Recurrence (medicine)

As recurrence (from the Latin. Recurrere (Inf.) For "rewind") is referred to in medicine the recurrence of a disease or disease symptom . More often, however, the term relapse is used in connection with a renewed illness after an unsuccessful therapy .

Recurrence means z. B. in transplant medicine the reappearance of an underlying disease after a successful transplant, which in turn affects the transplanted organ. Examples are the recurrence of lupus erythematosus , primary glomerulonephritis , amyloidosis , cryoglobulinemia or diabetic nephropathy . The frequency of recurrence of the underlying disease after transplantation is given as the recurrence rate .

In infectious diseases , recurrence particularly refers to the regular recurrence of signs of infection, e.g. B. an exanthema or a fever episode . In contrast to permanent fever ( Continua ), one also speaks of recurrent fever, for example in malaria , sodoku and relapsing fever ( Febris recurrens ). The recurrence of previously latent viral diseases (e.g. with herpes simplex viruses , cytomegalovirus or hepatitis B virus ) is usually not referred to as recurrence, but rather as reactivation.