Involution

A retrograde change. After treatment, a tumor may involute. With advancing age, there may be physical and emotional involution.

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1. Return of an enlarged organ to normal size. 2. Turning inward of the edges of a part. 3. In psychiatry, mental decline associated with advanced age. SYN: catagenesis. [L. in-volvo, pp. -volutus, to roll up]

- senile i. the retrogression of vital organs and psychological processes incident to aging.

- i. of the uterus the process of reduction of the uterus to its normal nonpregnant size and state following childbirth.

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in·vo·lu·tion .in-və-'lü-shən n

1 a) an inward curvature or penetration

b) the formation of a gastrula by ingrowth of cells formed at the dorsal lip

2) a shrinking or return to a former size <\involution of the uterus after pregnancy>

3) the regressive alterations of a body or its parts characteristic of the aging process specif decline marked by a decrease of bodily vigor and in women by menopause

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n.

1. the shrinking of the womb to its normal size after childbirth.

2. atrophy of an organ in old age.

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in·vo·lu·tion (in″vo-looґshən) [L. involutio; in into + volvere to roll] 1. a rolling or turning inward. 2. a retrograde change of the entire body or in a particular organ, as the retrograde changes in the female genital organs that result in normal size after delivery. 3. the progressive degeneration occurring naturally with advancing age, resulting in a reduction in size or function of organs or tissues.