Organ failure
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Groups of organs interact to form the fourth level of organization, the system. You are probably already familiar with the digestive system that is made up of organs such as the stomach, intestines, liver and pancreas; these act to digest your food and absorb nutrients. Another example of a system is shown in Anatomy Exercise 3 note the organs, in this case glands interact to form the system.
Now look at the combining form of Root 5 that refers to any system.
| Root 5 | Syst- | from a Greek word systema, meaning system. Here it means a system such as the digestive system or the body as a whole. |
| Combining form | Syst- | system |
| Clinical Point |
Organ failure |
This is the failure of the organs of an essential body system. Multiple organ failure is the failure of two or more essential systems such as the cardiovascular system or renal system; often this is due to a bacterial infection in the blood (sepsis) or very low blood pressure from some other cause. |