Category: Cp-Cx

  • CVS

    Chorionic villus sampling.

  • CVC

    Commonly used abbreviation for a Central Venous Catheter, a catheter (tube) that is passed through a vein to end up in the thoracic (chest) portion of the vena cava (the large vein returning blood to the heart) or in the right atrium of the heart. Central venous catheters have a number of different uses, including the delivery of fluid or medications, monitoring…

  • CVA

    Cerebrovascular accident.

  • Cutting for the stone

    The removal of kidney or bladder stones by surgery. The procedure is today called lithotomy. In the first surgical procedure at the Newcastle Infirmary in 1751, cutting for the stone produced a bladder stone from an Edward Lough, who later gave formal thanks.

  • Cutis anserina

    Better known as goose bumps, a temporary local change in the skin when it becomes rougher due to erection of little muscles, as from cold, fear, or excitement. The chain of events leading to this skin change starts with a stimulus such as cold or fear. That stimulus causes a nerve discharge from the sympathetic nervous system, a portion…

  • Cutaneous

    Related to the skin.

  • Cut

    An area of severed skin. It is important to wash a cut with soap and water, and keep it clean and dry, but avoid putting alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or iodine into a cut, which can delay healing. Delay in getting medical care can increase the rate of wound infection. If a cut results from a puncture wound through a…

  • Cusp

    In reference to heart valves, one of the triangular segments of the valve which opens and closes with the flow of blood. In reference to teeth, a raised area of the biting surface.

  • Cushingoid

    Having the constellation of symptoms and signs caused by an excess of cortisol hormone: that is, Cushing syndrome. While facial puffiness and weight gain are typical features of a Cushingoid appearance, cushing syndrome is an extremely complex hormonal condition that involves many areas of the body. Common symptoms are thinning of the skin, weakness, weight gain, bruising, hypertension, diabetes, thin weak bones…

  • Cushing syndrome

    The constellation of symptoms and signs caused by an excess of cortisol hormone. Cushing syndrome is an extremely complex hormonal condition that involves many areas of the body. Common symptoms are thinning of the skin, weakness, weight gain, bruising, hypertension, diabetes, thin weak bones (osteoporosis), facial puffiness and, in women, cessation of menstrual periods. Ironically, one of the most common…