Glossary of terms S to U
Welcome to the glossary aspect of the site. Here we have included a list of all the terms that have been used in the site with an accompanying definition or explanation.
| S | |
| Salpingectomy | Surgical removal of the Fallopian tube. |
| Salpingitis | Inflammation of the Fallopian tubes caused by infection. |
| Salpingolysis | Removal of adhesions from around the tube which restricts its movements. |
| Salpingostomy | An operation to open up a blocked Fallopian tube, where the blockage is at the fimbria end. |
| Scrotum | Loose sack of skin containing the testes. |
| Semen analysis | Laboratory examination of semen to check the quality and quantity of sperm. |
| Selective fetal reduction | The process in which one or more normal fetus in a multiple pregnancy are destroyed. |
| Seminiferous tubules | The tiny tubules in the testicles in which sperm cells mature. |
| Seminal Vesicles | Tow small oblong glands behind the bladder, each joins a vas deferens. |
| Seminal fluid (semen) | The milky fluid that is ejaculated at orgasm. It contains fluid from the seminal vesicles, the prostate and the bulbourethral glands, in addition to sperm. |
| Seminal plasma | Fluid in which the sperm is ejaculated. |
| Septum | A wall that divides a cavity in half, such as the uterine septum |
| Sertoli's cells | Cells in the testes that nurture immature sperm until they reach maturity and are released into the seminiferous tubules. |
| Sexually transmitted disease | Also known as 'Venereal disease', is any disease transmitted by sexual intercourse such as gonorrhoea and chlamydia. |
| Spermatid | An immature sperm cell. |
| Spermatogenesis | The production of sperm. |
| Spermatozoa | Sperm. |
| Sperm capacitation | The chemical changes in the sperm that increase its ability to penetrate and fertilize an egg. |
| Sterilization | A surgical procedure designed to produce infertility such as tubal ligation and vasectomy. |
| Stillbirth | The birth of a dead infant. |
| Stimulated cycle | A treatment cycle in which fertility drugs are used to produce more eggs than usual in the woman's monthly cycle. |
| Subfertility | Term used to describe any impairment of fertility without implying permanent infertility. |
| Superovulation | The use of fertility drugs to promote the growth of multiple follicles. |
| Surgical sperm retrieval | The retrieval of sperm from the epididymis or testis, this technique must be used in conjunction with ICSI, as the sperm retrieved by this technique are incapable of fertilization by themselves. |
| SUZI | Subzonal insemination, where a single sperm is injected under the Zona of the egg. |
| Swim up | The technique for seperating sperm based on their ability to swim through a culture medium. |
| Syphilis | A venereal disease caused by spirochete. Acquired infection is transmitted by sexual contact. Congenital infection comes from a mother who has been infected during or shortly before pregnancy. |
| T | |
| TESE | Testicular Sperm Extraction, involves retrieving sperm directly from the testis. |
| Testis (testicle) | Male gonad which produces both sperm and male hormones. |
| TET | Tubal Embryo Transfer. |
| Thyroid gland | A large gland in the neck. It lies in front and on either side of the windpipe, it secretes thyroxin hormone which regulates growth and metabolism. |
| Testosterone | The principle and most potent male sex hormone. It is essential for normal sexual development (muscular body, broad shoulders, hair on the face, chest and limbs and deep voice etc.). It also plays a key role in the maturation of sperm within the testes. |
| Torsion | Twisting of an ovary or testicle and commonly results in obstruction of the blood supply of the organ. Urgent surgical correction may be needed. |
| Triptorelin | A long-acting GnRh agonist drug to induce pituitary down-regulation. |
| Trisomy | The presence of three chromosomes of one type instead of the normal two. |
| Tuboplasty | Surgical repair of damaged Fallopian tube. |
| Turner's syndrome | A chromosomal abnormality of the woman in which one of the sex chromosomes are missing so they will have one X Chromosome instead of 2. Mosaic Turner the woman will have some of some normal cells containing two X chromosomes while some cellls have one X chromosome. Women with Turner syndrome.suffer from abnormal development of the ovaries. Such women are usually of short stature,have webbed neck, infertile, and never menstruate. Some also have heart and vascular abnormalities. |
| U | |
| Ultrasound scans | A technique used for visualizing internal organs, assessing their sizes and shapes by using high-frequency sound waves. |
| Undescended testis | Also known as cryptoorchidism. A term used to describe testis, which, at birth has not descended into the scrotum as normal. It occurs in 1% of male infants, usually one testis fails to descend. Such cases are usually associated with a variable degree of impaired sperm production. Undescended testes may be surgically corrected but the chance of restoring normal fertility is low. |
| Urethra | The muscular tube leading from the bladder to the end of the penis and carries urine and semen. |
| Uterus | The womb. |
| Uterine septum | A band of tissue in the midsection of the uterus that divide the normal uterine cavity. |