Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP) Glossary of Terms

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Abnormal: Not normal. Deviating from the usual structure, position, condition, or behavior. In referring to a growth, abnormal may mean that it is cancerous or premalignant (likely to become cancer).

Analysis: A psychology term for processes used to gain understanding of complex emotional or behavioral issues.

Anesthetic: A substance that causes lack of feeling or awareness. A local anesthetic causes loss of feeling in a part of the body. A general anesthetic puts the person to sleep.

Biopsy: The removal of a sample of tissue for purposes of diagnosis. (Many definitions of "biopsy" stipulate that the sample of tissue is removed for examination under a microscope. This may or may not be the case. The diagnosis may be achieved by other means such as by analysis of chromosomes or genes.)
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Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, in some cases, to metastasize (spread).
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Carcinoma: Cancer that begins in the skin or in tissues that line or cover body organs. For example, carcinoma can arise in the breast, colon, liver, lung, prostate, and stomach.

Carcinoma in situ: Cancer that involves only the place in which it began and that has not spread. Carcinoma in situ is an early-stage tumor.
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Cervical: Having to do with any kind of neck including the neck on which the head is perched and the neck of the uterus. The word "cervix" in Latin means "neck". That is why cervical vertebrae and cervical cancer involve quite disparate parts of the anatomy joined only by the meaning of the word "cervix".

Cervical dysplasia: Changes from normal in the cells lining the cervix of the uterus. Cervical dysplasia involves a sequence of cellular changes from mild to severe that are not yet cancerous but constitute the prelude to cervical cancer.
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Cervix: The cervix is the lower, narrow part of the uterus (womb). The uterus, a hollow, pear-shaped organ, is located in a woman's lower abdomen, between the bladder and the rectum. The cervix forms a canal that opens into the vagina, which leads to the outside of the body.

Colposcopy: A procedure in which a gynecologist uses a lighted magnifying instrument which is called a colposcope to examine the tissues of the vagina and the cervix.

Cone: A type of specialized light-sensitive cell (photoreceptor) in the retina of the eye that provide sharp central vision and color vision.
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Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. Cures are easy to claim and, all too often, difficult to confirm.
2. A time without recurrence of a disease so that the risk of recurrence is small, as in the 5-year cure rate for malignant melanoma.
3. Particularly in the past, a course of treatment. For example, take a cure at a spa.
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Discharge: 1.The flow of fluid from part of the body, such as from the nose or vagina.
2. The passing of an action potential, such as through a nerve or muscle fiber.
3. The release of a patient from a course of care. The doctor may then dictate a discharge summary.

Douching: Using water or a medicated solution to clean the vagina. Vaginal douching has been done for many, many years. However, there is currently concern that it may sometimes cause problems. It may mask, or even worsen, conditions such as bacterial or yeast infection of the vagina. Even more seriously, douching is associated with an increased risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). It is also associated with an increased risk of an ectopic pregnancy (probably due to PID). The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends against douching.
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Dysplasia: Abnormal in form. From the Greek dys- (bad, disordered, abnormal) and plassein (to form). For example, retinal dysplasia is abnormal formation of the retina during embryonic development.

Excision: 1. Surgical removal, as in the excision of a tumor. 2. The removal as if by surgery, as in base excision repair.
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In situ: In the normal location. An "in situ" tumor is one that is confined to its site of origin and has not invaded neighboring tissue or gone elsewhere in the body.
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Infection: The growth of a parasitic organism within the body. (A parasitic organism is one that lives on or in another organism and draws its nourishment therefrom.) A person with an infection has another organism (a "germ") growing within him, drawing its nourishment from the person.
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Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures and preparing chemicals, etc. Although "laboratory" looks very like the Latin "laboratorium" (a place to labor, a work place), the word "laboratory" came from the Latin "elaborare" (to work out, as a problem, and with great pains), as evidenced by the Old English spelling "elaboratory" designating "a place where learned effort was applied to the solution of scientific problems."

Laser: A powerful beam of light that can produce intense heat when focused at close range. Lasers are used in medicine in microsurgery, cauterization, for diagnostic purposes, etc. For example, lasers are employed in microsurgery to cut tissue and remove tissue.
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Microscopic: So small it cannot be seen without the aid of microscope. As opposed to macroscopic (large enough to be seen with naked eye). A tiny tumor is microscopic while a big tumor is macroscopic.

