Category: K

A term used in the Medisgroups 11 method of measuring the severity of a patient’s illness or injury (see severity of illness). KCFs are found in a “standardized medical glossary,” a list of “…objective clinical findings (e.g. lab test results)…” Severity is defined in the KCF system as likelihood of organ failure.  

A sharply localized forward angulation of the spine, resulting in the appearance of a lump (the deformity of the traditional hunchback). The deformity is due to collapse of the anterior part of a vertebra, usually caused by osteoporosis, a secondary malignant deposit, or tuberculosis.  

A tropical disease, common in southern India, caused by a virus transmitted to man through the bite of the forest-dwelling tick Haemaphysalis spinigera. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscular pains, vomiting, conjunctivitis, exhaustion, bleeding of nose and gums and, subsequently, internal bleeding and the ‘necrosis of various tissues. General therapy, in the absence of specific treatment,…

A rapidly developing malignant growth in one or (more often) both ovaries: a type of fibrosarcoma. The tumor usually arises following the development of a similar growth in the stomach or intestine. A malignant tumor of the ovary, usually bilateral and frequently secondary to malignancy of the gastrointestinal tract. Histologically, these tumors consist of myxomatous…

Inflammation of the navicular bone of the foot. It occurs in children, causing pain and limping, and is treated by strapping the foot. Aseptic necrosis of the navicular bone of the wrist.  

A genus of Gram-negative rodlike nonmotile mostly lactose-fermenting bacteria found in the respiratory, intestinal, and urogenital tracts of animals and man. The species K. aerogenes is associated with human urinary infections; K. pneumoniae is associated with pneumonia and other respiratory infections. The species K. rhinoscleromatis causes rhinoscleroma, a chronic infection of the nose and pharynx.…

An instrument for measuring a patient’s awareness of the muscular and joint movements of his own body: used during the investigation of nervous and muscular disorders and certain forms of brain damage. An instrument for testing the ability to determine the position of the muscles.  

Inability to sense the positions and movements of parts of the body, with consequent disordered physical activity. The inability to perceive the extent of a movement or direction, resulting in ataxia.  

Outward bulging of the base of a deep ulcer of the cornea. The deep layer of the cornea (Descemet’s membrane) is elastic and very resistant to ulceration; it therefore bulges when the overlying cornea has been destroyed. The protrusion or herniation of Descemet’s membrane through a weakened or absent corneal stroma as a result of…

A thermometer used to measure the cooling power of the air surrounding it, having its bulb covered with water-moistened material. The instrument is brought to a steady temperature of 100°F and then exposed to the air. The time taken for the temperature recorded by the thermometer to fall to 95°F gives an index of the…