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Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) A life support system that circulates the blood through an oxygenating system. ECMO is like a heart-lung machine that takes over the work of the heart and lungs during open heart surgery. ECMO may be used, for example, to treat ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome), lethal smoke inhalation injury, or irreversible heart failure. As a general rule, ECMO is only used for limited time because of the high risks of bleeding, clotting, infection and organ failure.
RELATED TERMS--------------------------------------
Blood
The life-maintaining fluid which is made up of plasma, red blood cells (erythrocytes), white blood cells (leukocytes), and platelets; blood circulates through the body's heart, arteries, veins, and capillaries; it carries away waste matter and carbon dioxide, and brings nourishment, electrolytes, hormones, vitamins, antibodies, heat, and oxygen to the tissues.
ECMO
Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation. In patients who are unable to provide oxygen for their own blood or enough blood circulation, they can be put on life support known as extra corporial membrane oxygenation. The blood is withdrawn from a large vein in the body and passes through a pumping mechanism, and then through a device which puts oxygen into the blood and removes carbon dioxide from the blood. The blood is then returned to the body and circulated in such a way as to sustain life.
Heart
The hollow, muscular organ responsible for pumping blood through the circulatory system.
Lungs
The main respiratory organs in the chest where blood is oxygenated.
Surgery
Treating diseases or other medical conditions by operating on a patient to remove or repair parts of the body.
ARDS
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. A fulminant lung condition in which trauma to the lungs leads to inflammation of the lungs, accumulation of fluid in the alveolar air sacs, low blood oxygen, and respiratory distress.
Injury
Injury is damage or harm caused to the structure or function of the body caused by an outside agent or force, which may be physical or chemical.
Clotting
The sealing of a blood vessel with coagulated blood.
Infection
Anything that invades the body and reproduces. Infections can be bacteria, protozoa, fungi, or viruses. Bacteria and fungi are one celled creatures that cause many infections including strep throat, bladder infections, and some lung infections. Fungi cause “athlete’s foot” and thrush, an infection in the mouth. Protozoa are small organisms with many cells that can cause infections in the guts or in the lungs. Most healthy people do not get protozoal infections, but people with suppressed immune systems can. Viruses are not really organisms; they are tiny particles that can live only inside another cell. They reproduce by taking over a cell and causing that cell to make more virus particles, rather than doing what the cell is supposed to do. Viruses cause most colds and flu cases.
Organ
A structural unit of an animal or plant that serves a specific function.
SIMILAR TERMS--------------------------------------
Extra-strength aim
Extra-strength aim is a prescription or over-the-counter drug which is (or once was) approved in the United States and possibly in other countries. Active ingredient(s): sodium monofluorophosphate.
Extracellular
Outside the cells.
Extracerebral
Located outside the cerebral hemispheres.
Extracolonic
Outside the colon. An hereditary colon cancer syndrome may also predispose to extracolonic malignancies.
Extracorporeal
Outside the body, in the anatomic sense. As in extracorporeal circulation, extracorporeal dialysis, and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy
A technique for shattering stones such as kidney stones or gallstones with a shock wave produced outside the body.
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL)
A method of breaking up bile stones and gallstones. Uses a specialized tool and shock waves.
Extracranial
Outside the cranium, the bony dome that houses and protects the brain. As opposed to intracranial, inside the cranium.
Extracranial hematoma
A hematoma (a collection of blood) outside the cranium (skull).
Extraction
Removal of a tooth
Extradural
External (outside) to the dura mater.
Extraembryonic tissues
Intrauterine tissues derived from the zygote that support the embryo(for example, the placenta, the umbilical cord, and membranes such as the amniotic sac).
Extrafallopian
A term meaning "outside the fallopian tube." There are two fallopian tubes in female mammals, including human females. These tubes are also called oviducts. They serve as passageways connecting the egg-producing ovaries to the uterus (womb) in the pelvis.
Extraneal
Extraneal is a prescription or over-the-counter drug which is (or once was) approved in the United States and possibly in other countries. Active ingredient(s): icodextrin.
