H
HABIT – An act, behavioral response, practice, or custom established in one’s repertoire by frequent repetition of the same act.
HALIFAX – Clamp across lamina of C-1 and C-2.
HARRINGTON ROD – An instrumentation and fusion using a straight, stiff rod for distraction or compression; associated with a posterior spinal fusion in the thoracic or thoracolumbar spine for scoliosis or trauma.
HEADACHE – Pain in various parts of the head, not confined to the area of distribution of any nerve.
HEAT – A high temperature, the sensation produced by proximity to fire or an incandescent object, as opposed to cold.
HEMANGIOMA – A benign tumor consisting of a mass of blood vessels.
HEMATOMYELIA – Effusion of blood (hemorrhage) into the substance of the spinal cord.
HEMATORRHACHIS – Spinal apoplexy; hemorrhage into vertebral canal.
HEMISPHERECTOMY – Excision of one cerebral hemisphere undertaken for malignant tumors, intractable epilepsy usually associate with infantile hemiplegia due to birth injury and other cerebral conditions.
HEMATOMA – A blood clot.
HEMIANOPIA – Loss of vision of one-half of the visual field.
HEMIATROPHY – Atrophy of half of an organ or half of the body.
HEMILAMINECTOMY – The excision of only one side of the lamina (right or left) relative to other spinous process.
HEMIPLEGIA – Paralysis of one side of the body.
HEMORRHAGE – Bleeding due to the escape of blood from a blood vessel.
HEREDITARY – Transmissible from parent to offspring by information encoded in the parental germ cell.
HEREDITY – The transmission of characters from parent to offspring by information encoded in the parental germ cells. Genealogy.
HERNIATED INTERVERTBRAL DISC (HID) – Extrusion of part of the nucleus pulposus material through a defect in the annulus fibrosus. Otpouching of a disc.
HERNIATED NUCLEUS PULPOSUS (HNP) – Extrusion of the central portion of an intervertebral disc through the outer cartilaginous ring. The material can compress the spinal cord or nerves in or exiting the spinal canal.
HERNIATION – Formation of a protrusion.
HETEROTOPIC BONE FORMATION – The occurrence of bone growth in an abnormal location.
HIBBS SPINAL FUSION – A lumbar spinal fusion that includes fusing the spinous process, lamina, and facet for stabilization.
HODGSON – Anterior approach to C-1 and C-2 area for drainage of tuberculosis abscess.
HOOK – For spinal applications, a metallic medical device used to connect spinal structures to a rod.
HORMONE – A chemical substance formed in one gland or part of the body and carried by the blood to another organ which it stimulates to functional activity.
HUMERUS – The bone of the arm, articulating with the scapula above and the radius and ulna below.
HYDROCEPHALUS – A condition, often congenital, marked by abnormal and excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the cerebral ventricles. This dilates the ventricles and in infants and young children causes the head to enlarge.
HYDROMYELIA – Expansion of the spinal cord due to increased size of the central canal of the cord which is filled with CSF.
HYDROXYAPATITE (HA) – The lattice-like structure of bone composed of calcium and phosphorous crystals which deposits on collagen to provide the rigid structure of bone.
HYOID BONE – Small, vertically oriented bones lateral to trachea, located at the level of C-3.
HYPER – Excessive, above normal.
HYPERACUSIS – Abnormal acuteness of hearing or auditory sensation.
HYPERESTHESIA – Excessive sensibility to touch, pain or other stimuli.
HYPEREXTENSION – Extension of a limb or part beyond the normal limit.
HYPERFLEXION – Flexion of a limb or part beyond the normal limit.
HYPERLORDOSIS – Increase in the normal anterior concavity of the cervical or lumbar spine.
HYPERTENSION – High blood pressure.
HYPOPHYSECTOMY – Excision of the hypophysis cerebri.
HYPOPHYSIS CEREBRI – A gland of internal secretion lying on the upper surface of the sphenoid (wedge shaped) bone.
HYPOTHALAMUS – A collection of specialized nerve cells at the base of the brain which controls the anterior and posterior pituitary secretions, and is involved in other basic regulatory functions such as temperature control and attention.