Medical Terminology Simplified

4–67 Whenever you see the word pleur/isy or pleur/itis, you will know it means

of the.

4–68 The suffixes -algiaand -dyniarefer to pain.

The pleura commonly becomes inflamed when a person has pneumonia.

This condition may cause pleur/algia, which is also called

/ /.

4–69 Prefixes a-, brady-, dys-, eu-,and tachy-are commonly attached to -pneato

describe various types of breathing conditions. Write the meanings of each of the fol-

lowing elements.

a-: ,

brady-:

dys-: ; ;

eu-: ,

tachy-:

-pnea:

4–70 A/pnea is a temporary loss of breathing that results in brief or prolonged ab-

sence of spontaneous respiration. It is a serious symptom, especially in patients with

other potentially life-threatening conditions. Causes include respiratory arrest or res-

piratory failure.

A term that literally means without breathingis /.

4–71 When a/pnea occurs in premature infants, the immature central nervous

system (CNS) fails to maintain a consistent respiratory rate. Thus, there are occa-

sional long pauses between periods of regular breathing. An infant whose mother

used cocaine during pregnancy is also likely to develop life-threatening a/pnea.

When there is temporary cessation of breathing, the event is documented in the

medical record as /.

4–72 Another type of a/pnea, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), may be due to en-

larged tonsils that cause an airway obstruction. Treatment includes the use of a con-

tinuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. (See Fig. 4–4.)

Provide the abbreviation that means

continuous positive airway pressure:

obstructive sleep apnea:

124 CHAPTER 4• Respiratory System

Boldfaceindicates a word root or combining form. Blueindicates a suffix. Pinkindicates a prefix.

inflammation, pleura

PLOO-ră

pleur/o/dynia

ploo-rō-DĬN-ē-ă

a/pnea

ĂP-nē-ă

a/pnea

ĂP-nē-ă

CPAP

OSA

without, not

slow

bad; painful; difficult

good, normal

rapid

breathing