Glossary

Author: Glossary

  • Constrictive pericarditis

    Scarring of the pericardium after one or more episodes of pericarditis. This limits normal cardiac filling during diastole. Impaired filling of the heart chambers reduces the volume of blood ejected by the heart with each contraction. The patient often complains of shortness of breath. On physical examination, elevated neck veins, ascites, hepatic enlargement, and lower…

  • Pericardiopleural

    Concerning the pericardium and pleura of the lungs.  

  • Pericardiopexy

    A surgical procedure designed to increase the blood supply to the heart by joining the pericardium to an adjacent tissue.  

  • Pericardiomediastinitis

    Inflammation of the pericardium and mediastinum.  

  • Pericardiectomy

    Puncturing or perforation of the pericardium or creation of a pericardial window, for example, to relieve a pericardial effusion responsible for cardiac tamponade. Surgical excision of a portion of the pericardium.  

  • Periarteritis gummosa

    Gummas in the blood vessels in syphilis.  

  • Periarteriolar lymphoid sheath

    A region of the spleen that encircles the splenic arteries and is composed mostly of T cells. It comprises the tissues sometimes referred to as the white pulp of the organ.  

  • Periappendicitis decidualis

    A condition in which decidual cells exist in the peritoneum of the appendix vermiformis in cases of tubal pregnancy owing to adhesions between fallopian tubes and the appendix.  

  • Periappendicitis

    Inflammation of the tissues surrounding the appendix secondary to either appendicitis or other intraperitoneal inflammatory process. Inflammation of the tissue surrounding the appendix.  

  • Periapex

    The area around the apex of a tooth.