organophosphorus
[or″gah-no-fos´fah-rus] a compound containing phosphorus bound to an organic molecule. Some are used as insecticides and others are nerve gases; they are highly toxic acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.
organophosphorus compound poisoning poisoning by excessive exposure to an organophosphorus compound; there are usually neurologic symptoms such as axonopathy and paralysis, and it often ends fatally.
Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.