Clinical Eponyms
Q-R

 

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This list is available for the Palm Pilot at Andrew Yee's website.

Queckenstedt’s maneuver
 Applying pressure on the internal jugular vein to dilate cranial veins and increase incranial pressure; can be used to see if there’s block in CSF flow by at lumbar puncture pressures in response
Quellung reaction
 Swelling of bacterial capsule when exposed to antibody; used for diagnosis of S. pneumoniae, H. influ type B, N. meningitidis groups A and C
Queyrat, erythroplasia of
 Carcinoma in situ of the glans penis Auguste Queyrat, French dermatologist, born 1872
Quincke’s sign
 In aortic regurgitation, capillary pulsations detected by pressing a glass slide on the patient’s lip or by transmitting a light through the patient’s fingertips; of questionable utility since seen in normal people
Rabson-Mendenhall syndrome
 Congenital syndrome characterized by insulin resistance, acanthosis nigricans, and growth retardation; associated with developmental abnormalities of bones and teeth, PCOD, genitomegaly, and pineal gland hyperplasia; associated with mutation in insulin receptor
raccoon eyes
 Bilateral black eyes in basilar skull fracture
Radovici's sign
 To determine if a patient has increased intracranial pressure, stroke the thenar eminence of the hand and watch for ipsilateral contractions of the muscles of the chin. (The reflex is listed in Stedman's Medical Dictionary as the palmomental reflex: unilateral (sometimes bilateral) contraction of the mentalis or orbicularis oris muscles caused by a brisk scratch made on the palm of the ipsilateral hand. Synonym: palm-chin reflex.)
Ramsay Hunt syndrome
 Herpes zoster infection of the geniculate ganglion; facial nerve involvement (ear, palate, pharynx, or neck); pain and vesicles appear in external auditory canal, and patients lose their sense of taste in anterior 2/3 of tongue while developing ipsilateral facial palsy
Randle cycle
 Glucose-free fatty acid cycle; inverse relationship between glucose and free fatty acid use
Ranke complex
 Combination of Ghon lesion and involved lymph nodes in tuberculosis
Rapoport-Luebering shunt
 In red blood cells, pathway converting 1,3-diphosphoglyceric acid to 2,3-DPG and then to 3-phosphoglyceric acid; enzyme is diphosphoglycerate synthetase; 2,3-DPG reduces affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen; 2,3-DPG rises with alkalosis and decreases with acidosis, result of effect of pH on enzyme
Rasmussen’s encephalitis
 Progressive childhood disease characterized by severe epilepsy, hemiplegia, dementia, and inflammation of the brain potentially from autoantibodies to GluR3 antigen
Rathke’s pouch
 A diverticulum involved in development of pituitary gland, vestigial remnants lead to craniopharyngioma
Rebuck skin window
 Dermal abrasion technique for testing tissue penetration of neutrophils, scraping forearm, then putting coverslip over it, checking glass for neutrophils
Reed-Sternberg cells
 In Hodgkin’s lymphoma, giant macrophage-like cells with two nuclei
refeeding syndrome
 Hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, and hypophosphatemia after refeeding a starved patient
Refsum’s disease
 AR; phytanic acid accumulates as a result of an absence of the enzyme -phytanic acid -hydroxylase involved in its catabolism; give patient’s large amounts of nicotinic acid or triparanol, chemicals that inhibit lipid synthesis; dryness and scaling similar to the appearance of icthyosis develop, associated with neuropathy
Reichert’s cartilage
 Branchial arch 2
Reid index
 Comparing the relative thickness of the mucous glands with the total thickness of the airway wall; increased in patients with chronic bronchitis (normally < 0.4)
Reinke crystals
 In 25% of Leydig cell tumors, intracytoplasmic rod-shaped crystalloids
Reinke’s edema
 Vocal cord polyposis in female smokers, 50s-70s
Reitan trail test
 Timed connect-the-number test for detecing alterations in mental status; time>60s pathologic in all age groups
Reiter’s syndrome
