local symptom


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lo·cal symp·tom

a symptom of limited extent, caused by disease of a particular organ or part.

symptom

(sim(p)'tom) [Gr. symptoma, occurrence]
Any change in the body or its functions as perceived by the patient. A symptom represents the subjective experience of disease. Symptoms are described by patients in their complaint or history of the present illness. By contrast, signs are the objective findings observed by health care providers during the examination of patients.

Aspects of general symptom analysis include the following: onset: date, manner (gradual or sudden), and precipitating factors; characteristics: character, location, radiation, severity, timing, aggravating or relieving factors, and associated symptoms; course since onset: incidence, progress, and effects of therapy.

accessory symptom

A minor symptom, or a nonpathognomonic one.
Synonym: assident symptom

accidental symptom

A symptom occurring incidentally during the course of a disease but having no relationship to the disease.

alarm symptom

A symptom that raises the concern that a patient may have a severe illness and requires careful evaluation. For example, in patients with digestive illnesses, findings such as anemia, anorexia, bleeding, dehydration, fever, or weight loss are considered alarm symptoms.

assident symptom

Accessory symptom.

cardinal symptom

A fundamental symptom of a disease.

concomitant symptom

A symptom occurring along with the essential symptoms of a disease.

constitutional symptom

A symptom (such as fever, malaise, loss of appetite) caused by or indicating systemic disease.
Synonym: general symptom

conversion symptom

Conversion reaction.

dissociation symptom

Anesthesia to heat, cold, and pain without loss of tactile sensibility; seen in syringomyelia.

focal symptom

A symptom caused by a lesion to a specific body part or a particular location in the central or peripheral nervous system.
Synonym: local symptom

general symptom

Constitutional symptom.

girdle symptom

A feeling of constriction, e.g., about the chest, as caused by a tight girdle, a symptom in tabes. It is also found in compression of the cord owing to collapse of the vertebrae, as in Pott disease.

Howship symptom

See: Howship, John

indirect symptom

A symptom occurring secondarily as a result of a disease in another organ system or body part.

irritative voiding symptom

Painful or unusually sensitive urination, e.g., as a result of urinary tract infection, urinary stones, other foreign bodies, or tumors.

labyrinthine symptom

A group of symptoms (such as tinnitus, vertigo, or nausea) indicating a disease or lesion of the inner ear.

local symptom

Focal symptom.

medically unexplained symptom

Abbreviation: MUS
MUS A complaint from a patient that has eluded explanation despite assessment by health care practitioners.

negative pathognomonic symptom

A symptom that never occurs in a certain disease or condition; hence, a symptom whose presence rules out the existence of that disease.

objective symptom

A symptom apparent to the observer.
See: sign (2)

passive symptom

Static symptom.

pathognomonic symptom

A symptom that is unmistakably associated with a particular disease.

presenting symptom

The symptom that led the patient to seek medical care.

prodromal symptom

Prodrome.

rational symptom

Subjective symptom.

Rumpf symptom

See: Rumpf symptom

Séguin signal symptom

See: Séguin signal symptom

signal symptom

A symptom that is premonitory of an impending condition such as the aura that precedes an attack of epilepsy or migraine.

static symptom

A symptom pert. to the condition of a single organ or structure without reference to the remainder of the body. Synonym: passive symptom

subjective symptom

A symptom apparent only to the patient. Synonym: rational symptom

supratentorial symptom

An informal term for a symptom due to psychological rather than organic causes. The term refers to symptoms with causes originating “above the tentorium cerebelli, ” i.e., in the brain rather than in the body.

sympathetic symptom

A symptom for which there is no specific inciting cause and usually occurring at a point more or less remote from the point of disturbance.
See: sympathy (1)

withdrawal symptom

Any of the symptoms that follow the sudden discontinuation of the use of a substance to which a person has become addicted.
See: withdrawal syndrome
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Of the 15 hosts inoculated with CMV showed infection of local symptoms on three hosts, Systemic symptoms on four hosts and local and systemic symptoms on five hosts (Table 2).
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