Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

heat prostration
See 
hyperthermia.
heat rash
A red or pink rash usually found on
body areas covered by clothing. It can develop when
sweat ducts become blocked and swell. Symptoms
may include discomfort and itching. Heat rash is
most common in babies, but may affect adults in hot,
humid climates. Most cases of heat rash heal by
themselves, and treatment is directed toward the
relief of symptoms. Also known as prickly heat.
heatstroke
See 
hyperthermia.
Heberden’s disease 1
Angina.
2
Osteoarthritis
of the small joints with bony enlargement
(Heberden’s nodes) of the joint at the end of the fin-
ger. See also 
angina pectoris.
Heberden’s node
A small fixed bony enlarge-
ment of the joint at the end of the finger. A
Heberden’s node is a calcified spur of the bone of
that joint (distal interphalangeal joint) and is asso-
ciated with osteoarthritis.
Hecht syndrome
An inherited disorder that is
transmitted as an autosomal dominant trait, in
which short, tight muscles make it impossible to
open the mouth fully or keep the fingers straight
when the hand is flexed back. The small mouth cre-
ates feeding problems. The hands may be so tightly
fisted that infants with Hecht syndrome crawl on
their knuckles. Also known as trismus pseudo-
camptodactyly syndrome.
Hecht’s pneumonia
See 
pneumonia, giant cell.
heel bone
See 
bone, heel.
heel spur
See 
calcaneal spur.
Heimlich maneuver
An emergency treatment
for obstruction of the airway in adults. The Heimlich
maneuver may be needed when someone chokes on
a piece of food that has “gone down the wrong way.”
To perform the Heimlich maneuver, a rescuer
stands behind the victim, wraps his or her arms
around the victim’s waist, makes a fist with one
hand, and holds the fist with the thumb side just
below the breast bone at the top of the abdomen.
The rescuer places his or her other hand over the
fist and uses it to pull sharply into the top of the vic-
tim’s abdomen and forcefully press up into the vic-
tim’s diaphragm to expel the obstruction (most
commonly food). The Heimlich maneuver should
be repeated as necessary. If the Heimlich maneuver
is unsuccessful, an emergency tracheostomy may be
necessary to prevent suffocation. Named for the US
surgeon Henry Heimlich, who noted that food and
other objects that caused choking by blocking the
airway from the mouth to the lungs were not
expelled by giving sharp blows to the back. See also
airway obstruction; tracheostomy.