Outpatient: A patient who is not an inpatient (not hospitalized) but instead is cared for elsewhere -- as in a doctor's office, clinic, or day surgery center. The term outpatient dates back at least to 1715. Outpatient care today is also called ambulatory care.

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pain has both physical and emotional components. The physical part of pain results from nerve stimulation. Pain may be contained to a discrete area, as in an injury, or it can be more diffuse, as in disorders like fibromyalgia. Pain is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain where their conscious appreciation may be modified by many factors.
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Pap test: A screening test for cervical cancer based on the examination under the microscope of cells collected from the cervix, smeared on a slide and specially stained to reveal premalignant (before cancer) and malignant (cancer) changes as well as changes due to noncancerous conditions such as inflammation from infections. Also called a Pap smear.
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Pathologist: A doctor who identifies diseases by studying cells and tissues under a microscope.

Precancerous: Pertaining to something that is not yet overtly cancerous, but appears to be on its way to becoming a cancer. Synonymous with premalignant.

Recur: To occur again. To return. Any symptom (such as fatigue), any sign (such as a heart murmur), or any disease can recur.

Recurrence: The return of a sign, symptom or disease after a remission. The reappearance of cancer cells at the same site or in another location is, unfortunately, a familiar form of recurrence.
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Speculum: An instrument used to widen an opening to look within a passage or a cavity. For example, a speculum may be used to widen the opening of the vagina so that the cervix is more easily visible. Other examples include the nasal speculum to look up into the nostrils and the ear speculum to look within the ear canal at the ear drum. The term "speculum" is the Latin word for mirror.

Stenosis: A narrowing, as in:

• aortic stenosis (narrowing of the aortic valve of the heart),
• pulmonary stenosis (narrowing of the pulmonary valve of the heart),
• pyloric stenosis (narrowing of the outlet of the stomach), and
• spinal stenosis (narrowing of the vertebral canal).

Substance: 1. Material with particular features, as a pressor substance.
2. The material that makes up an organ or structure. Also known in medicine as the substantia.
3. A psychoactive drug as, for example, in substance abuse.

Surgery: The word "surgery" has multiple meanings. It is the branch of medicine concerned with diseases and conditions which require or are amenable to operative procedures. Surgery is the work done by a surgeon. By analogy, the work of an editor wielding his pen as a scalpel is s form of surgery. A surgery in England (and some other countries) is a physician's or dentist's office.
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Uterus: The uterus (womb) is a hollow, pear-shaped organ located in a woman's lower abdomen between the bladder and the rectum. The narrow, lower portion of the uterus is the cervix; the broader, upper part is the corpus. The corpus is made up of two layers of tissue.

Vagina: The muscular canal extending from the cervix to the outside of the body. It is usually six to seven inches in length, and its walls are lined with mucus membrane. It includes two vaultlike structures, the anterior (front) vaginal fornix and the posterior (rear) vaginal fornix. The cervix protrudes slightly into the vagina, and it is through a tiny hole in the cervix (the os) that sperm make their way toward the internal reproductive organs. The vagina also includes numerous tiny glands that make vaginal secretions.
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Vaginal discharge: Vaginal discharge is a fluid produced by glands in the vaginal wall and cervix that drains from the opening of the vagina. The amount and appearance of normal vaginal discharge varies throughout the menstrual cycle. An increase in the amount of vaginal discharge, an abnormal odor or consistency of the fluid, or pain that accompanies vaginal discharge can all be signs of infection or other disorders. Such disorders include (this is not an all inclusive list) bacterial vaginosis, yeast vaginitis, and vaginitis.

Vulva: The female external genital organs including the labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, tiny glands called Bartolin's glands, and the entrance to the vagina (the vestibule of the vagina).

Womb: The womb (uterus) is a hollow, pear-shaped organ located in a woman's lower abdomen between the bladder and the rectum. The narrow, lower portion of the uterus is the cervix; the broader, upper part is the corpus. The corpus is made up of two layers of tissue.