Retinal Detachment Glossary of Terms

Abnormal: Not normal. Deviating from the usual structure, position, condition, or behavior. In referring to a growth, abnormal may mean that it is cancerous or premalignant (likely to become cancer ).
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Aging: The process of becoming older, a process that is genetically determined and environmentally modulated.
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Anesthesia: Loss of feeling or awareness. A general anesthetic puts the person to sleep. A local anesthetic causes loss of feeling in a part of the body such as a tooth or an area of skin without affecting consciousness. Regional anesthesia numbs a larger part of the body such as a leg or arm, also without affecting consciousness. The term "conduction anesthesia" encompasses both local and regional anesthetic techniques. Many surgical procedures can be done with conduction anesthesia without significant pain. In many situations, such as a C-section, conduction anesthesia is safer and therefore preferable to general anesthesia. However, there are also many types of surgery in which general anesthesia is clearly appropriate.

Biochemical: Relating to biochemistry, the application of the tools and concepts of chemistry to living systems.
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Blood: The familiar red fluid in the body that contains white and red blood cells, platelets, proteins, and other elements. The blood is transported throughout the body by the circulatory system. Blood functions in two directions: arterial and venous. Arterial blood is the means by which oxygen and nutrients are transported to tissues while venous blood is the means by which carbon dioxide and metabolic by-products are transported to the lungs and kidneys, respectively, for removal from the body.

Blurred vision: Lack of sharpness of vision with, as a result, the inability to see fine detail. Blurred vision can occur when a person who wears corrective lens is without them. Blurred vision can also be an important clue to eye disease.

Brain: That part of the central nervous system that is located within the cranium ( skull ). The brain functions as the primary receiver, organizer and distributor of information for the body. It has two (right and left) halves called "hemispheres."
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Capsule: Capsule has many meanings in medicine including the following:

1. In medicine, a membranous structure that envelops an organ, a joint, tumor, or any other part of the body. It is usually made up of dense collagen-containing connective tissue.
2. In pharmacy, a solid dosage form in which the drug is enclosed in a hard or soft soluble container, usually of a form of gelatin.
3. In microbiology, a coat around a microbe, such as a bacterium or fungus.

Cataract: A clouding of the lens of the eye. The normally clear aspirin-sized lens of the eye starts to become cloudy. The result is much like smearing grease over the lens of a camera. It impairs normal vision.

Cataract surgery: Removal of the clouded lens (the cataract ) in its entirety by surgery, usually followed by replacement of the lens with an intraocular lens (IOL) made of plastic, silicone, acrylic or other material. The operation typically takes about an hour, is done under local anesthetic only, and does not require hospitalization.

Central vision: Straight-ahead vision. Central vision is the work of the macula, a small area in the center of the retina that contains a rich collection of cones. (The retina is made up of two types of cells, the cones and the rods. Millions of cones are packed into the macula. The cones are nerve cells sensitive to light, fine detail, and color.) Central vision permits a person to read, drive, and perform other activities that require fine, sharp, straight-ahead vision. As opposed to peripheral vision.

Chronic: This important term in medicine comes from the Greek chronos, time and means lasting a long time.
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Circulatory: Having to do with the circulation, the movement of fluid in a regular or circuitous course. Although the adjective "circulatory" need not necessarily refer to the circulation of the blood, for all practical purposes today it does. A circulatory problem is taken usually to be a problem with the blood circulation, for example with heart failure.
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Complication: In medicine, an additional problem that arises following a procedure, treatment or illness and is secondary to it. A complication complicates the situation.
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Condition: The term "condition" has a number of biomedical meanings including the following:

1. An unhealthy state, such as in "this is a progressive condition."
2. A state of fitness, such as "getting into condition."
3. Something that is essential to the occurrence of something else; essentially a "precondition."
4. As a verb: to cause a change in something so that a response that was previously associated with a certain stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus; to condition a person, as in behavioral conditioning.

Conjunctiva: A thin clear moist membrane that coats the inner surfaces of the eyelids and the outer surface of the eye.
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Contrast: Short for "contrast media." Contrast media are X-ray dyes used to provide contrast, for example, between blood vessels and other tissue.

Cornea: The clear front window of the eye that transmits and focuses light into the eye.
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Cryoprobe: A surgical probe, a long slender pointed surgical instrument, used to apply extreme cold to tissues. From cryo- from the Greek kryos meaning cold + probe.

