An acquired disorder is a medical condition which develops post-fetally; in contrast with a congenital disorder, which is present at birth. A congenital disorder may be antecedent to an acquired disorder (such as Eisenmenger's syndrome).
The term acquired may also be used to describe permanent or temporary modifications or devices (such as a shunt) which have been placed or created by a medical professional during palliation or treatment of a medical condition.
Famous quotes containing the words acquired and/or disorder:
“Indeed, the best books have a use, like sticks and stones, which is above or beside their design, not anticipated in the preface, not concluded in the appendix. Even Virgil’s poetry serves a very different use to me today from what it did to his contemporaries. It has often an acquired and accidental value merely, proving that man is still man in the world.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In a town-meeting, the great secret of political science was uncovered, and the problem solved, how to give every individual his fair weight in the government, without any disorder from numbers. In a town-meeting, the roots of society were reached. Here the rich gave counsel, but the poor also; and moreover, the just and the unjust.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)