Term | Definition |
avascular | pertaining to a type of tissue that does not have blood vessels |
cutaneous | pertaining to the skin |
dermis | deeper layer of the skin, composed of nerves, blood vessels, hair follicles, and sebaceous and sudoriferous glands |
epidermis | outer protective layer of skin that covers the body and does not have a blood or nerve supply |
lesion | wound, injury, or pathological change in body tissue |
sebaceous | pertaining to sebum, an oily fatty substance secreted by these glands |
subcutaneous | pertaining to under the skin |
sudoriferous | pertaining to or producing sweat |
systemic | pertaining to a system or the whole body rather than a localized are |
therapeutic | pertaining to a treatment, remediating, or curing a disorder or disease |
vascular | pertaining to or containing blood vessels |
adip/o | fat |
lip/o | fat |
steat/o | fat |
cutane/o | skin |
dermat/o | sking |
derm/o | skin |
cyan/o | blue |
erythem/o | red |
erythemat/o | red |
erythr/o | red |
hidr/o | sweat |
sudor/o | sweat |
ichthyl/o | dry, scaly |
kerta/o | horny tissue; hard cornea |
melan/o | back |
myc/o | fungus |
onych/o | nail |
pil/o | hair |
trich/o | hair |
scler/o | hardening, sclera (white of eye) |
seb/o | sebum, sebaceous |
squam/o | scale |
therm/o | heat |
xer/o | dry |
-cyte | cell |
-derma | skin |
-phoresis | carrying, transmission |
hyper- | excessive, above, normal |
abrasion | scraping or rubbing away of a surface, such as skin, by friction |
abscess | localized collection of pus at the infection site (staphylococcal infection) |
furuncle | abscess that originates in a hair follicle (boil) |
carbuncle | cluster of furuncles in the subcutaneous tissue |
acne | inflammatory disease of sebaceous follicles of skin. Marked by comedos (blackheads), papules, and pustules (small skin lesion with purulent material) |
alopecia | absence or loss of hair, especially on the head (baldness) |
burn | tissue injury with contact with thermal, chemical, electrical, or radioactive agent |
first degree burn (superficial) | mild burn. Affects dermis. characterized by redness and pain with no blistering or scar formation |
second degree burn (partial thickness) | burn affects epidermis and part of the dermis, characterized by blistering, larger bullae, pain, redness. with little or no scarring |
third degree (full thickness) | severe burn characterized by destruction of the epidermis and dermis with damage to the subcutaneous layer, leaves skin charred black or dry white. also insensitive to touch |
cacinoma | uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. (malignant cells) |
melanoma | malignant tumor, originates in melanocytes, considered most dangerous type of skin change, can be fatal |
comedo | discolored dried sebum plugging an excretory duct of the skin (blackhead) |
cyst | closed sac or pouch in or under the skin, with a definite wall that contains fluid, semifluid, or solid material |
pilonidal cyst | growth of hair in a dermoid cyst or in a sinus opening of the skin |
sebaceous cyst | cyst filled with sebum (fatty material from sebaceous gland) |
eczema | redness of skin, caused by swelling capillaries |
gangrene | death of tissue, usually from loss of blood supply |
hemorrhage | external or internal loss of large amounts of blood in a short period |
contusion | hemorrhage of any size under the skin, where the skin is not broken (bruise) |
ecchymosis | skin discoloration, large, irregularly formed hemorrhagic area with colors changing from blue-black to greenish brown or yellow (bruise( |
petechia | minute, pinpoint hemorrhagic spot of the skin that is a smaller version of an ecchymosis |
hematoma | elevated, localized collection of blood trapped under the skin that usually results from trauma |
hirsutism | excessive hair growth in unusual places, especially in women. due to hypersecretion of testosterone |
ichthyosis | genetic skin disorder in which the skin is dry and scaly, resembling fish skin due to a defect in keratinization |
impetigo | bacterial skin infection characterized by isolated pustules that become crusted and rupture |
keloid | overgrowth of scar tissue at the site of skin surgery due to excessive collagen formation during healing process |
psoriasis | chronic skin disease characterized by itchy red patches covered with silvery scales |
scabies | contagious skin disease transmitted by the itch mite |
skin lesions | areas of pathologically altered tissue caused by disease, injury, or a wound due to external factors or internal disease |
