Plural of ectasis; multiple conditions of abnormal dilation or stretching of body ducts, blood vessels, or organs.
From Greek ektasis 'stretching out' from ek- 'out' + tasis 'stretching.' The plural form refers to multiple instances of this dilation condition.
Ectases show up constantly in medical diagnoses—varicose veins are one kind of ectasis, and bronchiectasis (where lung airways enlarge) is another, so doctors use this root word to describe stretching and dilation in almost any organ system.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.