You searched for: “rigidity
rigidity
1. The physical property of being stiff and resisting bending or deformtion.
2. The circumstances in which a substance renders something inflexible, stiff, or non-pliable.
3. In physiology, a functional conditon of the skeletal muscles, characterized by a marked increase in their tone and in their resistance to deformation.

Muscle rigidity results from changes in the character of the neural influences that the central and peripheral nervous systems continuously exert on the muscles.

4. The quality of being rigid and rigorously severe in discipline, rules, or behavior.
5. Tenseness; immovability; stiffness; inability to bend or to be bent.
6. In psychiatry, an excessive resistance to change.
7. In medicine, stiffness or inflexibility; especially, that which is abnormal or morbid.
8. In neurology, one type of increase in muscle tone when it is at rest; it is characterized by increased resistance to a passive stretch, independent of velocity (speed), and is symmetric around the joints.

It increases with the activation of the corresponding muscles in the contralateral limb.

This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 3)
Word Entries containing the term: “rigidity
cadaveric rigidity (s) (noun), cadaveric rigidities (pl)
1. The stiffening of the muscles that occurs several hours after someone dies: The medical examiner noted the degree of cadaveric rigidity or rigor mortis that was present as part of the estimation of the time of the victim's death.
2. The hardening of the muscular tissues of the body, from one to seven hours after death as a result of the coagulation of the myosinogen and paramyosinogen: The cadaveric rigidity disappears after one to five or six days, or when decomposition begins.

Sometimes the rigor mortis, or cadaveric rigidity in the corpse, makes it difficult to fit the body into the coffin for burial.

3. The postmortem stiffening of the voluntary and involuntary muscles of the body present a board-like situation for the entire body: The development of cadaveric rigidity may be poor or incomplete in elderly, very young, or severely debilitated individuals.
This entry is located in the following units: cad-, cas-, cid- (page 1) mort-, mor-, mori-, morti- + (page 5) rigi-, rig- (page 1)
catatonic rigidity (s) (noun), catatonic rigidities (pl)
Associated with psychotic conditions in which all muscles exhibit "flexibilitas cerea" or "cerea flexibilitas", a rigidity of the body in which the patient maintains whatever position he or she is placed in, the limbs having a heavy waxy malleability, which is the rigidity of catalepsy that may be overcome by slight external force, but which returns at once, holding the limb firmly in the new position: Catatonic rigidity is a condition of diminished responsiveness usually characterized by a trancelike state with constantly maintained immobility, often with flexibilitas cerea or a waxy rigidity of muscles.

A patient with catatonic rigidity may remain in one position for minutes, days, or even longer.

cerebellar rigidity
Stiffness of the body and extremities resulting from a lesion of the middle lobe of the cerebellum.
This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 1)
clasp-knife rigidity, clasp-knife effect, clasp-knife spasticity, clasp-knife phenomenon
1. A condition in which passive flexion of a joint causes increased resistance of the extensors.

This gives way abruptly if the pressure to produce flexion is continued.

2. An initial marked resistance to passive movement, which then suddenly gives way.

This variety of increased muscle tone is characteristic of spasticity as a result of disease or dysfunction of the pyramidal tracts.

This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 1)
cogwheel rigidity
A type of rigidity seen in parkinsonism in which the muscles respond with cogwheel-like jerks with the use of constant force when bending the limbs.

The term parkinsonism is any of a group of nervous disorders similar to Parkinson's disease, marked by muscular rigidity, tremor, and impaired motor control and often having a specific cause; such as, the use of certain drugs or frequent exposure to toxic chemicals.

It is also called Parkinson's syndrome or it may actually refer to having Parkinson's disease.

This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 1)
decerebrate rigidity, decerebrate state
A change in posture which takes place in some comatose patients, consisting of episodes of opisthotonos (a condition, caused by a tetanic spasm of the back muscles, in which the trunk is arched forward while the head and lower limbs are bent backward), rigid extension of the limbs, internal rotation of the upper extremities, and marked plantar flexion (turning the feet or toes toward the plantar surface or bottom) of the feet.

This can be produced by a variety of metabolic and structural brain disorders.

This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 1)
hysterical rigidity
Increased resistance to passive movement resulting from hysteria (neurotic disorder characterized by violent emotional outbreaks and disturbances of sensory and motor functions) and not from organic nervous disease.
This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 1)
lead-pipe rigidity
1. Constant resistance to a passive movement of a limb throughout the entire range of movement, as when trying to bend a lead pipe.
2. The generalized nervous disorder marked by symptoms of trembling limbs and muscular rigidity as seen in parkinsonism (a syndrome similar to Parkinson disease; for example, as a side effect of an antipsychotic drug).

Parkinson disease: a slowly progressive neurologic disease characterized by a fixed unexpressive face, a tremor (shaking) when at rest, slowing of voluntary movements, walking with short fast steps, a peculiar posture and muscle weakness, caused by degeneration of an area of the brain called the basal ganglia, and by low production of the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Most patients are over fifty, but at least ten percent are under forty. It is also known as paralysis agitans and shaking palsy.

This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 1)
muscular rigidity
1. Increased muscle tone.
2. The increased muscular tension and shortness that cannot be released voluntarily and prevents lengthening of the muscles involved.
This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 1)
mydriatic rigidity
A fixed and dilated condition of the pupil of the eye that is unresponsive to light or other stimuli to which the pupil normally reacts.
This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 1)
nuchal rigidity
Stiffness of the neck and resistance to passive movements, particularly flexion, usually accompanied by pain and spasm when motion is attempted.

It is recognized widely as the most common sign, after early infancy, of meningeal irritation, notably of meningitis and bleeding into the subarachnoid space which is the layer of tissue situated or occurring between the arachnoid (like a cobweb of fibers) and the pia mater (the delicate and highly vascular, blood vessels, membrane immediately investing [covering or enveloping] the brain and the spinal cord).

This entry is located in the following units: nuch-, nucha- + (page 1) rigi-, rig- (page 2)
ocular rigidity
The resistance offered by the eyeball to a change in intraocular (inside the eye) volume which is manifested as a change in intraocular pressure in the eye.
This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 2)
parkinsonian rigidity
Increased muscular tone in Parkinson's disease, either the lead-pipe type of rigidity or the cogwheel-type, occurring in patients showing both static tremor and increased tone.

When doctors move a person's limb passively around a joint, they note the degree of resistance to movement (muscle tone).

Muscle tone which is uneven and suddenly increased (spasticity) may be a result of a stroke or spinal cord injury.

Muscle tone that is evenly increased (rigidity) may be caused by disease of the basal ganglia; such as, Parkinson's disease.

Muscle tone is severely reduced (flaccid) immediately and temporarily after a spinal cord injury produces paralysis.

This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 2)
parthologic rigidity
Cervical stenosis or rigidity during a woman's child labor resulting from a prior injury or disease.
This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 2)
scleral rigidity
The resistance of the eye to changes in shape with the changes in intraocular pressure of the fluid (vitreous) contained within the eye and exerts on the globe (lining of the eyeball) which is a feature of glaucoma.

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases characterised by an increase in intraocular pressure which causes pathological changes in the optic disk and typical defects in the field of vision.

This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 3)
spasmodic rigidity
The contraction of uterine musculature just above the cervix (necklike opening to the uterus where a baby or fetus can grow), resulting in relative rigidity of the cervix.
This entry is located in the following unit: rigi-, rig- (page 3)