Cryotherapy: Literally, “cold therapy.” Cryotherapy, sometimes referred to as cryosurgery, is a procedure used to destroy tissue of both benign and malignant lesions by the freezing and re-thawing process. Liquid nitrogen is the most commonly used freezing source for cryotherapy. Examples of the uses of cryotherapy in medicine are the treatment (removal) of various types of skin lesions , the treatment of dysplastic ( precancerous ) tissue of the uterine cervix, and the treatment of some prostate cancers .
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Diabetes: Refers to diabetes mellitus or, less often, to diabetes insipidus . Diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus share the name "diabetes" because they are both conditions characterized by excessive urination (polyuria).
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Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease ; the identification of an illness. 2 A conclusion or decision reached by diagnosis. The diagnosis is rabies . 3 The identification of any problem. The diagnosis was a plugged IV.
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Diathermy: The use of heat to destroy abnormal cells. Also called cauterization or electrodiathermy.
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Dilate: To stretch or enlarge. It comes from the Latin verb "dilatare" meaning "to enlarge or expand."

Diplopia: The condition in which a single object appears as two objects. Also called "double vision." From the Greek diplo- (double) + -opia (vision). See also: Diplopia, binocular; Diplopia, monocular.

Drain: A device for removing fluid from a cavity or wound. A drain is typically a tube or wick. As a verb, to allow fluid to be released from a confined area.

Eyelid: The lid or cover of the eye, a movable fold of skin and muscle that can be closed over the eyeball or opened at will. Each eye has an upper and a lower lid. An eyelid is also called a palpebra.
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Family history: The family structure and relationships within the family, including information about diseases in family members.
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Film: Slang shortening of X-ray film, an X-ray, a radiograph.

Forceps: An instrument with two blades and a handle used for handling, grasping, or compressing. Many types of forceps are employed in medicine, including the alligator forceps (an angled instrument with jaws at the end), tissue forceps (a form of tweezer), hemostatic forceps (also simply called a hemostat, to clamp a bleeding vessel), mosquito forceps (a small hemostat) and obstetrical forceps (to aid in delivering a baby).
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Genetic: Having to do with genes and genetic information.

Glaucoma : A common eye condition in which the fluid pressure inside the eyes rises because of slowed fluid drainage from the eye. If untreated, it may damage the optic nerve and other parts of the eye, causing the loss of vision or even blindness.
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Hemorrhage: Bleeding or the abnormal flow of blood.
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Hospital: It may seem unnecessary to define a "hospital" since everyone knows the nature of a hospital. A hospital began as a charitable institution for the needy, aged, infirm, or young.
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Incidence: The frequency with which something, such as a disease, appears in a particular population or area. In disease epidemiology, the incidence is the number of newly diagnosed cases during a specific time period. The incidence is distinct from the prevalence which refers to the number of cases alive on a certain date.
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Indicate: In medicine, to make a treatment or procedure advisable because of a particular condition or circumstance. For example, certain medications are indicated for the treatment of hypertension during pregnancy while others are contraindicated.

Infection: The growth of a parasitic organism within the body. (A parasitic organism is one that lives on or in another organism and draws its nourishment therefrom.) A person with an infection has another organism (a "germ") growing within him, drawing its nourishment from the person.
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Inflammation: A basic way in which the body reacts to infection , irritation or other injury, the key feature being redness, warmth, swelling and pain . Inflammation is now recognized as a type of nonspecific immune response .
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Injury: Harm or hurt. The term "injury" may be applied in medicine to damage inflicted upon oneself as in a hamstring injury or by an external agent on as in a cold injury. The injury may be accidental or deliberate, as with a needlestick injury. The term "injury" may be synonymous (depending on the context) with a wound or with trauma.

Inpatient: A patient whose care requires a stay in a hospital. As opposed to an outpatient. The term inpatient dates back to at least 1760. The case of an inpatient was referred to an incase.

Itching: An uncomfortable sensation in the skin that feels as if something is crawling on the skin or in the skin, and makes the person want to scratch the affected area.
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Laser: A powerful beam of light that can produce intense heat when focused at close range. Lasers are used in medicine in microsurgery, cauterization, for diagnostic purposes, etc. For example, lasers are employed in microsurgery to cut tissue and remove tissue.
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Lens: The transparent structure inside the eye that focuses light rays onto the retina (the nerve layer that lines the back of the eye, senses light and creates impulses that go through the optic nerve to the brain). The lens was named after the lentil bean because it resembled it in shape and size.
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Macula: A macula is a small spot. A macula on the skin is a small flat spot while the macula in the eye is a small spot where vision is keenest in the retina.

