Human health and medicine

Rheumatologists

Rheumatologists are internal medicine subspecialists who diagnose and treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases of joints, muscles, and connective tissues; US projections show severe workforce shortages, especially in nonmetropolitan areas.

Rheumatology

Rheumatology is the medical specialty concerned with the investigation, diagnosis, and management of arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions, including autoimmune and inflammatory diseases of joints, bones, and connective tissue.

RHINE trial

RHINE (NCT03622593, GR40398) is a phase 3, double-masked trial of faricimab versus aflibercept in diabetic macular edema; 951 patients, three arms including personalized treatment interval up to every 16 weeks, run with YOSEMITE.

Rhinitis

Rhinitis is nasal inflammation defined by congestion, sneezing, runny nose, and itch, divided into allergic, non-allergic, and infective types; allergic rhinitis affects roughly one in four people in westernized countries and is strongly linked to asthma.

Rhinitis medicamentosa

Rhinitis medicamentosa (rebound congestion, chemical rhinitis): drug-induced nonallergic nasal congestion from overusing topical decongestant sprays like oxymetazoline and xylometazoline, typically after 5-7 days, treated by stopping the spray with intranasal steroids.

Rhinology

Rhinology: ENT subspecialty of the nose, paranasal sinuses, and anterior skull base; centered on chronic rhinosinusitis, endoscopic sinus surgery, and biologics; also the name of the field's bimonthly journal (ISSN 0300-0729).

Rhinomanometry

Rhinomanometry is a diagnostic technique measuring nasal airflow and pressure simultaneously to quantify nasal airway resistance in Pa/cm³/s, most often by active anterior rhinomanometry.

Rhinophyma

Rhinophyma (drinkers' nose, phymatous rosacea) is the bulbous nasal enlargement of end-stage rosacea, affecting mostly men over 50; surgery is definitive, medical therapy is not, and alcohol causation is contested.

Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty (nose job, nose reshaping surgery) is surgery to change the nose's shape or improve breathing. Traces to Sushruta's forehead flap; modernized by Roe (1887) and Joseph (1898); open and closed approaches show similar outcomes.

Rhinorrhea

Rhinorrhea, commonly called a runny nose, is discharge of nasal fluid from the nose, most often caused by upper respiratory infections or allergies, though clear discharge after head trauma may signal a cerebrospinal fluid leak.

Rhinoscopy

Rhinoscopy is the visual examination of the interior of the nasal cavity and nasopharynx, performed with a handheld speculum or a rigid or flexible endoscope.

Rhinosporidiosis

Rhinosporidiosis is a chronic granulomatous infection of mucous membranes, most often the nose, caused by Rhinosporidium seeberi, an aquatic protistan parasite endemic in South Asia; treatment is surgical excision.

Rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata

Rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata (RCDP, RCDP1/PEX7-RCDP) is a rare autosomal recessive peroxisome biogenesis disorder causing rhizomelia, stippled cartilage calcifications, cataracts, and severe intellectual disability, with deficient plasmalogens and phytanic acid oxidation but normal VLCFA.

Rhizotomy

Rhizotomy, including endoscopic rhizotomy, is a procedure that cuts or lesions spinal nerve roots or their branches, most often to relieve chronic facet joint pain or reduce spasticity in cerebral palsy.

Rho(D) immune globulin

Rho(D) immune globulin (RhoGAM, anti-D, RhIG) is a plasma-derived IgG anti-D injection preventing Rh immunization in Rh-negative people; 300 µg doses at 26–28 weeks and within 72 hours postpartum cut HDFN by about 95%.

Rhode Island Hospital

Rhode Island Hospital, founded in 1863 in Providence, is Rhode Island's largest hospital, the state's only Level I trauma center, and Brown University's principal teaching hospital.

Rhodesiense trypanosomiasis

Rhodesiense trypanosomiasis (rHAT, East African sleeping sickness), acute form of human African trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, tsetse-fly transmitted zoonosis of eastern and southern Africa; fexinidazole first-line since 2024.

Rhodopsin

Rhodopsin: the rod-cell GPCR photoreceptor of scotopic vision, composed of opsin plus 11-cis-retinal; first GPCR crystal structure, Meta II activates transducin, mutations cause retinitis pigmentosa.

RHYNS syndrome

RHYNS syndrome (Retinitis pigmentosa, HYpopituitarism, Nephronophthisis, Skeletal dysplasia; OMIM 602152) is an autosomal recessive ciliopathy caused by TMEM67 variants, described in four males, with no approved treatment or trials.

RHYTHM DETECT study

RHYTHM DETECT (NCT02275637), an Italian prospective multicenter registry sponsored by Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo di Pavia since September 2014, enrolls up to 10,000 unselected ICD recipients to find predictors of appropriate and inappropriate shock therapy, with substudies on S-ICD outcomes.

Rhythmic auditory stimulation

Rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) is a standardized neurologic music therapy technique that cues movement with metronome pulses or music, improving gait in Parkinson's disease and stroke since the 1990s.

Rhytidectomy

Rhytidectomy, commonly called a facelift, is a surgical procedure that removes excess facial skin and repositions deeper facial tissues to reduce wrinkles and sagging of the face and neck.

RIACE study

RIACE (Renal Insufficiency And Cardiovascular Events) Italian Multicenter Study: prospective cohort of 15,773 Italian type 2 diabetes patients (2006-2008, NCT00715481) showing non-albuminuric renal impairment predicts mortality and low retinopathy-CKD concordance.

RIALTCOT study

RIALTCOT (NCT04512326), a Spanish study from Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal led by Juan Ocaña, identifies risk factors for anastomotic leakage after total or subtotal colectomy with ileorectal or ileosigmoid anastomosis; nationwide cohort of 1,074 patients found 14.3% leak rate. Distinct from the RIAltO CLL trial.

Rib

Rib: one of typically 12 pairs of curved chest bones forming the thoracic cage; ribs 1-7 true, 8-10 false, 11-12 floating; commonly variable, with cervical ribs in up to 1% of people.

Rib cage

Rib cage (thoracic cage): bony chest framework of 24 ribs, 12 thoracic vertebrae, and sternum, 37 bones and 98 joints; protects heart and lungs, moves with breathing, true/false/floating ribs.

Rib fixation

Rib fixation, formally surgical stabilization of rib fractures (SSRF), is an operation that uses plates, screws, or intramedullary splints to hold broken ribs in place after severe blunt chest trauma.

Rib fracture

Rib fracture (broken rib): a crack or break in one or more ribs, usually from blunt chest trauma; the most common thoracic injury, treated mainly with analgesia and breathing exercises, surgery rarely needed except flail chest.

Rib resection

Rib resection is the surgical removal of a rib to relieve thoracic outlet syndrome, most often via the transaxillary first rib resection known as the Roos procedure.