Disseminated disease
Disseminated disease refers to a diffuse disease-process, generally either infectious or neoplastic. The term may sometimes also characterize connective tissue disease.
A disseminated infection, for example, has extended beyond its origin or nidus and involved the bloodstream to "seed" other areas of the body. Similarly, one can view metastatic cancer as a disseminated infection in that it has extended into the bloodstream or into the lymphatic system and thus "seeded" distant sites.
Disseminated disease is often contrasted with localized disease.