Macular: Pertaining to the macula. A macula is a small spot. A macula on the skin is a small flat spot while the macula in the eye is a small spot where vision is keenest in the retina .

Metabolism: The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within us (or any living organism). Metabolism consists both of anabolism and catabolism (the buildup and breakdown of substances, respectively). The term is commonly used to refer specifically to the breakdown of food and its transformation into energy.

Microscope: An optical instrument that augments the power of the eye to see small objects. The name microscope was coined by Johannes Faber (1574-1629) who in 1628 borrowed from the Greek to combined micro-, small with skopein, to view. Although the first microscopes were simple microscopes, most (if not all) optical microscopes today are compound microscopes.

Myopia: Nearsightedness, the ability to see close objects more clearly than distant objects.
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Nearsightedness: The ability to see near objects more clearly than distant objects. Also called myopia .
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Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses chemical and electrical signals to transmit sensory and motor information from one body part to another. See: Nervous system.

Operating room: A facility equipped for performing surgery. Abbreviated OR.

Operation: Although there are many meanings to the word "operation", in medicine it refers to a surgical procedure.
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Ophthalmologist: An eye doctor. A physician practicing ophthalmology. An ophthalmologist is an M.D.

Ophthalmoscope: A lighted instrument, one of the most important tools of the physician, used to examine the interior of the eye , including the lens , retina and optic nerve .
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Optic: Having to do with vision.

Optic nerve: The optic nerve connects the eye to the brain. The optic nerve carries the impulses formed by the retina, the nerve layer that lines the back of the eye and senses light and creates impulses. These impulses are dispatched through the optic nerve to the brain, which interprets them as images. Using an ophthalmoscope, the head of the optic nerve can be easily seen. It can be viewed as the only visible part of the brain (or extension of it).
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Outpatient: A patient who is not an inpatient (not hospitalized) but instead is cared for elsewhere -- as in a doctor's office, clinic, or day surgery center. The term outpatient dates back at least to 1715. Outpatient care today is also called ambulatory care.

Oxygen: A colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that makes up about 20% of the air we breathe (and at least half the weight of the entire solid crust of the earth) and which combines with most of the other elements to form oxides. Oxygen is essential to human, animal and plant life.
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Peripheral: Situated away from the center, as opposed to centrally located.
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Peripheral vision: Side vision. The ability to see objects and movement outside of the direct line of vision. Peripheral vision is the work of the rods, nerve cells located largely outside the macula (the center) of the retina. The rods are also responsible for night vision and low-light vision but are insensitive to color. As opposed to central vision.

Periphery: 1. The outside or surface of a structure; the portion outside the central region.
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Phacoemulsification: A procedure in which the lens clouded by a cataract is broken up by ultrasound, irrigated, and suctioned out. Most cataract surgery today is performed using phacoemulsification. Before the advent of this technique, people with cataracts could expect a 10-day hospital stay followed by a lengthy recovery. Today, it is an outpatient procedure. Instead of making a large incision in the eye and removing the lens, the ophthalmologist can make a tiny one and then insert an ultrasonic tip which, vibrating thousands of times a second, breaks up the cataracts without damaging the surrounding tissue. The remains of the cataract are suctioned out.
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Posterior: The back or behind, as opposed to the anterior.
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Postoperative: After surgery. As opposed to preoperative, before surgery.

Predispose: To make more likely or render susceptible. Smoking predisposes to a number of diseases, including esophageal cancer.

Ptosis: Downward displacement. Ptosis of the eyelids is drooping of the eyelids.

