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Definition and Classification of Syndromes
- A syndrome is a set of medical signs and symptoms correlated with each other.
- The word 'syndrome' comes from the Greek word meaning concurrence.
- When a syndrome is paired with a definite cause, it becomes a disease.
- Some syndromes are closely linked with a specific pathogenesis or cause.
- Syndromes can also be non-specific and caused by various factors.
Eponymous Syndrome Names
- Syndromes are often named after the physician or group of physicians who discovered them.
- Eponymous syndrome names are examples of medical eponyms.
- There has been a shift towards naming conditions descriptively, but eponymous syndrome names still persist.
- Naming syndromes after their clinical picture helps in pattern recognition and differential diagnosis.
- Teratology (dysmorphology) involves defining congenital syndromes that may include birth defects, dysmetabolism, and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Subsyndromal and Subclinical Conditions
- Subsyndromal refers to symptoms suggesting a disease but not meeting the defined diagnostic criteria.
- Subclinical is not always interchangeable with subsyndromal and can mean undetectable or asymptomatic.
- Diagnosis of subsyndromal conditions is subjective and up to the clinician.
- Subsyndromal conditions may not have advanced to a certain level or may have similar symptoms caused by other issues.
- Subclinical conditions may not produce detectable effects or be detectable through usual clinical tests.
Usage of Syndrome in Different Fields
- In general medicine, a broad definition of syndrome is used to describe a collection of symptoms and findings without tying them to a single identifiable cause.
- In medical genetics, syndrome is used when the underlying genetic cause is known.
- Psychiatric syndromes are used in psychiatry and psychopathology to describe various mental disorders.
- Syndrome is also used in biology to describe characteristic sets of features in different contexts.
- In orbital mechanics and astronomy, Kessler syndrome refers to the effect of high density of objects in low Earth orbit causing potential collisions and space debris.
Naming of Syndromes
- There is no set convention for naming newly identified syndromes.
- In the past, syndromes were often named after the physician or scientist who described them.
- Descriptive names based on symptoms or underlying cause are becoming more common.
- Naming syndromes helps in communication, recognition, and understanding of medical conditions.
- The naming of syndromes varies across different fields and disciplines.
A syndrome is a set of medical signs and symptoms which are correlated with each other and often associated with a particular disease or disorder. The word derives from the Greek σύνδρομον, meaning "concurrence". When a syndrome is paired with a definite cause this becomes a disease. In some instances, a syndrome is so closely linked with a pathogenesis or cause that the words syndrome, disease, and disorder end up being used interchangeably for them. This substitution of terminology often confuses the reality and meaning of medical diagnoses. This is especially true of inherited syndromes. About one third of all phenotypes that are listed in OMIM are described as dysmorphic, which usually refers to the facial gestalt. For example, Down syndrome, Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome, and Andersen–Tawil syndrome are disorders with known pathogeneses, so each is more than just a set of signs and symptoms, despite the syndrome nomenclature. In other instances, a syndrome is not specific to only one disease. For example, toxic shock syndrome can be caused by various toxins; another medical syndrome named as premotor syndrome can be caused by various brain lesions; and premenstrual syndrome is not a disease but simply a set of symptoms.
If an underlying genetic cause is suspected but not known, a condition may be referred to as a genetic association (often just "association" in context). By definition, an association indicates that the collection of signs and symptoms occurs in combination more frequently than would be likely by chance alone.
Syndromes are often named after the physician or group of physicians that discovered them or initially described the full clinical picture. Such eponymous syndrome names are examples of medical eponyms. Recently, there has been a shift towards naming conditions descriptively (by symptoms or underlying cause) rather than eponymously, but the eponymous syndrome names often persist in common usage.
The defining of syndromes has sometimes been termed syndromology, but it is usually not a separate discipline from nosology and differential diagnosis generally, which inherently involve pattern recognition (both sentient and automated) and differentiation among overlapping sets of signs and symptoms. Teratology (dysmorphology) by its nature involves the defining of congenital syndromes that may include birth defects (pathoanatomy), dysmetabolism (pathophysiology), and neurodevelopmental disorders.
