Category: P

A drug administered by mouth or injection to control abnormal heart rhythm. It has the side-effects of propranolol and, in addition, more serious side-effects, particularly affecting the eyes and skin.  

A salt of potassium that is used to treat overactivity of the thyroid gland (thyrotoxicosis). It is administered by mouth; side-effects may include digestive upsets and rashes.  

A salt of potassium that has antifungal, antibacterial, and deodorant activities. It is applied to the skin in creams or lotions to treat skin infections and occasionally causes skin irritation.  

A surgical technique in which the hepatic portal vein is joined to the inferior vena cava. Blood draining from the abdominal viscera is thus diverted past the liver. It is used in the treatment of portal hypertension since, by lowering the pressure within the veins of the stomach and esophagus, it prevents serious bleeding into…

A pigment that appears in the urine of individuals with acute porphyria, causing it to darken if left standing. An intermediate product in heme synthesis sometimes found in the urine of patients with acute porphyria. The urine may appear normal when fresh but will change to a burgundy wine color or even to black when…

A complex nitrogen-containing ring structure and parent compound of the porphyrins. The basic ring structure forming the framework of all porphyrins. It consists of four pyrrole rings united by methene couplings.  

A genus of wormlike arthropods occurring mainly in tropical Africa and India. The legless adults are parasites in the lungs of snakes. The eggs, which are ejected with the snake’s bronchial secretions, may be accidentally swallowed by man. The larva bores through the gut wall and usually migrates to the liver, where it develops into…

A rare infestation of the nasal cavities, windpipe, lungs, liver, or spleen by the nymphs of the parasitic arthropod Porocephalus. Man becomes infected on consumption of water or uncooked vegetables contaminated with the parasite’s eggs. There may be some abdominal pain while the parasite is in the gut but generally there are no symptoms. Porocephaliasis…

Fertilization of a single ovum by more than one spermatozoon: the development is abnormal and the embryo dies. The fertilization of an ovum by multiple spermatozoa. Fertilization of the egg by more than one sperm.  

A congenital abnormality resulting in more than two testes. The condition of having more than two testicles.