loading...| Preferred Name |
Melena |
| Synonyms |
Black faeces Black feces |
| Definitions |
The passage of blackish, tarry feces associated with gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Melena occurs if the blood remains in the colon long enough for it to be broken down by colonic bacteria. One degradation product, hematin, imbues the stool with a blackish color. Thus, melena generally occurs with bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract (e.g., stomach ulcers or duodenal ulcers), since the blood usually remains in the gut for a longer period of time than with lower gastrointestinal bleeding. |
| ID |
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/HP_0002249 |
| database_cross_reference |
SNOMEDCT_US:269899009 SNOMEDCT_US:2901004 MSH:D008551 SNOMEDCT_US:35064005 SNOMEDCT_US:249627005 UMLS:C0474585 UMLS:C0025222 SNOMEDCT_US:267055007 |
| definition |
The passage of blackish, tarry feces associated with gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Melena occurs if the blood remains in the colon long enough for it to be broken down by colonic bacteria. One degradation product, hematin, imbues the stool with a blackish color. Thus, melena generally occurs with bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract (e.g., stomach ulcers or duodenal ulcers), since the blood usually remains in the gut for a longer period of time than with lower gastrointestinal bleeding. |
| has narrow synonym |
Black faeces Black feces |
| imported from | |
| label |
Melena |
| prefixIRI |
HP:0002249 |
| prefLabel |
Melena |
| subClassOf |