Extraocular
Adjacent to but outside the eyeball.
Extrapyramidal side effects
Physical symptoms, including tremor, slurred speech, akathesia, dystonia, anxiety, distress, paranoia, and bradyphrenia, that are primarily associated with improper dosing of or unusual reactions to neuroleptic (anti-psychotic) medications.
Extrapyramidal system
System consisting of nerve cells, nerve tracts and pathways that connects the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus, cerebellum, reticular formation, and spinal neurons that is concerned with the regulation of reflex movements such as balance and walking.
Extrastriate cortex
Region of primate cerebral cortex anterior to striate cortex.
Extrasystole
A premature contraction of the heart that is independent of the normal rhythm of the heart and that arises in response to an impulse in some part of the heart other than the normal impulse from the sinoatrial (SA) node. The extrasystole is followed by a pause, as the heart electrical system "resets" itself and the contraction following the pause is usually more forceful than normal. These more forceful contractions are frequently perceived as palpitations.
Extrauterine
Outside the uterus (the womb). As opposed to intrauterine: inside the uterus. For example, normal pregnancies are intrauterine; extrauterine pregnancies can occur in the uterine tube or abdominal cavity and are distinctly abnormal.
Extrauterine pregnancy
A pregnancy that is not in the usual place and is located outside the inner lining of the uterus. A fertilized egg settles and grows in any location other than the inner lining of the uterus. The large majority (95%) of extrauterine pregnancies occur in the Fallopian tube. However, they can occur in other locations, such as the ovary, cervix, and abdominal cavity.
Extravasate
To seep through the skin, like drops of perspiration, or more accurately as plasma seeps through from the underlying capillaries to form droplets of lubrication on the adjoining vaginal mucosa.
Extraversion
A state in which attention and energies are largely directed outward from the self as opposed to inward toward the self, as in introversion.
Extremity
The extremities in medical language are not freezing cold or scorching heat but rather the uttermost parts of the body. The extremities are simply the hands and feet.
Extremophile
An organism that lives under extreme conditions. An example of an extremophile is Methanococcus jannaschii, a microbe that lives near hydrothermal vents deep beneath the sea.
Extrinsic
1. Not an essential or inherent part of a something such as a structure. 2. Coming from the outside. Extrinsic forces can mold the head before birth.
Extrinsic asthma
Asthma that is triggered by an allergic reaction, usually to something that is inhaled.
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External fixation
A procedure that stabilizes and joins the ends of fractured (broken) bones by a splint or cast. External fixation is as opposed to internal fixation in which the ends of the fractured bone are joined by mechanical devices such as metal plates, pins, rods, wires or screws.
External jugular vein
The more superficial of the two jugular veins situated on each side of the neck. The other is the internal jugular vein. They drain blood from the head, brain, face and neck and convey it toward the heart.
External radiation therapy
Radiation therapy using a machine located outside the body to aim high-energy rays at a tumor.
Extracolonic
Outside the colon. An hereditary colon cancer syndrome may also predispose to extracolonic malignancies.
Extracorporeal
Outside the body, in the anatomic sense. As in extracorporeal circulation, extracorporeal dialysis, and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy
A technique for shattering stones such as kidney stones or gallstones with a shock wave produced outside the body.
Extracranial
Outside the cranium, the bony dome that houses and protects the brain. As opposed to intracranial, inside the cranium.
Extracranial hematoma
A hematoma (a collection of blood) outside the cranium (skull).
Extrafallopian
A term meaning "outside the fallopian tube." There are two fallopian tubes in female mammals, including human females. These tubes are also called oviducts. They serve as passageways connecting the egg-producing ovaries to the uterus (womb) in the pelvis.
Extrapyramidal side effects
Physical symptoms, including tremor, slurred speech, akathesia, dystonia, anxiety, distress, paranoia, and bradyphrenia, that are primarily associated with improper dosing of or unusual reactions to neuroleptic (anti-psychotic) medications.
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