1. Any figure of the shape of the moon in its first quarter. 2. The figure made by the gray columns or cornua on cross-section of the spinal cord. 3. SYN: malarial c.. [L. cresco, pp. cretus, to grow]
- glomerular c. proliferated epithelial cells partly encircling a renal glomerulus; it occurs in glomerulonephritis.
- Heidenhain crescents SYN: serous demilunes, under demilune.
- malarial c. the male or female gametocyte(s) of Plasmodium falciparum, whose presence in human red blood cells is diagnostic of falciparum malaria. SYN: c. (3), sickle form.
- myopic c. a white or grayish white crescentic area in the fundus of the eye located on the temporal side of the optic disk; caused by atrophy of the choroid, permitting the sclera to become visible. SYN: myopic conus.
- sublingual c. the c.-shaped area on the floor of the mouth formed by the lingual wall of the mandible and the adjacent part of the floor of the mouth.
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cres·cent 'kres-ənt n
1) a crescent-shaped anatomical structure or section
2) the gametocyte of the falciparum malaria parasite that is shaped like a crescent and constitutes a distinguishing character of malignant tertian malaria
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cres·cent (kresґənt) [L. crescens] 1. shaped like a new moon. 2. something with this shape.Medical dictionary. 2011.