Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «W»:
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Waardenburg syndrome
Waardenburg syndrome: A genetic disorder that causes deafness, white forelock (a frontal white blaze of hair), a difference of color between the iris of one eye and the other (heterochromia iridis), white eye lashes, and wide-set inner corners of the eyes.
The deafness is typically congenital (pres...
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Waardenburg, Petrus Johannes
Waardenburg, Petrus Johannes: (1886-1979) Dutch ophthalmologist and medical geneticist who described the condition now known as Waardenburg syndrome. The syndrome is characterized by wide bridge of the nose owing to lateral displacement of the inner canthus of each eye, pigmentary disturbance (front...
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Wagner syndrome
Wagner syndrome: a genetic condition caused by a mutation in the gene
(CSPG2 on chromosome 5) encoding chondroitin sulfate
proteoglycan-2, also known as versican. Versican is a substance present in the vitreous body of the
eye. Symptoms and signs include changes in the vitreous body of the eye, r...
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Wagner's syndrome
Wagner's syndrome: See: Wagner syndrome....
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Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia
Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia: A chronic low-grade (indolent) type of lymphoma due to a malignant clone of plasma cells. These plasma cells multiply out of control, invade the bone marrow, lymph nodes, and spleen, and characteristically produce huge amounts of a large-sized antibody called macroglob...
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Walker, baby
Walker, baby: A device that allows a baby to move about in a half-seated, half-upright position.
A "walker" may paradoxically delay a baby in development. The baby using a walker tends to be slow in reaching motor milestones such as sitting up, crawling, and walking and other milestones such as thos...
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Walking pneumonia
Walking pneumonia: A lay term used to refer to atypical pneumonia.
Pneumonia is an infection of the lung; atypical pneumonia refers to pneumonia caused by certain bacteria, including
Legionella pneumophila, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Chlamydophila pneumoniae. Typically, the pneumonia produced by
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Walleye
Walleye: 1. A dense white opacity (leukoma) of the cornea. 2. Divergent strabismus (exotropia) in which the eye turns outward away from the nose.
3. Large staring eyes, like those of certain fish such as the pike.
All of these meanings relate to the walleyed pike, a freshwater perch. When the wall...
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Walleyed
Walleyed: 1. Having exotropia -- divergent strabismus -- in which the eyes turn outward away from the nose. The Japanese term is ron-pari, as one
eye is looking at Rondon (London) and the other is looking at Pari (Paris).
2. Having a dense white opacity (leukoma) of the cornea.
3. Having large st...
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Wamble
Wamble: Both a verb and noun meaning:
1. To move unsteadily; an unsteady motion.
2. To feel nauseated; a feeling of nausea.
3. (Of a stomach) To rumble or growl.
From the Middle English wamelen (to feel nausea), from the
Indo-European root wem- (to vomit), the source of the words
such as vomit an...
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Warble
Warble: A small hard nodule produced by the larva of a fly that has penetrated the skin. The warble can be erythematous (reddened). The most common complication is a secondary bacterial infection around the warble. The usual treatment is to extract the larva by gentle pressure and forceps....
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Warburg apparatus
Warburg apparatus: A device used in biochemistry for
measuring breathing (respiration) by tissues. Tissue slices are
enclosed in a chamber in which the temperature and pressure are
monitored, and the amount of gas produced or consumed by the tissue
is measured.
The Warburg apparatus was invent...
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Warburg's yellow enzyme
Warburg's yellow enzyme: A key respiratory enzyme discovered by the German biochemist Otto Heinrich Warburg (1883-1970), a pioneer in research on the respiration of cells and the metabolism of tumors. Warburg's yellow enzyme is a flavoprotein that catalyzes an oxidation-reduction reaction. This re...
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Warfarin
Warfarin: An anticoagulant drug (brand
names: Coumarin, Panwarfin, Sofarin) taken to prevent the blood from clotting and to treat blood clots and overly thick blood. Warfarin is also used to
reduce the risk of clots causing
strokes or heart attacks.
Warfarin works by suppressing the production of...
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Warfarin, teratogenicity of
Warfarin, teratogenicity of: The anticoagulant warfarin
(COUMADIN) is a known teratogen, an agent that can disturb the
development of the embryo and fetus and lead to birth defects..
Warfarin taken by a woman during pregnancy can cause bleeding into
the baby's brain (cerebral hemorrhage), underd...
