Portal Hypertension Definition

Portal hypertension is the medical term for elevated blood pressure with the major vein of the liver, the hepatic portal vein. Although it is most commonly caused by liver cirrhosis, it can be due to a number of other causes that may not even involve the liver. Therefore portal hypertension is an important clinical sign of a wide range of diseases. In the long term, the prolonged hypertension can cause a host of complications within the liver and entire body, some of which can be life threatening.

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Definition

Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection of the lung, which may spread throughout the body via the bloodstream, after inhaling the spores of the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. Most people who come in contact with the spores do not contract the infection unless they have a weakened immune system or if they are exposed to large quantities of the fungal spores. People who live in endemic areas for histoplasmosis are more likely to be infected. Due to its predilection to mainly affect immunocompromised patients, it is considered as an AIDS-defining illness. Severe cases that are left untreated can be fatal.

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Somatostatinoma Definition

Somatostatinomas are rare tumors of the pancreatic cells that secrete the hormone somatostatin. The pancreas is not the only location where somatostatin is produced but larger somatostatinomas are most likely to occur in the pancreas. Since this hormone has a suppressive action on most other hormones, a somatostatinoma tends to present with symptoms associated with the inhibition of these hormones. Somatostatinomas are malignant meaning that it is cancerous but is curable if the tumor can be surgically removed before the cancer has spread to other organs.

Somatostatinoma Incidence

Overall somatostatinomas are very rare. It occurs in only about 1 in 40 million people in the United States. The prevalence is equal in both men and women. Somatostatinomas are more frequently detected in the 40 to 60 year age group although some of the conditions it is associated with, like multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 and neurofibromatosis, often start earlier in life. Since somatostatinomas are slow growing tumors, this may account for its diagnosis later in life.

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Myocardial Ischemia Definition

Myocardial ischemia is injury to the heart muscle as a result of diminished or interrupted blood supply to the heart wall. The condition needs to be differentiated from myocardial infarction (heart attack). In myocardial ischemia the heart muscle undergoes injury due to an insufficient oxygen supply but the tissue does not die. This tissue injury is largely reversible in most cases but over a long period of time it can permanently damage heart function. In a myocardial infarction there is sudden death of a portion of the heart muscle tissue which can lead to a heart failure in severe cases and death. Myocardial ischemia causes a typical cardiac chest pain known as angina pectoris.

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Definition

Aspiration pneumonia is a condition where foreign material enters the lower airways thereby causing inflammation of the lung. It can result in chemical damage of the lung tissue or a lung infection. The term aspiration pneumonia is usually reserved for a lung infection, mainly bacterial, where the bacteria carried into the lung is through aspirated material.

Aspiration pneumonitis, or chemical pneumonitis, is the term for chemical injury and inflammation of the lung tissue without an infection. However, an infection may set in days later. The term aspiration pneumonia is broadly used for both chemical injury and infection of the lung tissue. The condition can lead to complications such as a lung abscess, acute respiratory distress, pulmonary fibrosis and even death.

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