Terms or Words Your Doctor May Use

Osteoarthritis Terms or Words Your Doctor May Use

Carpometacarpal (CMC): Joint found between the wrist and the hand.

Cartilage (Articular): A tissue characterized by its firm consistency and found at the end of long bones.

Chronic: A condition of a disease denoting a slow progress and long continuance.

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF): Chronic or acute state that results when the heart is not capable of supplying the oxygen demands of the body.

Distal Interphalangeal (DIP): Joint found at the end of the end of the fingers.

Incidence: The number of new cases of a disease during a specific period of time.

Inflammation: Localized, protective response to tissue injury designed to destroy, dilute, or seal off the infecting agent or injured tissue; characterized by redness, pain, heat, swelling, and sometimes loss of function.

Intervertebral Facet Joint (IVFJ): Joints found in the individual vertebrae of the spine, where two vertebrae join.

Myocardial Infarction (MI): The death of cardiac muscle resulting from inadequate blood supply.

Osteotomy: A procedure that involves surgical cutting of the bone to realign the joint and redistribute weight loads; used in the hip and the knee.

Periarticular: General term referring to anything surrounding a joint.

Periosteum: The membrane that covers bone and is essential for bone growth, repair, and nutrition.

Prevalence: The number of people in a population who have a disease at specific point in time.

Rheumatoid Arthritis: A specific type of Arthritis which is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system of the body attacks its own tissues, in this case its own cartilage and joint linings.

Subchondral Cyst: A sac with a distinct connective tissue wall, containing a fluid or other material, located beneath cartilage.

Synovial Membrane: A vascular tissue lining the joint capsule.

X-ray (radiograph): A photographic image taken to view bones and other hard substances in the body.