icterus
/ˈɪkt(ə)rəs
/noun Medicine
Technical term for jaundice.The laboratory findings confirmed the icterus with a total bilirubin of 18.6 mg/dl (direct bilirubin 12.8 mg/dl)....
- Physical examination revealed scleral icterus and a markedly distended abdomen with hepatomegaly.
- At autopsy, icterus and anasarca were present.
Derivatives
icteric
/ adjective ...- The postmortem examination revealed a slightly icteric liver with marked vascular abnormalities and an adenocarcinoma of the common hepatic duct.
- Only the icteric serum from control patients developed a color (clear pink) change at the end of the assay.
- Three months later, he was icteric and had a palpable liver edge, but splenomegaly, ascites, and other stigmata of chronic liver disease were absent.
Origin
Early 18th century: via Latin from Greek ikteros. The Latin term denoted jaundice, also a yellowish-green bird (the sight of which was thought to cure jaundice).