Glossary

External ventricular drain. This is a tube whose proximal end is within the ventricle and its distal end exits the patient into a closed drainage system. It allows for the controlled management of the CSF with drainage and intracranial pressure monitoring.

This term is used when there has been no change in either the clinical condition of a patient’s disease or in any tests used to follow the disease such as a radiograph or blood test.

= “flexion, abduction, and external rotation” as used in term Faber Test. The is an test to usually used to evaluate pain and a positive test (aggreviation of pain) confirms pain due to sacroiliac or hip abnormalities. It is performed with the patient lying supine with the involved side’s leg being flexed at the hip and knee, abducted at the hip and its ankle lying on th either leg’s knee (legs form a figure “4”). Examiner pushes down on flexed knee of involved limb while stabilizing contralateral anterior iliac crest.

A MRI technique that highlights the visibility of nonfat structures in a MR image by decreasing the signal intensity of fat.

Food and Drug Administration – An agency of the United States federal government tasked with monitoring the safety of food supply and pharmaceuticals marketed in the United States.

Fluorodeoxyglucose – This is a radiopharmaceutical analog of glucose used in PET scanning. It is injected into the veins with the circulation then distributing it throughout the body. Cells that use a high amount of glucose (brain, kidney and cancer cells) will absorb this molecule and partially metabolize it. The byproducts with an attached radioisotope will remain in the cell until the isotope decays thus the cell is “marked” by the isotope. PET scanning will identify areas rich in the isotope, creating an image that shows areas where a high amount of metabolism of the FDG is occurring.

18F-FDG, as a glucose analog, is taken up by high-glucose-using cells such as brain, kidney, and cancer cells, where phosphorylation prevents the glucose from being released again from the cell, once it has been absorbed. The 2′ hydroxyl group (—OH) in normal glucose is needed for further glycolysis (metabolism of glucose by splitting it), but 18F-FDG is missing this 2′ hydroxyl. Thus, in common with its sister molecule 2-deoxy-D-glucose, FDG cannot be further metabolized in cells. The 18F-FDG-6-phosphate formed when 18F-FDG enters the cell thus cannot move out of the cell before radioactive decay. As a result, the distribution of 18F-FDG is a good reflection of the distribution of glucose uptake and phosphorylation by cells in the body.

Referring to fetoscopy or an endoscopic procedure on a fetus or other structures within the amniotic space of a pregnant woman’s uterus.

This is an endoscopic procedure done on a fetus or other structures within the amniotic cavity of a woman’s uterus during pregnancy.

Fibroblast growth factors (AKA FGFs) – These are a family of growth factors involved in angiogenesis, wound healing, and embryonic development. They are involved in a number of the cell proliferation and differentiation processes involved in growth and maturation as well as healing.

Fibroblastic Growth Factor Receptor 2.  A protein that plays an important role bone growth in the head and other tissues during embryonic development.