graft-versus-host disease A complication of bone marrow transplants in which the donor bone marrow attacks the host’s organs and tissues. Abbreviated GVHD. GVHD is seen in cases where the blood marrow donor is unrelated to the patient or when the donor is related to the patient, but is not a perfect match. There are two…
graft Healthy skin, bone, kidney, liver, or other tissue that is taken from one part of the body to replace diseased or injured tissue removed from another part of the body. For example, skin grafts can be used to cover areas of skin that have been burned.
Gower syndrome See syncope, situational.
gouty arthritis An attack of joint inflammation that is due to deposits of uric acid crystals in the joint fluid (synovial fluid) and joint lining (synovial lining). Gouty arthritis attacks can be precipitated by dehydration, injury, fever, heavy eating, heavy drinking of alcohol, and recent surgery. Intense joint inflammation occurs when white blood cells engulf…
gout, tophaceous A form of chronic gout that is characterized by the deposit of nodular masses of uric acid crystals (tophi) in different soft tissue areas of the body. Even though tophi are most commonly found as hard nodules around the fingers, at the tips of the elbows, and around the big toe, tophi nodules…
gout A condition that is characterized by abnormally elevated levels of uric acid in the blood, recurring attacks of joint inflammation (arthritis), deposits of hard lumps of uric acid in and around the joints. It is sometimes associated with decreased kidney function and kidney stones. Uric acid is a breakdown product of purines, which are…
Gottron sign A scaly, patchy redness over the knuckles that is seen in patients with dermatomyositis, an inflammatory muscle disorder. See also polymyositis.
goose flesh See goose bumps.
goose bumps A temporary local change in the skin that starts with a stimulus, such as cold or fear. That stimulus causes a nerve discharge from the sympathetic nervous system, which is part of the autonomic nervous system. The nerve discharge causes contraction of the hair erector muscle (arrectores pilorum), elevating the hair follicles above…
Goodpasture syndrome An autoimmune disease characterized by a combination of lung and kidney disease. Hallmarks of the disease are pulmonary hemorrhage (bleeding in the lungs) and glomerulonephritis (inflammation of the glomerulus) due to severe inflammation in the basement membranes of the alveolus of the lung and the glomerulus in the kidney, with the formation of…
gonorrhea A bacterial infection that is transmitted by sexual contact. Gonorrhea is one of the oldest known sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and it is caused by the Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria. Men with gonorrhea may have a yellowish discharge from the penis accompanied by itching and burning. More than half of women with gonorrhea do not…
gonadotropin, human chorionic See human chorionic gonadotropin.