Vulvitis What is vulvitis?Vulvitis is simply an inflammation of the vulva, the soft folds of skin outside the vagina. This is not a condition, but rather a symptom that results from a host of diseases, infections, injuries, allergies, and other irritants. Dia...
Menorrhagia What is menorrhagia?Menorrhagia is the most common type of abnormal uterine bleeding characterized by heavy and prolonged menstrual bleeding. In some cases, bleeding may be so severe and relentless that daily activities become interrupted. Other type...
Glossary - Environmental Medicine Aair pollution - the presence of noxious substances in the air that we breathe.allergen - the substance that triggers an allergic reaction.allergy - an acquired, abnormal immune response to a substance that can cause a broad range of inflammatory rea...
Spirometers What is a spirometer?A spirometer is a device used by your physician that assesses lung function. Spirometry, the evaluation of lung function with a spirometer, is one of the simplest, most common pulmonary function tests and may be necessary for any...
Radiosurgery What is radiosurgery?Radiosurgery, also called stereotactic radiosurgery, is a very precise form of therapeutic radiology. Even though it is called surgery, radiosurgery does not involve actual surgery. Rather, very focused beams of radiation (gamma ...
Fluoroscopy What is fluoroscopy?Fluoroscopy is a study of moving body structures - similar to an x-ray "movie." A continuous x-ray beam is passed through the body part being examined, and is transmitted to a TV-like monitor so that the body part and its motion c...
Arteriogram What is an arteriogram?An arteriogram is an x-ray of the blood vessels called arteries. It is performed to evaluate various vascular conditions, such as an aneurysm (a bulging, weakened area in the wall of a blood vessel), stenosis (narrowing of...
Osteochondroma What is osteochondroma?Also called osteocartilaginous exostoses, osteochondroma is an overgrowth of cartilage and bone near the end of the bone near the growth plate. This type of overgrowth can occur in any bone where cartilage eventually forms bone...
Enchondroma What is an enchondroma?An enchondroma is a type of benign (non-cancerous) bone tumor that originates from cartilage. Cartilage is the specialized, gristly connective tissue that is present in adults and the tissue from which most bones develop. Carti...
Chondroblastoma What is chondroblastoma?Sometimes called Codman's tumor, a chondroblastoma is a rare type of benign bone tumor that originates from cartilage. Cartilage is the specialized, gristly connective tissue that is present in adults and the tissue from which...
Paraphimosis Paraphimosis is a medical condition where the foreskin becomes trapped behind the glans penis, and cannot be pulled back to its normal flaccid position covering the glans penis. If the condition persists for several hours or there is any sign of a la...
Urinary retention Urinary retention also known as ischuria is a lack of ability to urinate. It is a common complication of benign prostatic hypertrophy (also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH), although anticholinergics may also play a role, and requires a ...
Balanitis xerotica obliterans Balanitis xerotica obliterans (BXO) is a dermatological (skin) condition affecting the male genitalia. It was first described by Stuhmer in 1928, though earlier reports describe what may have been the same condition. BXO commonly occurs on the foresk...
Urinary bladder In anatomy, the urinary bladder is a hollow, muscular, and distensible (or elastic) organ that sits on the pelvic floor in mammals. It is the organ that collects urine excreted by the kidneys prior to disposal by urination. Urine enters the bladder v...
Cryptorchidism Cryptorchidism is the absence of one or both testes from the scrotum. This usually represents failure of the testis to move, or "descend," during fetal development from an abdominal position, through the inguinal canal, into the ipsilateral scrotum. ...
Urolithiasis Urolithiasis is the condition where urinary calculi are formed in the urinary tract.The term kidney stone (or "renal calculus") is sometimes used to refer to urolithiasis in any part of the urinary tract. However, the term "kidney stone" is more prop...
Cloacal exstrophy Cloacal exstrophy is a severe birth defect wherein much of the abdominal organs (the bladder and intestines) are exposed. It often causes the splitting of both male and female genitalia (specifically, the penis and clitoris respectively), and the anu...
Bladder exstrophy diagnosis involves a spectrum of anomalies of the lower abdominal wall, bladder, anterior bony pelvis, and external genitalia. It occurs due to failure of the abdominal wall to close during fetal development and results in protrusion of the posterior...
Epispadias An epispadias is a rare type of malformation of the penis in which the urethra ends in an opening on the upper aspect (the dorsum) of the penis.CausesAn epispadias is an uncommon and partial form of a spectrum of failures of abdominal and pelvic fusi...
17-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase deficiency 17-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase III deficiency is a rare disorder of sexual development affecting testosterone biosynthesis, which can produce impaired virilization (traditionally termed male pseudohermaphroditism) of genetically male infants an...
