Product Code Database
In medicine, describing a disease as acute denotation that it is of recent ; it occasionally denotes a short . The quantification of how much time constitutes "short" and "recent" varies by disease and by context, but the core denotation of "acute" is always qualitatively in contrast with "chronic", which denotes long-lasting disease (for example, in acute leukaemia and chronic leukaemia).
In the context of the mass noun "acute disease", it refers to the acute phase (that is, a short course) of any disease entity. (2025). 9783540298052, Springer. ISBN 9783540298052 For example, in an article on ulcerative enteritis in poultry, the author says, "in acute disease there may be increased mortality rate without any obvious medical sign", referring to the acute form or phase of ulcerative enteritis.
The term "acute" is also included in the definition of several diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, acute leukaemia, acute myocardial infarction, and acute hepatitis. This is often to distinguish diseases from their chronic forms, such as chronic leukaemia, or to highlight the sudden onset of the disease, such as acute myocardial infarct.
Very acute or violent. Denotes fulminant, whereas "acute" only sometimes connotes fulminant.''Pacute'' ("very") is not to be confused with ''[[wikt:preacute | pacute]]'' ("before", the opposite of ''postacute''). |
| "Happening again"—the concept is often one of multiple acute episodes. Relapse can mean the same as recurrent, although relapse is usually used to describe recurrence of chronic conditions that go into remission and then recur. | |
| An acute exacerbation of a chronic condition. It is applied to a variety of conditions, including liver failure, subdural hematoma, renal failure, respiratory failure, and bronchitis. | |
| A term sometimes used in pathology to describe a pattern of inflammation which is a mixture of chronic and acute inflammation. It may be seen in asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic peptic ulcer, chronic periodontitis, tuberculosis, tonsillitis and other conditions. | |
| A vaguely defined state that is clearly not acute, but rather between acute and chronic, for example subacute endocarditis, or subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. | |
| A long-term condition. | |
Acute hospitals are those intended for short-term medical and/or surgical treatment and care which is a medical speciality of acute medicine, as often primary care is not positioned to assume this role.
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