This glossary currently contains medical and blood-related
terms and is regularly updated.
Click on a letter below to list terms alphabetically, or use the search facility to scan the glossary database.
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Capillary
Smallest blood vessels where blood exchanges material with the interstitial fluid.
Chicken Pox
An infectious disease of childhood caused by the Varicella Zoster virus, which also causes shingles in adults.
Christmas Disease
A term used to describe patients with Factor IX deficiency (Haemophilia B).
Chromatography
Method for fractionation of mixtures; chromatography takes advantage of differences in size, electric charge and binding characteristics.
Chromosome
Gene-containing bodies that are found in the nucleus of all cells. Human beings possess forty-six chromosomes made up of twenty-three pairs.
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia
CLL is a disease which prevents B-cells from working properly. B-cells are the cells which produce antibodies.
Clot
A jelly-like substance that closes up a hole in a blood vessel to slow or stop blood from leaking out.
Clotting Factors
The proteins in the blood that work together to help form clots when bleeding begins.
Coagulant
A substance that plays a role in blood clotting.
Coagulation
Process of blood clotting by converting from liquid to semi-fluid.
Coagulation Cascade
A series of interactions between clotting factors in the blood that act upon each other sequentially to culminate in the production of fibrin.
Coagulation Factors
Substances in the blood that undergo a series of chemical reactions resulting in blood coagulation (clotting).
Cofactors
Substances that work alongside the factors in the coagulation cascade.
Collateral Circulation
Secondary or accessory circulation.
Colloids
Substances in which particles are in a stable suspension in a fluid medium.
Concentrates
Fractionated, freeze-dried preparations of individual clotting factors or groups of factors. They provide high-dose-to-volume material for rapid treatment of bleeds.
Contracture
The permanent tightening of a muscle, which prevents it from stretching to its normal length.
Coronary Artery Disease
Disease of the arteries responsible for supplying blood to the heart muscle (myocardium).
Cryoprecipitate
The solid material which forms when frozen plasma is slowly thawed.
