Questions tagged [terminology]
This tag should be used for questions concerning meaning and usage of words as applied in medical science.
114
questions
3
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2answers
97 views
How do I specify a particular side of a finger?
I'm trying to indicate which side of a finger an injury has occurred (e.g., a cut). Depending on orientation of the hand left/right / sinister/dexter seems ambiguous. I look at my palms it's one way, ...
1
vote
1answer
33 views
Meaning of “I” in a table in a study poster
From a poster to a study:
I don't understand the meaning of "I" used in several fields of this table. What could it mean? I've read the abstract of the study but still cannot get it. The ...
0
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1answer
25 views
Meaning of “(ref)” in a table describing the characteristics of patients taking part in a cancer study
From a poster describing a study in cancer patients. This is from a table in the poster, which describes the characteristics of the patients (Age groups, Sex ect.) You can see what percentage of the ...
0
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1answer
16 views
Meaning of “the benchmark for median survival”
From the Background section of a clinical trial poster:
Good performance, unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients should receive standard-of-care treatment, i.e. Concurrent ...
0
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0answers
14 views
Who are “good performance patients”?
I'm translating a study poster and came across the following excerpt:
Good performance, unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients should receive standard-of-care treatment, i....
1
vote
2answers
45 views
Meaning of “D1 q3w” in a poster to a clinical trial
From a poster to a clinical trial:
I can understand that q3w means "once every 3 weeks", but what is the meaning of D1? I think the first DI must be a typo and it stands for D1 too.
0
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0answers
24 views
meaning of “presence of a diagnosis”
From a research paper
Percentages and means for baseline characteristics and 2-year course indicators were provided across age groups. Additionally, these characteristics were associated with ...
1
vote
1answer
48 views
What is the medical meaning of “course”?
From the Cambridge Dictionary
Meaning of course: the often gradual development of something, or the way something happens, or a way of doing something
Did the scandal have any effect on the course of ...
0
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1answer
48 views
Suture types (layman question)
I hope it's okay to ask a layman question here.
I am translating one of the episodes of Grey's Anatomy (S5E9) and came upon this dialogue:
Dr. Bailey: OK, yeah, that's right. Grey, tie it off ...
1
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0answers
31 views
Confirmed, recovered, deaths, meaning
I am wondering about the exact definition of a few terms that are being used in connection with the COVID-19, specifically in data sets.
I am interested in the data at github specifically in the time ...
0
votes
1answer
14 views
Meaning of “correlates” in “.. clinical therapeutic studies of LAC in depression and TRD and its correlates .. ”
From "Myriad of implications of acetyl-l-carnitine deficits in depression":
Nasca et al. (1) were appropriately conservative in interpreting their findings and pointing out multiple directions for ...
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0answers
22 views
What is the definition of STI? (formely STD) [duplicate]
We know that for laymen, an STI (sexually transmitted infection) is something that can spread via sexual activities. However, there are some infections that can spread sexually but is not considered ...
3
votes
1answer
88 views
What is aminorachia?
From Folinic acid responsive seizures: a new syndrome? (1995):
This infant girl seized within 6h of birth. Seizures were ameliorated with high-dose multiple anticonvulsant therapy. CT scan, urine ...
0
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0answers
18 views
Is autosensitization dermatitis fully synonymous with id reaction, and if not, what's the difference?
Autosensitization dermatitis and id reaction have different Wikipedia pages, but I can't understand the difference between them. Is there any, or are they synonymous?
When I asked on a translators' ...
1
vote
1answer
50 views
What is the difference between Dry cough, Wet cough, Chesty Cough, Barking cough?
I am doing some research on cough sounds but my background is not health sector and I am facing issues to identify the correct type of cough.
I have two doubts :
Is chesty cough Wet cough?
Is ...
1
vote
2answers
18 views
What's the distinguishing attribute between sensitivity and specificity?
Sensitivity and specificity.
These are the links I used to know about these two terms:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitivity_and_specificity
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FnJ3L-63Cf8
https://m....
1
vote
1answer
22 views
Is astigmatism a type of retinopathy?
Astigmatism is a common vision condition that causes blurred vision. It occurs when the cornea is irregularly shaped.
Retinopathy is any damage to the retina of the eyes, which may cause vision ...
1
vote
1answer
19 views
Why does MERS include a geographical designator, even though it is a relatively recent term?
In a recent interview, the Chief Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme--Dr. Michael Ryan--said that
the pandemic of influenza in 2009 originated in North America and we didn'...
