Mesothelioma Medical Glossary

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ECHOCARDIOGRAM: a test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart. The picture is much more detailed than an x-ray image and involves no radiation exposure.

ENDOSCOPE: an illuminated optic instrument that is inserted through an incision.

EPA: the US government agency founded to "protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment-air, water and land-upon which life depends." The Environmental Protection Agency is known as the EPA.

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL: studies of how health-related conditions occur in specific populations.

EPIDEMIOLOGY: the study of the distribution and determinants of disease or health status in a population; the study of the occurrence and causes of health effects in humans.

EPIDURAL CATHETER: a catheter which allows injection of an anesthetic drug into the space between the wall of the spinal canal and the covering of the spinal cord. This is the most reliable means for short term pain relief after an operation for mesothelioma.

EPITHELIAL: refers to the cells that line the internal and external surfaces of the body.

EPITHELOID MESOTHELIOMA: the most common histological presentation of mesothelioma. It also has the best prognosis.

ESOPHAGITIS: inflammation of the esophagus (the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach). This most frequently occurs in the area of chest radiation after an operation for mesothelioma.

EXPOSURE: contact with a substance by swallowing, breathing, or touching the skin or eyes. Exposure may be short-term (acute exposure), of intermediate duration, or long-term (chronic exposure).

EXTERNAL-BEAM OPERATION: radiation therapy that uses a machine to aim high-energy rays at the cancer. Also called external radiation. Most commonly used after removal of an entire lung for mesothelioma.

EXTRAPLEURAL PNEUMONECTOMY: surgery to remove a diseased lung, part of the pericardium (membrane covering the heart), part of the diaphragm (muscle between the lungs and the abdomen), and part of the parietal pleura (membrane lining the chest). This type of surgery is used most often to treat malignant mesothelioma.

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