Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

Ritter disease
See 
staphylococcal scalded
skin syndrome.
river blindness
A disease caused by a parasitic
worm (Onchocerca volvulus) that is transmitted by
biting blackflies that breed in fast-flowing rivers.
The adult worms can live for up to 15 years in nod-
ules beneath the skin and in the muscles of infected
persons, where they produce millions of worm
embryos (microfilariae) that invade the skin and
other tissues, including the eyes, causing blindness.
The drug ivermectin (brand name: Stromectol),
taken in a single oral dose administered once a year,
prevents the accumulation of microfilariae in per-
sons at risk. Treatment is with antibiotics that can
kill the adult worms in the body. Also known as
onchocerciasis.
RLL
Right lower lobe, the lower-right lobe of the
lung.
RLQ
Right lower quadrant, the lower-right quar-
ter of the abdomen.
rickets, hypophosphatemic
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RML
Right middle lobe, the middle-right lobe of
the lung.
RMSF
Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
RN
Registered nurse. See 
nurse, registered.
RNA
Ribonucleic acid.
RNA, messenger
See 
messenger RNA.
RNA, ribosomal
A component of ribosomes that
functions as a nonspecific site for making polypep-
tides. Abbreviated rRNA. See also 
ribosome.
RNA, transfer
The form of the biochemical
ribonucleic acid that brings (transfers) activated
amino acids into position along the messenger RNA
template. Abbreviated tRNA.
RNA editing
The process by which messenger
RNA (mRNA) is modified (edited) after it is synthe-
sized before it is translated into protein.