0
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0answers
16 views
Difference between blood serum and plasma
I'm not understanding some of the explanations I've seen on the internet:
What is Serum?
Put simply, serum is plasma minus the clotting factors and blood cells.
Link
But the plasma doesn't ...
0
votes
1answer
21 views
medical meaning of “Meridian”
A video tutorial is using a spoon to explain how astigmatism occurs.
the cornea ideally
should be perfectly round like a
ping-pong ball which is a perfect sphere
and has the same curvature in ...
1
vote
0answers
13 views
Are individuals with controlled blood pressre still considered to have high blood pressure?
I was reading this article:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-18/99-of-those-who-died-from-virus-had-other-illness-italy-says
the TL;DR is that 99% of the Covid-19 deaths in Italy had ...
3
votes
1answer
175 views
Is Coronavirus (Covid-19) considered a pandemic?
It is my understanding that "epidemic" is an abnormally high amount of cases than expected. "Pandemic" refers to a epidemic that crosses continents (Please correct my understanding if it is wrong).
...
2
votes
1answer
236 views
Who came up with the SARS-CoV-2 name?
I know that the WHO came up with the COVID-19 name, but I see big publisher (Springer) also using "SARS-CoV-2" seemingly to refer to the same thing. To be more technically correct, they say the ...
1
vote
1answer
41 views
Medical instruments for pushing something out of the way
In the Russian classification of medical instruments, some instruments are grouped under the title "medical instruments for moving aside":
The description says:
"Instruments whose working ...
4
votes
1answer
50 views
Meaning of “acquisition in a single volume” (CT scanning)
From a research paper: (Richards, et al. 2018).
A number of integrated strategies were used to achieve this consistently low dose, including; prospective ECG-gated acquisition, lowest possible tube ...
0
votes
1answer
69 views
What is the difference between Rhinitis, nasal congestion and runny nose?
Rhinitis, nasal congestion and runny nose ā from prior reading on these terms I recognize somewhat inconsistency in regards to how people define them or use them in various articles.
I personally ...
1
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1answer
35 views
Is a lab ātestā the overall collection of things, or the individual things in the collection?
At some laboratories, such as image #1, there is one overall "test" which contain many "markers".
At other laboratories, such as image #2, there is one overall "report" which contain many "tests".
...
4
votes
1answer
53 views
How do you distinguish between “cure” and “recovery” in terms of medical terminology?
āāI hear a lot of people using the words "cure" and "recovery" interchangeably. Are these two words interchangable in epidemiology? What's the difference between these two in terms of medical ...
1
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0answers
44 views
Is there a “cancelling” drug interaction?
When I read on how drugs affect organisms I often come across the drug interaction term, most often how one drug might have a good or bad synergistic effect with other drugs:
Mixing Paracetamol with ...
1
vote
1answer
61 views
Is a broader term than Neuro-Muscolo-Skeletal used in medical literature?
Many Mechanic conditions involving anatomic deformity or idiopathic chronic joint inflammation conditions are classified as Neuro-Muscolo-Skeletal (NMS).
Is there another widely accepted broader term ...
3
votes
0answers
37 views
Lack of clarity about terms for average glucose in diabetes research literature (MBG, MPG, and AG)
The meaning of āmean plasma glucose (MPG)ā is unambiguous, but Iām having an incredibly difficult time making sense of the way the term āmean blood glucose (MBG)ā is used in medical research ...
2
votes
1answer
81 views
What is the umbrella term for examination/diagnostics using tools, equipment and instruments?
There's a Russian healthcare term ŠøŠ½ŃŃŃŃŠ¼ŠµŠ½ŃŠ°Š»ŃŠ½Š°Ń Š“ŠøŠ°Š³Š½Š¾ŃŃŠøŠŗŠ° - instrumental diagnostics (I'm not sure whether the translation provided by Multitran is really commonly used in English).
It covers ...
2
votes
1answer
61 views
Meaning of “terminal” in “terminal necropsy”
From a clinical study report:
At scheduled terminal necropsy after 52 weeks of dosing there limited gross necropsy findings were noted.
What is the meaning of "terminal" here? I need to translate ...
4
votes
1answer
38 views
What is the difference between vasoconstriction and contractility?
I was reading few articles that mention stress induced cortisol may contribute to vasoconstriction and contractility as if they are different. I did some searches on vasoconstriction and ...
2
votes
1answer
117 views
What are “powered” vs “unpowered” samples in medical studies?
I'm not a medical (/ medical research) professional, but I know my probability theory and a bit of statistics. When leafing through some meta-study texts (such as this one), I'm encountering use of ...
