(sīn)
[L. signum, a mark, token]
1. A symbol or abbreviation, esp. one used in pharmacy.
2. Any objective evidence or manifestation of an illness or disordered function of the body. Signs are apparent to observers; symptoms are the patient’s subjective feelings.
SEE: symptom
3. To use sign language to communicate.
SEE: 1Abadie sign
SEE: 2Abadie sign
SEE: Ahlfeld sign
Radiographic appearance of an air-filled bronchus as it passes through an area of increased anatomic density, as in pulmonary edema and pneumonia.
In imaging of the lung, the finding of a halo or ring of air around a lung mass. It is often found in cavitary lung diseases like aspergillosis.
SEE: Amoss sign
The tendency of those with certain neurodegenerative disorders (such as progressive supranuclear palsy and related syndromes) to continue clapping their hands after they are asked to clap them just three times.
SEE: Asboe-Hansen sign
SEE: Auenbrugger sign
SEE: Aufrecht sign
SEE: Auspitz sign
SEE: Battle sign
The thinned, irregular appearance of the skull, as seen on x-ray examination of children with obstructive hydrocephalus.
Movement of the umbilicus of the newborn while breathing. It is a rarely observed physical finding in newborn infants born with paralysis of one half of the diaphragm.
SEE: Beevor sign
SEE: Rebound tenderness.
SEE: Branham sign
SEE: Broadbent sign
SEE: Brudzinski sign
SEE: Bryant sign
SEE: Cardarelli sign
SEE: Carnett sign
SEE: Carvallo sign
SEE: Castell sign
SEE: Chadwick sign
Intense pelvic and lower abdominal pain brought on by palpation of the cervix. The sign points to the presence of pelvic inflammatory disease.
SEE: Chapman sign
SEE: Chvostek sign
SEE: Cleeman sign
SEE: Comolli sign
SEE: Coopernail sign
Filaments extending outward from a radiographically visualized mass. The presence of such filaments suggests that the mass is growing centrifugally and therefore may be malignant.
SEE: Cullen sign
SEE: Dance sign
SEE: Davidsohn sign
SEE: Dawson sign
SEE: Musset sign
A sign to differentiate dermatofibroma, a benign lesion, from nodular melanoma, which it may mimic. On application of lateral pressure with the thumb and index finger, the dermatofibroma becomes dimpled or indented, whereas melanomas, melanocytic nevi, and normal skin protrude above the initial plane.
SEE: Dorendorf sign
SEE: Drawer test.
SEE: anterior drawer test
Repetition of the closing word of a sentence, a sign of epilepsy or other brain conditions.
SEE: Enroth sign
SEE: Faget sign
The radiological appearance of traumatic transection or rupture of the trachea or a main stem bronchus, consisting of a collapsed lung that seems to dangle from the hilum by only its vascular attachments. Pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, and subcutaneous emphysema are sometimes seen with tracheobronchial tears.
A peculiar change in hair color in which the hair becomes discolored in a band perpendicular to its long axis. This is seen in kwashiorkor and indicates a period of severe malnutrition.
Rapid back and forth movement of the hand and fingers when patients experience painful symptoms in them. The finding is an imprecise and unreliable physical diagnostic sign in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.
SEE: Frank sign
SEE: Friedreich, Nikolaus
SEE: Froment sign
SEE: Galeazzi sign
SEE: Gauss sign
SEE: Goodell sign
SEE: Gottron sign
SEE: Grancher sign
SEE: Grey Turner sign
SEE: Guyon, Felix J.C.
In the newborn, a ring of long, dark, coarse hair surrounding a midline nodule on the scalp. This may indicate neural tube closure defect.
SEE: Naked facet sign.
A benign, transient color change seen in neonates in which one half of the body blanches while the other half becomes redder, with a clear line of demarcation.
SEE: Hatchcock sign
SEE: Hegar sign
SEE: Hicks sign
SEE: Hill sign
SEE: Hochsinger sign
Poikiloderma of the upper outer thigh. It is a characteristic finding in patients with dermatomyositis.
SEE: Homans sign
SEE: Hoover sign
SEE: Jacquemier sign
SEE: Jellinek sign
Inability to flex the distal interphalangeal joint of a finger as the result of a rupture of the flexor digitorum profundus tendon. The patient is unable to make a fist.
During physical examination, an involuntary reaction to stimulation of a tender area or trigger point. This may take the form of wincing or sudden jerking of the part being examined, of adjacent areas, or even of the entire body. This sign should not be confused with the startle reaction seen in jumping Frenchmen of Maine.
SEE: Kehr sign
SEE: Kernig sign
SEE: Kocher sign
SEE: Korányi sign
SEE: Kussmaul, Adolph
SEE:
SEE: Lasègue sign
SEE: Lazarus sign
Scalloping of the frontal bones of the fetus, a sign in prenatal ultrasonography in which the bones resemble the shape of a lemon. It is indicative of fetal cranial abnormalities found in the second trimester that can be markers for a neural tube defect.