 In 1916, Reiter described a triad of arthritis, urethritis, and conjunctivitis; 80% possess HLA-B27; associated with Shigella flexneri; ReA develops in 20% of exposed B27+ individuals; subset of reactive arthritis; triad present in 1/3 of patients; incidence estimated as 3.5/100K in males under age of 50; balanitis circinata (penis) and keratoderma blenorrhagica
Bertin, renal columns of
 The spaces between adjacent pyramids where cortical tissue extends into
Renshaw cells
 Inhibitory cells in the ventral horn of the spinal cord
Retzius, space of
 The preperitoneal space anterior to the bladder
Retzius, veins of
 Numerous small veins in the retroperitoneum that connect the retroperitoneal viscera to the posterior abdominal wall; dilated in portal hypertension
Reye’s syndrome
 Rare disease characterized by fatty change in liver and encephalopathy that in its most severe forms may be fatal; associated with VZV and influenza virus B in children given aspirin
Reynold’s pentad
 Charcot’s triad plus altered mental status and shock in cholangitis
Richter syndrome
 The evolution of chronic lymphocytic leukemia to a large cell lymphoma with high fever, weight loss, enlarging lymph nodes, and hepatosplenomegaly
Riedel’s lobe
 In some persons, especially those with a lanky build, the liver tends to be somewhat elongated so that its right lobe is easily palpable as it projects downward toward the iliac crest; such elongation, called Riedel’s lobe
Riedel’s thyroiditis
 Unknown etiology, marked by glandular atrophy, hypothyroidism, and replacement of the thyroid by fibrous tissue with adhesion to surrounding structures
Riggler’s sign
 See wall of bowel in perforation
Riley-Day syndrome
 Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type III (familial dysautonomia), recessive disorder that commences in infancy and is characterized by conspicuous autonomic dysfunction (absent tearing, labile temperature, and blood pressure), and accompanied by absent taste sensation, absent funfigform papillae on tongue, impaired pain and temperature sensation, and areflexia; occurs among Ashkenazi
Rinne test
 Sensorineural loss, AC>BC conduct loss, BC>AC
Ritter’s disease
 Staph scaled skin syndrome
Roger’s disease
 Small congenital VSD defect <0.5 cm in diameter (most are muscular); Henri L. Roger, French physician, 1809-1891
Rokitansky-Aschoff sinuses
 Small outpouchings of the gallbladder mucosa that may penetrate into and through the muscle wall; prominence in the settings of inflammation and gallstone formation (e.g. chronic cholecystitis) suggests that they are acquired herniations
Romaña’s sign
 In the first week of Chagas disease, unilateral periorbital edema and swelling of the eyelid associated with reduviid bug of eye
Romberg test
 Patient stands feet together, eyes open and then closes both eyes for 20 to 30 sec without support; positive test with eyes open suggestive of cerebellar ataxia; with eyes closed suggestive of impaired proprioception
Rosenbach’s sign
 In aortic regurgitation, hepatic pulsations
Rosenbach’s sign
 In thyrotoxicosis, tremor of the closed eyelids
Rosenthal fibers
 Inclusions that develop in astrocytes in chronic reactive and neoplastic proliferations; abundant in Alexander’s disease
Roth’s spots
 In bacterial endocarditis and other retinal hemorrhagic conditions, a round white spot surrounded by hemorrhage (secondary to microemboli in endocarditis)
Rotor’s syndrome
 Poorly defined defects in hepatic uptake and storage of bilirubin; resembles Dubin-Johnson syndrome, but liver pigment missing
Rotter’s lymph nodes
 Lymph nodes between the pectoralis minor and pectoralis major
Rovsing’s sign
 Pain in the right lower quadrant during left-sided pressure suggests appendicitis; so does right lower quadrant pain on quick withdrawal (referred rebound tenderness)
Ruffini’s corpuscles
 Sensory receptors for heat
Russel bodies
 Endoplasmic reticulum of plasma cells engaged in active synthesis of immunoglobulins may become hugely distended, producing large, homogenous eosinophilic inclusions called Russell bodies
Russell’s sign
 Lanugo, dry skin, hand calluses, associated with purging and bulimia
Russell viper venom time
 Sensitive screening tests for lupus anticoagulant activity

 

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From Andrew Yee, Harvard Med '00