2
votes
1answer
122 views
Meaning of “sib of 20” in a by-patient case description table
A table from from Cerebral folate deficiency: Analytical tests and differential diagnosis:
The first column contains patient numbers.
I thought that sib of .. meant "sibship of .." - that is, "...
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0answers
21 views
Is there a classification code system for TB patients (registered for follow-up) in the West?
I came across the following sentence in a Russian text:
ŠŠøŃŃŠµŠ¼ŠøŠ½ŠøŃŠ¾Š²Š°Š½Š½ŃŠ¹ ŃŃŠ±ŠµŃŠŗŃŠ»ŠµŠ· Š»ŠµŠ³ŠŗŠøŃ
Š² ŃŠ°Š·Šµ ŠøŠ½ŃŠøŠ»ŃŃŃŠ°ŃŠøŠø, ŠŠŠ¢ (-) IŠ
I translated it as:
Disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis at the ...
4
votes
1answer
171 views
Colorectal examinations
This question was sparked by this discussion about the sigmoid and rectum.
When looking at the colorectal medical examination techniques, for want of a better term, there are the sopical examinations (...
0
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0answers
23 views
What is the difference between “mild degeneration of the muscular attachment of the gluteus medius” and “mild tendinosis of the left gluteus medius”?
I have read the following two terms:
mild degeneration of the muscular attachment of the left gluteus medius
mild tendinosis of the left gluteus medius
Do these two terms refer to the same medical ...
2
votes
2answers
29 views
Term for manufactured drug
What is the English term for a manufactured pharmaceutical drug of a specific strength and dosage form, i.e. a pill, an ointment etcetera?
5
votes
1answer
174 views
Does “400 mg orally twice daily” mean “800 mg of drug per day”?
From a case report:
In addition, the authors started 5-hydroxytryptophan titrated to 400 mg orally twice daily with concomittant carbidopa 37.5 mg orally four times a day, and he responded with ...
2
votes
0answers
22 views
Meaning of “potential pharmacogenetic characterisation might also be evaluated so that these syndromes are treated at an earlier age.”
This could be offtopic because this might be just a case of sloppy phrasing and a case of "asking to guess what the authors really meant". A quote from an abstract (GTP-cyclohydrolase deficiency ...
5
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0answers
30 views
Meaning of “at baseline” in “Detection of antibodies at baseline in schizophrenia or major depression”
From The basis for folinic acid treatment in neuro-psychiatric disorders by Ramaekers et al., 2016, at the very end of the article:
Because the presence of FRĪ± antibodies can show significant serum ...
3
votes
1answer
64 views
Is the abbreviation“r/o” on a test report used in the declarative or imperative sense?
I read something similar to this on the radiologist's report for a chest/abdominal CT scan with contrast, in a section headed "NARRATIVE" and a sub-section headed "HISTORY." This is the only content ...
4
votes
1answer
125 views
What is the name for the symptom of mishearing words?
Thereās a really interesting symptom I remember hearing about, wherein the patient will fail to understand certain sounds correctly, in a repeatable fashion.
For example, the patient could be ...
4
votes
1answer
222 views
Meaning of “Chest wall, Sp, Ps” in a description of tumor recurrence locations
From a clinical trial report:
I think that Ps stands for parasternal (nodes) but what could Sp mean?
I haven't found a mention of "Sp" in the literature by googling for about 20 minutes.
P.S. ...
2
votes
1answer
67 views
How is “histologically invasive diameter” assessed in live patients?
Quote:
A total of 34 patients were registered between July 2009 and June 2012. The mean age was 53.5āyears. The median follow-up time was 23.7āmonths (2-24āmonths). The age at the time of ...
2
votes
0answers
34 views
Meaning of “central registration system” in Japanese clinical trials
Quote from a Japanese clinical trial report:
METHOD: An observational study was conducted on patients who relapsed after primary systemic therapy with TZM using the central registration system. The ...
1
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0answers
23 views
Meaning of “platinum sensitivity and primary PFI being repowered as prognostic factors”
Quote from a clinical trial report:
Recurrence eventually affects 70ā80% of patients with advanced epithelial ovar-ian cancer [2, 22], with platinum sensitivity and primary PFI being repowered as ...
3
votes
1answer
981 views
Are “data cut off” and “data lock” the same thing in a clinical trial?
Quotes from a clinical trial report (JGOG3022 trial):
Follow-up was terminated in February 2017 and data were locked in October 2017. Of the 346 patients enrolled, ineligible patients and patients ...
