Dorland's Medical Dictionary

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amnesic syndrome, amnestic syndrome, amnestic-confabulatory syndrome, a mental disorder characterized by impaired memory with anterograde and sometimes retrograde amnesia in a normal state of consciousness; i.e., the syndrome does not include the impaired memory seen in dementia or delirium. There may be disorientation, confabulation, and lack of insight into the memory deficit. The most common cause is thiamine deficiency from chronic alcohol abuse (Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome), but it may also result from any pathological process causing bilateral damage to parts of the medial temporal lobe or diencephalon, such as the hippocampal formations, mammillary bodies, or dorsal medial nuclei of the thalamus. Other causes include head trauma, brain tumors, infarction, cerebral hypoxia, carbon monoxide poisoning, and herpes simplex encephalitis. Called also dysmnesic s.

Edited October 1, 2005 by wallyg

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Bradbury-Eggleston syndrome, a syndrome of postural hypotension without tachycardia but with visual disturbances, hypohidrosis, impotence, lowered basal metabolic rate, dizziness, syncope, presyncope, and slow unchanging pulse. It occurs predominantly in older males in the early morning hours during the summer and is due to impaired peripheral vasoconstriction; it usually has a progressive course.

Budd-Chiari syndrome , symptomatic obstruction or occlusion of the hepatic veins, causing hepatomegaly, abdominal pain and tenderness, intractable ascites, mild jaundice, and, eventually, portal hypertension and liver failure; the obstruction is caused by thrombi or fibrous obliteration of the veins and has been associated with coagulation disorders, myeloproliferative disorders, invasion of hepatic veins by hepatic, renal, or adrenal carcinoma, and with abdominal trauma. Onset may be acute with death occurring within days in cases of complete occlusion; more often there is a chronic course with survival for months or years. Called also Chiari's s. and endophlebitis hepatica obliterans. Cf. veno-occlusive disease of liver.

carpal tunnel syndrome , a complex of symptoms resulting from compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel, with pain and burning or tingling paresthesias in the fingers and hand, sometimes extending to the elbow.

Atch shows:- Median nerve entrapped in carpal tunnel.

Edited October 1, 2005 by wallyg

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cauda equina syndrome, 1. dull aching pain of the perineum, bladder, and sacrum, generally radiating in a sciatic fashion, with associated paresthesias and areflexic paralysis, due to compression of the spinal nerve roots. 2. see under neuritis.

cervical syndrome, cervical disk syndrome, a condition caused by irritation or compression of the cervical nerve roots by a protruding disk; symptoms include neck pain radiating into the shoulder, arm, or forearm, paresthesias, and muscle weakness or spasm.

chronic fatigue syndrome, persistent debilitating fatigue of recent onset, with reduction of physical activity to less than half of usual, accompanied by some combination of muscle weakness, sore throat, mild fever, tender lymph nodes, headaches, and depression, with the symptoms not attributable to any other known causes. Its nature is controversial; viral infection (including Epstein-Barr virus and human herpesvirus-6) may be associated with it, but no causal relationship has been demonstrated. A number of names have been used for this syndrome, including Iceland disease, benign myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic Epstein-Barr virus infection, chronic mononucleosis, and epidemic neuromyasthenia.

cubital tunnel syndrome, a complex of symptoms resulting from injury or compression of the ulnar nerve at the elbow, with pain and numbness along the ulnar aspect of the hand and forearm, and weakness of the hand.

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Dejerine's syndrome, symptoms of radiculitis; namely, distribution of the pain, motor, and sensory defects in the region of the radicular or segmental disturbance of the nerve roots rather than along the course of the peripheral nerve.

disconnection syndrome, any neurologic disorder caused by an interruption in impulse transmission along cerebral fiber pathways; one result may be an inability to carry out a desired movement in response to a given sensory input, as in the apraxias.

hyperventilation syndrome, a complex of symptoms that accompany hypocapnia caused by hyperventilation, including palpitations, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, profuse perspiration, and tingling sensations in the fingertips, face, or toes; prolonged overbreathing may result in vasomotor collapse and loss of consciousness. Hyperventilation unrecognized by the patient is a common cause of the subjective somatic symptoms associated with chronic anxiety or panic attacks.

impingement syndrome, the progressive pathologic changes resulting from mechanical encroachment of the acromion, coracoacromial ligament, coracoid process, or acromioclavicular joint on the rotator cuff, including reversible edema and hemorrhage, fibrosis, tendinitis, pain, bone spur formation, and tendon rupture.

irritable bowel syndrome, irritable colon syndrome, a chronic noninflammatory disease characterized by abdominal pain, altered bowel habits consisting of diarrhea or constipation or both, and no detectable pathologic change; a variant form is characterized by painless diarrhea. It is a common disorder with a psychophysiologic basis. Called also spastic or irritable colon.

malabsorption syndrome, a group of disorders in which there is subnormal absorption of dietary constituents, and thus excessive loss of nonabsorbed substances in the stool; the malabsorption may be due to an intraluminal (digestive) defect (e.g., pancreatic insufficiency), a mucosal abnormality (celiac disease or disaccharidase deficiency), or a lymphatic obstruction (intestinal lymphangiectasia). Unless there is a specific enzyme or transport defect, steatorrhea is usually present. Deficiency syndromes may result from excessive loss of vitamins, electrolytes, iron, calcium, etc.