Category: B

A surgical procedure to restore a more youthful shape to breasts that have sagged due to aging, weight loss, pregnancy, or breast-feeding. A breast lift is also known as a mastopexy. In some cases, the procedure is combined with breast enlargement to add fullness and volume to the reshaped breast. Breast lifts are most successful…

A surgical procedure to increase the size of the breasts by inserting a fluid or gel-filled implant between the breast tissue and the chest wall. Also called breast augmentation, breast enlargement is typically done on a woman who has lost most or all of a breast to cancer. Breast enlargement surgery is also performed on…

An infected area of the breast that fills with pus and forms a lump. Symptoms of a breast abscess include swelling, tenderness, and redness and may include fever. An abscess most commonly occurs in women who are breast-feeding. It may be preceded by mastitis, an inflammation of the breast tissue caused when bacteria from the…

Also known as a cerebral abscess, a pus-filled cavity surrounded by inflamed tissue in the brain. A brain abscess is a life-threatening medical emergency. Symptoms of a brain abscess include headache, muscle weakness, loss of sensation, vomiting, fever, and seizures. These may come on gradually or suddenly. Diagnosis is made through physical and neurological examination…

A method of anesthetizing the lower arm and hand for surgery by injecting medication into the bundle of nerves (brachial plexus) in which the branches control feeling in the arm. A brachial plexus block is a form of regional anesthesia. In most cases, the injection into the area of the nerve is made with the…

Sounds produced by liquid and air moving through the digestive tract. Doctors use a stethoscope to assess bowel sounds. Normal bowel sounds include irregular, gurgling noises. Loud, rumbling, gurgling noises occur during hyperactive intestinal peristalsis (the wavelike muscle movement that moves food through the digestive tract). Hyperactivity may be the result of gastroenteritis, diarrhea, or…

An additional dose of a vaccine administered at determined intervals to promote immunization against a specific disease or diseases and to advance the immune system’s ability to defend the body against the disease or diseases. Booster shots for tetanus and diphtheria are commonly recommended for adults at 10-year intervals after the initial vaccination. An additional…

Microscopic examination of a piece of bone and bone marrow. The procedure can be performed in a doctor’s office or outpatient surgery center using a local anesthetic. Bone marrow biopsy is used to diagnose blood or bone marrow cancers, such as leukemia or multiple myeloma, or to determine if a malignant tumor from another organ…

Techniques that may use magnetic fields or radiation, often in combination with computers, to record and display images of bone structure. Bone imaging can reveal elements that are important to a complete diagnosis and are not provided by physical examination or laboratory tests. Bone imaging includes conventional X rays; CT scanning (computed tomography scanning), which…

Tests done to evaluate the density of bones. Bone density testing is used to measure bone strength, predict fracture risk, and assess the degree of osteoporosis, a condition that results in the bones slowly losing mass and becoming more susceptible to fractures. A certain amount of bone loss is a normal consequence of aging in…