List of terms that you may come across
A
- Aetiology
- cause
- Anterior spinal fusion
- a way to correct scoliosis via an anterior approach
- Aspiration pneumonia
- pneumonia caused by irritation or bacteria from stomach content entering lungs due to faulty swallowing
- Atelectasis
- condition in which the lungs are not fully inflated
B
- Baseline
- the starting point to compare other tests
- BiPAP
- bi – two way; PAP – positive air pressure. Used to maintain lung expansion
- Body Mass Index
- relationship between weight and height according to formula weight, in kg, divided by the square of length, in metres
C
- Cardiomyopathy
- deterioration of heart muscle function – also known as “heart muscle disease”
- Cobb angle
- measurement of scoliosis angle from spinal X-ray
- Contractures
- tightness round a joint leading to its becoming fixed in a particular position or having less than full range of motion at that joint
- Cushingoid features
- term used to describe the round or “moonlike” face that people on steroids may develop. (This may be prominent even if weight gain overall is not an issue and can be hard to control without a change in steroid or in the dosing schedule)
D
- Depolarising muscle relaxants
- drugs that decrease the muscle tone by acting on muscle receptors involved in depolarisation
- DEXA
- see abbreviations
- Dysphagia
- swallowing problems
- Dystrophinopathy
- the term used to cover all the different conditions caused by faults in the dystrophin gene (Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Becker muscular dystrophy, manifesting carriers of one of these conditions and rare patients who have only heart disease)
E
- Eccentric Exercises
- exercises such as going downstairs or trampolining that involve lengthening rather than contraction of the muscle
- Electrocardiogram (ECG)
- methods used to assess the electrical activity of the cardiac muscle. The ECG involves stickers placed on the chest to record heart signals.
- Echocardiogram (“echo”)
- method used to assess the structure of the heart. The Echo is also known as a “cardiac ultrasound” and gives pictures of the beating heart
- Electromyography
- a test that measures electrical signals from a muscle and can give a clue to whether a nerve or muscle disorder is present
F
- Forced Vital Capacity
- the maximum volume of air that can be exhaled after maximum inhalation
G
- Gastritis/gastroesophageal reflux
- occurs when the muscle joining the oesophagus (swallowing tube from the mouth) to the stomach opens on its own, or does not close properly and stomach contents rise up into the oesophagus. Also called acid reflux or acid regurgitation, because digestive juices, called acids, rise up with the food
- Gastrostomy
- surgical opening into the stomach, in this case to insert a feeding tube. Sometimes referred to as a PEG
- Germline mosaicism
- condition in which the cells in the gonads that will develop into germ cells (ova and spermatozoa) are a mixture of two genetically different cell types
- Glucose intolerance
- defines a pre-diabetic state associated with insulin resistance
- Gowers’ manoeuvre/sign
- a sign of weakness in the muscles round the hips and upper part of the lower legs. It describes the way that someone with weakness in these muscles gets up of the floor, needing to turn onto their front, keep their legs wide apart and using a hand on their thigh to rise. It is commonly seen in DMD but other conditions causing weakness in the same muscle groups also cause a Gowers’ manoeuvre
H
- Holter
- method used for continuous ambulatory 24 hr ECG recording
- Hypercapnia
- too much carbon dioxide in the blood
- Hypertension
- high blood pressure
- Hypoventilation
- reduced breathing efficiency of ventilatory capacity
- Hypoxemia
- decreased oxygen levels in the blood
I
- Immunoblotting
- a way to measure the amount of dystrophin in the muscle
- Immunocytochemistry
- a way to look at the muscle under the microscope and see how much dystrophin is present
K
- Knee adductors
- the muscles that keep the knees together
- Kyphoscoliosis
- abnormal curvature of the spine with both sideward (scoliosis) and hunched forward or backward (kyphosis)
M
- Malignant Hyperthermia-like reaction
- a response to anaesthesia that causes a high temperature and can be life-threatening
- Motor Function Scales
- tests which are used to assess activities of motor performance in a standardised way
- Myoglobinuria
- presence of myoglobin in the urine as a sign of breakdown of muscle (urine looks coca-cola coloured because it contains breakdown products of muscle proteins)
O
- Osteopenia/osteoporosis
- decrease in bone mineral density
- Oximetry
- the measurement of oxygen in the blood stream using a machine to detect it through the skin
P
- Palpitations
- awareness of abnormal heartbeats
- Pelvic obliquity
- describes a condition in which the pelvis is uneven, such as being rotated downward on one side
- Prophylaxis
- prevention
R
- Rhabdomyolysis
- breakdown of muscle
S
- Scoliosis
- curvature of the spine
T
- Tanner stage
- defines pubertal development based on external primary and secondary sex characteristics, such as the size of the breasts, genitalia and the development of pubic hair
- Tenotomy
- surgical cutting of a tendon
- Thrombolitic events
- formation of a clot (thrombus) in a blood vessel that breaks loose and is carried by the blood stream to plug another vessel
- Tinea
- a fungal skin infection
- Tracheostomy
- surgical procedure on the neck to open a direct airway through an incision in the trachea (the windpipe)
V
- Varus
- inward rotation of the foot due to an imbalance of the foot muscles
- Volume recruitment
- increasing the amount of air taken in by the lungs using a device to help inflate the lungs. Such devices include Ambu bags and inexsufflators. Ventilators can also be used to increase volume
- Videofluoroscopic study
- assessment tool to view and determine the nature and extent of an oropharyngeal swallowing problem. A video X-ray is taken as the child swallows the food
Information based on consensus statement (published in January 2010)