D - G
DECUBITUS - Pressure sore or skin ulcer.
DERMATOMES - The areas of skin that get their sensation from different spinal nerves.
DETRUSOR - The bladder muscle.
DETRUSOR-SPHINCTER DYSSYNERGIA (DSD) - Failure of the bladder sphincter to open up when the bladder muscle contracts.
DISABILITY - A lifelong condition affecting important activities or functions of daily living.
DISLOCATED - The displacement of a bone from its normal position in a joint.
DISTAL - The end of a shunt catheter furthest away from the head.
DORSIFLE - A backward bending of the forefoot at the ankle.
DURA - The outer membrane of the meninges.
ENDOCRINOLOGIST - A physician specializing in diabetes, the thyroid, and the endocrine gland. Most children with spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus experience delays in growth or premature puberty and would benefit from this specialist's care.
ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM - A graphic picture of the electrical impulses of the brain, or brainwaves.
ENCEPHALOCELE - See cranium bifidum.
ENEMA - Installation of fluid into the rectum to empty the bowel.
EQUINOVARUS - Similar to equinus, with additional inward turning of the forefoot.
EQUINUS - Deformity of the foot in which the heel is pulled up and the forefoot is pulled down.
ESOPHAGUS - The muscular tube extending from the back of the throat to the stomach.
EVERSION - Movement of the foot in which the sole turns outward away from the midline.
EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE - The ability to express ideas in words and sentences.
EXTENSION - The straightening of a joint.
FEMUR - The thighbone, extending from the pelvis to the knee.
FERTILITY - Capable of reproducing.
FLEXION - The bending of a joint.
FOLIC ACID - A "B" vitamin that is necessary to form essential body proteins and genetic materials. It promotes the synthesis of the oxygen-carrying blood protein hemoglobin.
FONTANEL - The soft spot on a baby's skull where the bones have not yet grown firmly together.
GAIT - The manner of walking.
GASTROCS - The calf muscles.
GASTROESOPHAGEAL REFLUX - Excessive regurgitation from the stomach into the esophagus.
GENETICIST - A physician or professional person who counsels parents on the risk of having an infant with a particular inherited disorder.