Pupil: The opening of the iris. The pupil may appear to open (dilate) and close (constrict) but it is really the iris that is the prime mover; the pupil is merely the absence of iris. The pupil determines how much light is let into the eye. Both pupils are usually of equal size. If they are not, that is termed anisocoria (from "a-", not + "iso", equal + "kore", pupil = not equal pupils).
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Receptor: 1. In cell biology, a structure on the surface of a cell (or inside a cell) that selectively receives and binds a specific substance. There are many receptors. There is a receptor for ( insulin ; there is a receptor for low-density lipoproteins ( LDL ); etc. To take an example, the receptor for substance P, a molecule that acts as a messenger for the sensation of pain , is a unique harbor on the cell surface where substance P docks. Without this receptor, substance P cannot dock and cannot deliver its message of pain. Variant forms of nuclear hormone receptors mediate processes such as cholesterol metabolism and fatty acid production. Some hormone receptors are implicated in diseases such as diabetes and certain types of cancer. A receptor called PXR appears to jump-start the body's response to unfamiliar chemicals and may be involved in drug-drug interactions.
2. In neurology, a terminal of a sensory nerve that receives and responds to stimuli.
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Retina: The retina is the nerve layer that lines the back of the eye, senses light, and creates impulses that travel through the optic nerve to the brain. There is a small area, called the macula, in the retina that contains special light-sensitive cells. The macula allows us to see fine details clearly.
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Retinal: Pertaining to the retina , the extraordinary layer of neurons (nerve cells) that line the back of the eye, which can sense light and create impulses capable of voyaging through the optic nerve to the brain where the impulses are recognized as an image.
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Retinal detachment : A separation of the retina from its connection at the back of the eye. The separation usually results from a tear (that is, a rent or rip, not a tear drop) in the retina. The tear often occurs when the vitreous gel pulls loose or separates from its attachment to the retina, usually in the outside edges of the eye. The vitreous is a clear gel that fills most of the inside of the eye between the retina and the lens. If the retina is weak when the vitreous gel pulls loose, the retina will tear. This rip is sometimes accompanied by bleeding, or hemorrhage, if a blood vessel is also torn.
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Sclera: The tough white outer coat over the eyeball that covers approximately the posterior five-sixths of its surface. The sclera is continuous in the front of the eye with the cornea and in the back of the eye with the external sheath of the optic nerve.
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Sleep : The body's rest cycle.
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Surgeon: A physician who treats disease, injury, or deformity by operative or manual methods. A medical doctor specialized in the removal of organs, masses and tumors and in doing other procedures using a knife (scalpel). The definition of a "surgeon" has begun to blur in recent years as surgeons have begun to minimize the cutting, employ new technologies that are "minimally invasive," use scopes, etc.
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Surgery: The word "surgery" has multiple meanings. It is the branch of medicine concerned with diseases and conditions which require or are amenable to operative procedures. Surgery is the work done by a surgeon. By analogy, the work of an editor wielding his pen as a scalpel is s form of surgery. A surgery in England (and some other countries) is a physician's or dentist's office.
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Tear: A drop of the salty secretion of the lacrimal glands which serves to moisten the conjunctiva and cornea.

Therapy: The treatment of disease .
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Tissue: A tissue in medicine is not like a piece of tissue paper. It is a broad term that is applied to any group of cells that perform specific functions. A tissue in medicine need not form a layer. Thus,

• The bone marrow is a tissue;
• Connective tissue consists of cells that make up fibers in the framework supporting other body tissues; and
• Lymphoid tissue is the part of the body's immune system that helps protect it from bacteria and other foreign entities.

Traction: In medicine, a procedure for manually pulling a part of the body to a beneficial effect.
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Trauma: Any injury , whether physically or emotionally inflicted. "Trauma" has both a medical and a psychiatric definition. Medically, "trauma" refers to a serious or critical bodily injury, wound, or shock . This definition is often associated with trauma medicine practiced in emergency rooms and represents a popular view of the term. In psychiatry , "trauma" has assumed a different meaning and refers to an experience that is emotionally painful, distressful, or shocking, which often results in lasting mental and physical effects.
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Uveitis: Inflammation of the uvea, the part of the eye that collectively refers to the iris, the choroid of the eye, and the ciliary body. The uvea provides most of the blood supply to the retina. Uveitis as a rule signifies inflammation involving the iris, choroid, and ciliary body -- all three components of the uveal tract.
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Vessel: A tube in the body that carries fluids: blood vessels or lymph vessels.

Vitrectomy: Removal of the gel (called the vitreous) from within the eyeball. This may be done because it has blood and scar tissue in it that blocks sight. An eye surgeon then replaces the clouded gel with a clear fluid.

Vitreous: A clear, jelly-like substance that fills the middle of the eye. Also called the vitreous humor, "humor" in medicine referring to a fluid (or semifluid) substance.

From the Doctors at MedicineNet.com

Cataract Surgery - Get information about cataract surgery. Learn how it's performed, what to expect before and after surgery, risks, complications and the causes and diagnosis of cataracts. Source:MedicineNet Electroretinography - Read about electroretinography (ERG), an eye test where electrodes placed on the cornea measure electrical responses to light to try to detect abnormal retinal function. Source:MedicineNet Diabetes - Information on Diabetes (Diabetes Mellitus) including types, causes, symptoms of diabetes, medications, and treatment. Produced by the doctors of MedicineNet.com Source:MedicineNet Read 23 more Retinal Detachment related articles ... Protective Eyewear Key to Sports Safety