Bruit
Bruit: A sound heard over an artery or vascular channel, reflecting turbulence of flow. Most commonly, a bruit is caused by abnormal narrowing of an artery. Listening for a bruit in the neck with a stethoscope is a simple way to screen for narrowing (stenosis) of the carotid artery, which can be a result of cholesterol plaque accumulation.
Read Also:
- Brunhilde virus
Brunhilde virus: Type 1 poliovirus. Named after a female chimpanzee from which it was first isolated. There are two other strains of poliovirus: Type 2 (known as the Lansing virus) and Type 3 (known as the Leon virus). Immunity to one strain does not provide protection against the other two. All three strains are therefore […]
- Brushfield's spots
Brushfield’s spots: Speckled iris. Little white spots that slightly elevated on the surface of the iris arranged in a ring concentric with the pupil. These spots occur in normal children but are far more frequent in Down’s syndrome (trisomy 21). They were described in 1924 by Thomas Brushfield and are due to aggregation of a […]
- Bruton agammaglobulinemia tyrosine kinase
Bruton agammaglobulinemia tyrosine kinase: A genetic type of immunodeficiency characterized by failure to produce mature B lymphocytes and gamma globulin, due to mutation (change) in the agammaglobulinemia tyrosine kinase gene situated on the X chromosome (in the region Xq21.3-q22). The disorder is inherited as an X-linked recessive trait. Patients are males with absent or minimal […]
- Bruxism
Grinding and gnashing of the teeth. Bruxism is due to clenching of the teeth other than in chewing and is associated with forceful lateral or protrusive jaw movements. This results in the grinding or rubbing together of the teeth. Bruxism can injure teeth and cause local pain in the mouth or jaw and may contribute […]
- BP
BP: Commonly used abbreviation for blood pressure. On a medical chart, you might see “BP90/60 T98.6 Ht60/reg R15,” which signifies that the blood pressure (BP) is 90/60 mm Hg, the temperature (T) is 98.6° Fahrenheit, the heart rate (Ht) is 60 beats per minute and regular, and respirations are occurring at 15 per minute.