Coracobrachialis

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A Moment in History

Georg Eduard Von Rindfleisch
(1836 – 1908)

German pathologist and histologist of Bavarian nobility ancestry. Rindfleisch studied medicine in Würzburg, Berlin, and Heidelberg, earning his MD in 1859 with the thesis “De Vasorum Genesi” (on the generation of vessels) under the tutelage of Rudolf Virchow (1821 - 1902). He then continued as a assistant to Virchow in a newly founded institute in Berlin. He then moved to Breslau in 1861 as an assistant to Rudolf Heidenhain (1834–1897), becoming a professor of pathological anatomy. In 1865 he became full professor in Bonn and in 1874 in Würzburg, where a new pathological institute was built according to his design (completed in 1878), where he worked until his retirement in 1906.

He was the first to describe the inflammatory background of multiple sclerosis in 1863, when he noted that demyelinated lesions have in their center small vessels that are surrounded by a leukocyte inflammatory infiltrate.

After extensive investigations, he suspected an infectious origin of tuberculosis - even before Robert Koch's detection of the tuberculosis bacillus in 1892. Rindfleisch 's special achievement is the description of the morphologically conspicuous macrophages in typhoid inflammation. His distinction between myocardial infarction and myocarditis in 1890 is also of lasting importance.

Associated eponyms

"Rindfleisch's folds": Usually a single semilunar fold of the serous surface of the pericardium around the origin of the aorta. Also known as the plica semilunaris aortæ.

"Rindfleisch's cells": Historical (and obsolete) name for eosinophilic leukocytes.

Personal note: G. Rindfleisch’s book “Traité D' Histologie Pathologique” 2nd edition (1873) is now part of my library. This book was translated from German to French by Dr. Frédéric Gross (1844-1927) , Associate Professor of the Medicine Faculty in Nancy, France. The book is dedicated to Dr. Theodore Billroth (1829-1894), an important surgeon whose pioneering work on subtotal gastrectomies paved the way for today’s robotic bariatric surgery. Dr. Miranda.

Sources:
1. "Stedmans Medical Eponyms" Forbis, P.; Bartolucci, SL; 1998 Williams and Wilkins
2. "Rindfleisch, Georg Eduard von (bayerischer Adel?)" Deutsche Biographie
3. "The pathology of multiple sclerosis and its evolution" Lassmann H. (1999) Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 354 (1390): 1635–40.
4. “Traité D' Histologie Pathologique” G.E.
Rindfleisch 2nd Ed (1873) Ballieres et Fils. Paris, Translated by F Gross

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Coracobrachialis muscle.
Click on the image for a larger depiction

The coracobrachialis muscle is a thin, elongated bilateral flexor muscle that extends between the coracoid process of the scapula and the humerus bone. It is the shortest of the three muscles that attach to the coracoid process, the others being the pectoralis minor muscle and the tendon of the short head of the biceps brachii muscle. The coracobrachialis muscle attaches by way of a tendon into the middle third of the medial surface of humerus between the origins of the triceps brachii and brachialis. Its tendon mixes with the tendon of the pectoralis minor.

The coracobrachialis id one of the three muscles contained in the anterior compartment (flexor compartment) of the arm, the other two being the brachialis and the biceps brachii.

The coracobrachialis muscle helps to flex and adduct the arm as well as to stabilize the shoulder joint, helping prevent dislocation. It receives innervation from the musculocutaneous nerve (C5-C7). This nerve, as it continues distally pierces the muscle and appears on its anterior aspect coursing inferiorly, The muscle is used when you reach with your hand and forearm to the contralateral aspect of your body, as in reaching to scratch your opposite ear, or doing a bench press.

It is found deep to the pectoralis major and anterior to the axillary artery and the brachial plexus. Along with the humerus and the short head of the biceps brachii, the coracobrachialis muscle forms the lateral wall of the axilla.

The coracobrachialis is one of the 17 muscles that attach to the scapula.

Note: The side image modified from the original in "Gray's Anatomy" by Henry VanDyke Carter, MD. Public domain. Animated image below by Wikimedia Commons - Anatomography [CC BY-SA 2.1 following Creative Commons attributes.

Anatomography, CC BY-SA 2.1 JP <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.1/jp/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources:
1. “Gray’s Anatomy” Henry Gray, 1918
2. "Tratado de Anatomia Humana" Testut et Latarjet 8th Ed. 1931 Salvat Editores, Spain
3. "Gray's Anatomy" 42nd British Ed. Churchill Livingstone 2021
4. “An Illustrated Atlas of the Skeletal Muscles” Bowden, B. 4th Ed. Morton Publishing. 2015
5. "Trail Guide to The Body" 4th. Ed. Biel, A. Books of Discovery. 2010

Coracobrachialis

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