Ward Round Notes

Although initially this seems like a simple question, the term is actually quite difficult to define. Cancer usually refers to an abnormal invasive growth of tissues that is uncoordinated with the function of surrounding tissues caused by genetical changes. It is also commonly used to describe the disease which is caused by these growths. The word cancer actually originates from the greek for crab, Hippocrates was the first to use this word to describe cancerous growths due to the finger like growths cancerous cells cause.  Cancer describes a particular type of abnormal growth of tissues, however many terms commonly used in describing cancers are not necessarily synonymous, this includes words such as;  Tumours  Neoplasia carcinoma There are also many types of abnormal growths which may not necessarily be cancer;  Hyperplasia Hypertrophy Dysplasia Benign neoplasia Malignant neoplasia So what are the differences between these terms? How...

Anteversion and Retroversion Refers to position of the whole organ. The uterus is considered anteverted if the lower portion of it (cervix) lies towards the front, and retroverted if it inclines posteriorly.  Anteflexion and Retroflexion Refers to the shape of the organ, a anteflexed uterus is bent forwards at the junction between the cervix and the body, whereas a retroflexed uterus is bent backwards.  The uterus may be both Anteverted and retroflexed or retroverted and anteflexed or anteverted and anteflexed or retroverted and retroflexed.  More about the female genitalia here

Skeletal muscles contain muscle fibres which span the whole length of the muscle. These are made up of subunits called sacromeres containing thick myosin filaments and thin actin filaments. Thick and thin filaments slide towards each other during contraction, the total effect of multiple sacromeres contracting leads to the shortening of the muscle. 

Membrane potential Membrane potential refers to the net difference in charge on each side of a selectively permeable membrane  due to an imbalance of cations and anions. This difference has the potential to become electrical energy (current) which is produced when ions move down an electrochemical gradient.  In the body, a membrane potential exists between the intracellular fluid and the extracellular fluid (ie almost all cells and the extracellular fluid surrounding it). Membrane potential is measured in milivolts (mV) in the body. It is always measured with the inside (ICF) relative to the outside (ECF).