Author: Glossary

An imaging device, and its supporting software and staff, housed within a truck, camper, tractor/trailer, oceangoing craft, or airplane, used to bring imaging technology to remote places.  

A device for support of the forearm, usually mounted on a wheelchair, that assists weak shoulder and elbow muscles in positioning the hand, as in eating.  

An autosomal recessive form of muscular dystrophy in which mutations in the skeletal muscle gene that codes for dysferlin results in weakness of distal muscles, especially the muscles that control plantar flexion of the feet. The disease first becomes clinically obvious in early adulthood.  

A laboratory test in which lymphocytes from different individuals are mixed to identify the presence of particular HLA class II antigens. The T cells from the “responder” will synthesize DNA and proliferate only if they do not have the same histocompatibility antigens as the “donor cells,” homozygous cells with known HLA types. The donor cells…

Dementia in which elements of both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia are found.  

A gray dot on the posterior lens capsule. It is the remnant of the fetal hyaloid artery of the eye.  

Straightening of the left border of the heart due to mitral valve disease, as seen in the anteroposterior projection of the heart.  

A surgical procedure for treating stenosis of the mitral valve of the heart, in which the stenosed valve leaflets are separated from each other. Patients may undergo an open or a closed procedure.  

Area of the chest wall over the apex of the heart where mitral valve sounds are heard best (usually between intercostal spaces 5-6 to the left of the midclavicular line).