Human health and medicine

Encysted hydrocele

Encysted hydrocele (ICD-10 N43.0, ICD-11 GB00.0) is a non-communicating fluid cyst of the spermatic cord or tunica vaginalis from incomplete processus vaginalis closure; constant size, transilluminates, treated by excision.

End-of-life care

End-of-life care is support and medical care for people approaching death, spanning home, care home, hospital, and hospice settings. Also called terminal care within palliative care; key facts include WHO's 14% global palliative access estimate and US hospice serving 1.4 million Medicare patients in 2015.

End-plate potential

End-plate potential (EPP), the graded depolarization of skeletal muscle at the neuromuscular junction, produced by acetylcholine release; built from about 200 quantal units (MEPPs, first recorded by Fatt and Katz), triggers the muscle action potential unless reduced, as in myasthenia gravis.

End-to-side anastomosis

End-to-side anastomosis is a surgical technique that joins the end of one vessel or bowel segment to a window in the side of another, preserving distal blood flow.

Endarterectomy

Endarterectomy is an operation that removes atherosclerotic plaque from an artery's inner lining to restore blood flow, most often in the carotid artery to prevent stroke.

Endemic (epidemiology)

Endemic (epidemiology): a disease constantly present at a predictable baseline level in a geographic area or population, contrasted with epidemic and pandemic; coined by Hippocrates, distinct from the ecological meaning of endemic, with hyperendemic and sporadic as related levels.

Endemic non-venereal syphilis

Endemic non-venereal syphilis, or bejel, is a childhood treponematosis caused by Treponema pallidum subsp. endemicum, spread by non-sexual contact in arid Sahelian Africa and the Near East, and treated with penicillin.

Endemic pemphigus foliaceus

Endemic pemphigus foliaceus, or fogo selvagem, is an autoimmune blistering disease caused by IgG4 anti-desmoglein 1 antibodies, endemic to rural Brazil, parts of South America, and Tunisia, affecting children and young adults.

ENDOA trial

ENDOA (NCT06949176) is a randomized Athens trial comparing 2.5% versus 5% sodium hypochlorite root canal irrigation in necrotic teeth with apical periodontitis, using qPCR bacterial load and one-year Periapical Index outcomes; 44 enrolled, active, not recruiting.

ENDOABG trial

ENDOABG (NCT06959602) is a randomized trial at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens comparing 2.5% sodium hypochlorite alone, with PUI, and with XP-Endo Finisher activation in 66 teeth with pulp necrosis and apical periodontitis, measuring qPCR bacterial reduction and 6- and 12-month healing.

Endoanal ultrasound

Endoanal ultrasound is an imaging technique using a probe in the anal canal to view the anal sphincter muscles, mainly to evaluate fecal incontinence and fistulas.

EndoBarrier trial

EndoBarrier trial: UK multicenter RCT (NCT02459561, ISRCTN30845205) of the EndoBarrier duodenal-jejunal bypass liner versus medical therapy in obese type 2 diabetes; also the US ENDO trial halted 2015 for hepatic abscess.

Endobronchial ultrasound

Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) is a bronchoscopic imaging technique that visualizes structures in and beyond the airway wall and guides biopsy of nearby lymph nodes and lung lesions.

Endocardial fibroelastosis

Endocardial fibroelastosis (EFE), also called elastomyofibrosis, is a rare thickening of the heart's endocardium by fibrous and elastic tissue, mainly in infants, usually secondary to other cardiac disease, causing heart failure.

Endocarditis

Endocarditis is inflammation of the heart's inner lining, usually the valves; when caused by bacteria or fungi entering the bloodstream it is called infective endocarditis.

Endocardium

Endocardium: the endothelial innermost lining of the heart, continuous with vessel intima, with a subendocardium holding Purkinje fibers; embryonically from cardiac crescent mesoderm, it forms valves, septa, and conduction tissue.

Endocervical curettage

Endocervical curettage is a gynecological diagnostic procedure that scrapes the endocervical canal for a tissue sample during colposcopy, detecting precancerous or cancerous disease the colposcope cannot see.

Endochondral ossification

Endochondral ossification, also called intercartilaginous ossification, is one of the two modes of bone formation, in which a cartilage template is progressively replaced by bone, forming most bones of the mammalian skeleton.

Endocochlear potential and cochlear homeostasis

Endocochlear potential (EP), the ~+80 mV positive potential of cochlear endolymph generated by the stria vascularis via Kir4.1 channels, drives hair-cell transduction; its maintenance through potassium recycling defines cochlear homeostasis.

Endocrine Diagnostic Techniques

Endocrine diagnostic techniques: biochemical assays, dynamic stimulation and suppression tests, imaging, and venous sampling used to diagnose hormone disorders such as PPGL, Cushing syndrome, and adrenal insufficiency.

Endocrine disease

Endocrine disease: disorders of the eight major hormone glands (thyroid, pituitary, adrenal, pancreas) causing hormone excess, deficiency, or resistance; classified primary, secondary, or tertiary.

Endocrine disruptor

Endocrine disruptors (EDCs) are exogenous chemicals, such as BPA, phthalates, PFAS, and pesticides, that interfere with hormone action and cause adverse health effects; regulated in the EU under CLP hazard classes since 2023.

Endocrine gland

Endocrine glands are ductless organs, including the pituitary, thyroid, adrenals, and pancreas, that secrete hormones directly into the blood; the hypothalamic-pituitary axis regulates them by feedback, unlike ducted exocrine glands.

Endocrine pathology

Endocrine Pathology: peer-reviewed quarterly journal (ISSN 1046-3976, 1559-0097) founded March 1990 by Kovacs and Asa, official journal of the Endocrine Pathology Society, published by Springer, 2025 impact factor 4.6, Q1.

Endocrine Surgical Procedures

Endocrine surgical procedures are operations on endocrine glands such as thyroidectomy, parathyroidectomy, and adrenalectomy; the field traces to Kocher and is now guided by ATA, AAES, and ESES standards.

Endocrine-cerebro-osteodysplasia syndrome

Endocrine-cerebro-osteodysplasia (ECO) syndrome, ORPHA:199332, OMIM 612651, is a rare autosomal recessive neonatal-lethal ciliopathy caused by ICK/CILK1 mutations (R272Q, G120C), with endocrine, cerebral, and skeletal anomalies.

Endocrinology

Endocrinology: the medical and biological study of hormones and the endocrine system, also called hormone science. Covers glandular disorders (diabetes, thyroid, adrenal, pituitary, bone), its 1889–1905 founding, training pathways, and workforce access challenges.