Medical terms beginning with P

Damage to it produces combinations of findings so characteristic that the site can often be named before any scan is done.

Having to do with the pons (part of the central nervous system, located at the base of the brain, between the medulla oblongata and the midbrain).

A study of a group of individuals taken from the general population who share a common characteristic, such as age, sex, or health condition.

Porcine describes anything derived from or related to pigs, a term used in medicine for certain tissue-based products and research models.

The sodium salt of a mixture of oligomers formed by ether and ester linkages of up to eight porphyrin units with photodynamic activity.

An N-methyl derivative of the antineoplastic antibiotic mitomycin C isolated from the bacterium Streptomyces ardus and other Streptomyces bacterial species.

A port is a small device implanted under the skin that allows repeated vein access for medication or blood draws without new needle sticks.

Because the entire device sits beneath the skin, a port-a-cath requires only a needle stick rather than a visible external tube between uses.

Portal hypertension is elevated blood pressure within the vein system draining the digestive organs into the liver, most often caused by cirrhosis.

A vein that ends in a second network of tiny vessels instead of heading back to the heart, most famously the one feeding the liver.

One of the broadest antifungal drugs available, valued for covering molds that most others in its class miss.

A lymph node in the area of the armpit (axilla) to which cancer has spread.

A test result that reveals the presence of a specific disease or condition for which the test is being done.

A procedure in which a small amount of radioactive glucose (sugar) is injected into a vein, and a scanner is used to make detailed, computerized pictures of areas inside the body where the glucose…

Nothing is posterior on its own, since the word only carries meaning once a second structure is named for comparison.

Surgery to remove the lower part of the bowel, rectum, uterus, cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, and vagina.

A disease in which malignant (cancer) cells are found in the part of the urethra (the tube through which urine leaves the body) that connects to the bladder (the organ that stores urine).

Postmortem describes anything occurring or performed after death, most commonly an examination carried out to determine the cause of death.

Postoperative means occurring after a surgical operation.

Postprandial means occurring after a meal.