tinea | fungal infection whose name commonly indicates the body part affected (ringworm=athlete's foot=tinea pedis) |
ulcer | skin lesion or mucous membranes marked by inflammation, necrosis, and sloughing of damaged tissues |
pressure ulcer | skin ulceration caused by prolonged pressure, in people who are bedridden (bedsore, decubitus ulcer) |
urticaria | allergic reaction in skin characterized by pale red elevated patches, irruption, intensely itchy (wheals, hives) |
verruca | rounded epidermal growth caused by a virus (wart) |
vesicle | small blister-like elevation on the skin containing clear fluid. large ones are called bullae |
vitiligo | localized loss of skin pigmentation characterized by milk-white patches (leukoderma) |
wheal | smooth, slightly elevated skin that is white in the center with a pale red, periphery (hives if itchy) |
biopsy (bx) | removing small piece of tissue from an organ for microscopic examination, to confirm a diagnosis or to follow the course of a disease |
skin test | test when a suspected allergen or sensitizer is applied/injected into the skin to determine the patient's sensitivity to it |
cryosurgery | subfreezing temperature, used with liquid nitrogen to destroy abnormal tissue cells, such as cancer or infected tissue |
debridement | removing foreign material, damaged tissue, or cellular debris from a wound or burn to prevent infection and promote healing |
fulguration | tissue destroyed by means of high-frequency electric current (electrodesiccation) |
incision and drainage (I&D) | incision of a lesion, like abscess, followed by draining its contents |
Mohs surgery | (surgical procedure) used to treat skin neoplasms, tumor tissue fixed in place is removed layer by layer for microscopic examination until the entire tumor is removed |
skin graft | (surgical procedure) used to transplant healthy tissue by applying to an injured site |
allograft | transplanting healthy tissue from one person to another person (homograft) |
autograft | transplantation of healthy tissue from one site to another site in the same individual |
synthetic | transplantation of artificial skin produced from collagen fibers arranged in a lattice pattern |
xenograft | transplantation (dermis only) from a foreign donor (usually a pig) and transferred to a human (heterograft) |
skin resurfacing | procedure that repairs damaged skin, acne scars, fine or deep wrinkles, or tattoos, improves skin tone irregularities through the use of topical chemicals, abrasion, or laser |
chemical peel | using chemicals to remove outer layers of skin to treat acne scarring and general keratoses as well as for cosmetic purposes to remove fine wrinkles on the face (chemabrasion) |
cutaneous laser | any laser treatment employed for cosmetic and plastic surgery |
dermabraion | removal of acne scars, nevi, tattoos, or fine wrinkles on the skin through the use of sandpaper, wire brushes, or other abrasive materials on the epidermal layer |
antibiotics | kill bacteria that cause skin infection |
antifungals | kill fungi that infect the skin |
antipruritics | reduce severe itching |
corticosteroids | anti-inflammatory agents that treat skin inflammation |
basal cell carinoma | most common type of nonmelanoma skin cancer. a cancerous tumor (malignancy) of the basal layer of the epidermis (hair follicles). caused by overexposure to sunlight |
electrodessication, cryosurgery, radiation therapy | treatments for basal cell carcinoma |
squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) | 2nd more common form of nonmelanoma skin cancer. due to prolonged UV radiation exposure |
CA | cancer, chronological age, cardiac arrest |
Derm | dermatology |
FH | family history |
IM | intramuscular |
IMP | impression (diagnosis) |
PE | physical examination, pulmonary embolism, pressure-equalizing (tube) |
subcu
Sub-Q
subQ | subcutaneous (injection) |
WBC | white blood count |
dermatologists | specialists focus on diseases of skin and relationship of lesions to a systematic diseases |
integumentary | covering, skin |
basal cell carcinoma | most common nonmelanoma skin cancer. cancerous tumor of the basal layer of the epidermis/hair follicles, metastasize |
malignancy | cancerous tumor |
metastasize | spread to other parts of the body |
treatments of basal cell carcinoma | excision, curettage, electrodessication, cryosurgery, radiation therapy |
squamous cell carcinoma | 2nd most common form of nonmelanoma skin cancer. can cause serious implications. from prolonged UV exposure |