments.

Permanent abnormal widening of the bronchi (air tubes that branch deep into the lungs). Bronchiectasis can cause recurrent lung infections, a disabling cough, shortness of breath, and coughing up blood.

A disease caused by chronic exposure to bromine or one of its compounds. Bromism is characterized by mental dullness, memory loss, slurred speech, tremors, ataxia and muscular weakness, a transitory state resembling paranoid schizophrenia, and a skin eruption (bromoderma). Once a common problem, bromism was generally due to chronic ingestion of proprietary bromide preparations. Also called brominism.