Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist (CEHRS) Practice Exam

The suffix -itis is commonly used in medical terminology to indicate inflammation of an organ or tissue. When this suffix is attached to the root word that specifies the affected area, it illustrates a condition characterized by swelling, redness, heat, and pain. For instance, "arthritis" refers to inflammation of the joints, and "gastritis" indicates inflammation of the stomach lining. The other choices do not encapsulate the specific meaning conveyed by -itis. While inflammation is often involved in various disease conditions and could relate indirectly to those concepts, the precise definition is specifically linked to inflammatory processes. Therefore, recognizing -itis as a marker for inflammation is essential for understanding many medical conditions.