Category: Sm-St

A narrowing. For example, aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the aortic valve in the heart.

An epileptic seizure that lasts more than 30 minutes; a constant or near-constant state of having seizures. Status epilepticus is a health crisis, and requires immediate treatment.

A class of drugs that lower cholesterol. The statin drugs on the market in the US include: The statins lower LDL-cholesterol levels, and they lower LDL-cholesterol more than other types of drugs. Statins inhibit an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase that controls the rate of cholesterol production in the body. These drugs lower cholesterol by slowing down the production of…

A common medical abbreviation for urgent or rush. From the Latin word statim, meaning “immediately.”

A stasis ulcer is an ulcer (a crater) that develops in an area in which the circulation is sluggish and the venous return (the return of venous blood toward the heart) is poor. A common location for stasis ulcers is on the ankle. Stasis refers to a stoppage or slowdown in the flow of blood (or other body fluid such as lymph).…

A stoppage or slowdown in the flow of blood or other body fluid, such as lymph. For example, a stasis ulcer is an ulcer that develops in an area in which the circulation is sluggish and the venous return (the return of venous blood toward the heart) is poor. A common location for stasis ulcers is the ankle.

A group of bacteria that cause a multitude of diseases. Under a microscope, staphylococcus bacteria are round and bunched together. They can cause illness directly by infection or indirectly through products they make, such as the toxins responsible for food poisoning and toxic shock syndrome. The best-known member of the staphylococcus family is Staphylococcus aureus. A drug resistant form of Staphylococcus aureus…

Infection with one of the Staphylococcal bacteria. Staph infection can cause pus-filled abscesses on the skin or internal organs, and can migrate through the blood to infect the heart, brain, and other areas. Treatment is with antibiotics and drainage of abscesses as needed. A particularly dangerous form of this infection is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly referred to as MRSA.

A stirrup-shaped bone in the middle ear. The stapes transmits sound vibrations from the incus, another little bone in the middle ear, to the oval window adjacent to the inner ear. The stapes is the smallest bone in the body. Pronounced stay-peas. Stapes, a Late Latin word meaning stirrup, cannot have been a classical Latin term because the Romans…

1. A diagnostic and treatment process that a clinician should follow for a certain type of patient, illness, or clinical circumstance. Adjuvant chemotherapy for lung cancer is “a new standard of care, but not necessarily the only standard of care.” (New England Journal of Medicine, 2004) 2. In legal terms, the level at which the average, prudent provider in a given…