SEE: Levine sign
SEE: Lhermitte sign
SEE: Mannkopf sign
SEE: Marie, Pierre Marie
SEE: Markle sign
SEE: Mayne sign
SEE: McBurney, Charles
SEE: Möbius, Paul Julius
SEE: Munson sign
SEE: Musset sign
SEE: Myerson sign
The radiographic appearance of spinal facet joints that have been disrupted by flexion injuries to the thoracic or lumbar spine. CT scanning of the joints shows that the inferior facets of the upper vertebrae are not directly aligned above the superior facets of the lower vertebrae.
SYN: SEE: hamburger sign
Minus sign (−) used in subtraction to denote something that is below zero or to indicate a lack.
SEE: Touchdown sign.
SEE: Nikolsky sign
In physical diagnosis, a sign that can be seen, heard, measured, or felt by the diagnostician. Finding of such sign(s) can be used to confirm or deny the diagnostician's impressions of the suspected disease.
SYN: SEE: physical sign
Pain on inward rotation of the hip, which stretches the obturator internus muscle. The result may be positive in acute appendicitis.
SEE: Oliver sign
orbicularis signSEE: Révilliod sign.
Eversion and dorsiflexion of the foot resulting from tapping the peroneal nerve with a reflex hammer.
SEE: Objective sign.
SEE: Pins sign
SEE: Popeye sign.
Assessment findings present only during pregnancy: fetal heart tones, fetal movements felt by the examiner, and fetal visualization by sonogram.
Measurement of the blood pressure and pulse when a patient is first lying, then sitting, and finally standing.
SEE: orthostatic vital signs determination.
SEE: Pratt sign
SEE: Prehn sign
Any of the signs and symptoms commonly associated with pregnancy that may be present in other conditions.
SEE: pregnancy
Any of the objective findings that strongly suggest but do not confirm pregnancy.
SEE: pregnancy
A physical finding in some patients with moderate ascites, in which dullness to percussion is heard when the patient's umbilicus is percussed with the patient in a kneeling position.
Abdominal pain produced by extension of the hip. The sign indicates a retrocecal or retroperitoneal lesion.
SEE: Queckenstedt sign
SEE: Queen Anne sign
Periorbital ecchymosis. It may be present in patients who have a basilar skull fracture.
SEE: Raimiste phenomenon.
SEE: Ransohoff sign
SEE: Remak sign
SEE: Révilliod sign
SEE: Ripault sign
SEE: Romana sign
SEE: Romberg sign
SEE: Rosenbach, Ottomar
SEE: Rovsing sign
SEE: Scarf sign
SEE: Schamroth sign
SEE: Bryant sign.
Bruising or abrasions extending in a line from one side of the lower abdomen to the other or diagonally from the one side of the neck to the lower abdomen on the opposite side of the body. It is a marker of potentially severe internal injuries after a crash.
The presence of pigmented skin overlying the neck, upper back, and shoulders. It is a characteristic finding in patients with dermatomyositis.
Any of a number of signs that, considered collectively, are felt to indicate the presence of damage to the central nervous system. These signs include incoordination, visual motor difficulties, nystagmus, the presence of associated movements, and difficulties with motor control.
The appearance of an intussusception on a barium enema when the encircling bowel is seen in line with the ensheathed bowel lumen. The cylindrical ring of the intussusception captures radiographic contrast and resembles the corona seen around the sun during a solar eclipse.
An outline of the thymus of a child by radiolucent lines. It is seen on chest x-ray examinations of children with pneumomediastinum.
In angiography, evidence of leakage (extravasation) of radiographic contrast from a blood vessel.
SEE: Stabler sign
Narrowing of the column of subglottic air in the trachea, seen on anteroposterior radiographs of the neck in children with croup.
SEE: Stellwag sign
In gastrointestinal radiology, extreme narrowing of a segment of the terminal ileum (in Crohn disease) or of the pylorus (in congenital pyloric stenosis).
An assessment finding often associated with hydrocephaly in newborns; the newborn's eyes are open with the irises directed downward, resembling the sun setting below the horizon.
SEE: Tanyoz sign
Bilateral bruising of the thighs in patients with advanced chronic obstructive lung disease, who rest their elbows on their legs in order to breathe more easily.
SYN: SEE: Dahl sign; SEE: Thinker sign
SEE: Tarnier sign
Pain in the anterior knee that is felt after prolonged sitting. It is a symptom sometimes reported by patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome.
thinker’s signSEE: Target sign.
Protrusion of the thumb across the palm and beyond the clenched fist; seen in Marfan syndrome.
SEE: Tinel sign
Inability to raise the arms overhead, a finding in patients with adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder.
SYN: SEE: overhead arm raise test
SEE: Tournay sign
SEE: Trendelenburg sign
SEE: Trousseau, Armand
SEE: Uhthoff sign
The four physical signs concerning functions essential to life: pulse, rate of respiration, blood pressure, and temperature. Some geriatric specialists consider walking speed to be another vital sign, and patient’s level of subjective pain and/or distress are considered by some experts to represent vital data.
SEE: Graefe, Albrecht von
SEE: Waddell sign
SEE: Walker-Murdoch sign.
SEE: Westermark sign