steatorrhea

(stē″ă-tō-rē′ă)

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[Gr. steatos, fat, + rhoia, flow]

1. Increased secretion of fat from the sebaceous glands of the skin.
SYN: SEE: seborrhea
2. Fatty stools, as seen in some malabsorption syndromes. Stains, such as Sudan stain, can be used to demonstrate fat in stool. Precise measurements of the quantity of fat in stools can be made with a 72-hr stool collection. During the collection the patient must eat at least 100 g of dietary fat each day. The excretion of more than 7 g/day of fat is abnormal, that is, diagnostic of fat malabsorption.
SYN: SEE: fatty stool

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