Medical Terminology Daily (MTD) is a blog sponsored by Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. as a service to the medical community. We post anatomical, medical or surgical terms, their meaning and usage, as well as biographical notes on anatomists, surgeons, and researchers through the ages. Be warned that some of the images used depict human anatomical specimens.
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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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The pisiform bone is one of the four bones that comprise the proximal row of the carpus or carpal bones that form the wrist. It is the smallest of the carpal bones, is spheroidal in shape, and presents with only one articular surface (see image).
Its name originates from the Latin [pisum], meaning "pea". It is also known as "os pisiforme" or "lentiform bone", because some feel it is shaped like a lentil.
The pisiform bone articulates posteriorly with the triquetrum, and has on its anterior (volar) surface attachments to the transverse carpal ligament, and to the Abductor Digiti Quinti, and Flexor Carpi Ulnaris muscles.
The accompanying image shows the anterior (volar) surface of the wrist.
Image modified from the original: "3D Human Anatomy: Regional Edition DVD-ROM." Courtesy of Primal Pictures
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This is a Latin word meaning a trench, a ditch, or an excavation. It arises from the Latine term [fodere] meaning "to dig". The plural form for "fossa" is "fossae".
There are many fossae listed in human anatomy, here are some of them:
- fossa scaphoides: found in the pinna
- fossa ovalis: found in the wall of the right atrium
- fossa triangularis: found in the pinna
- ischioanal fossa: a triangular fossa found in the perineum, inferior to the pelvic diaphragm and superior to the urogenital diaphragm, etc.
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The prefix [pre-] has its origin in the Latin preposition [prae] meaning "anterior", "in front of", or "before".
Applications of this prefix include:
- precordial: anterior to the heart, as in "precordial pain"
- preoperative: before the operation
- preperitoneal: anterior to the peritoneum, referring to the region found outside and anterior to the peritoneal sac, an area containing fat, and important for preperitoneal laparoscopic surgery
- presystolic: before systole
- preaortic: anterior to the aorta
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The right coronary artery usually bifurcates in an area of the posterior aspect of the heart known as the "crux cordis" giving origin to two terminal branches: the posterior interventricular artery (anatomical term) and the posterolateral artery. The posterior interventricular artery is better know to clinicians as the "posterior descending artery" or PDA.
The PDA descends towards the apex cordis where it ends. It gives off several small ventricular branches, but its most important branches are the septal perforators. These branches dive deep and provide blood supply to the posterior 1/3rd of the interventricular septum.
The AV node artery, which provides blood supply to the AV node (a component of the conduction system of the heart) may arise from the PDA instead of arising from the right coronary artery.
The PDA may present with a number of anatomical variations, including:
- arising from the circumflex artery (and absence of the posterolateral artery)
- arising from the first septal perforator of the anterior interventricular artery
- arising from the second diagonal artery
- arising from anterior interventricular artery
- being double, with one PDA arising from the circumflex artery, and another from the right coronary artery, etc.
Image property of: CAA, Inc. Photographer: E. Klein
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This article is part of the series "A Moment in History" where we honor those who have contributed to the growth of medical knowledge in the areas of anatomy, medicine, surgery, and medical research.
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Sunao Tawara, M.D. (1873 - 1952) Sunao Tawara was born in the prefecture of Ooita, Kyushu, Japan. Adopted by an uncle (and physician), Tawara studied English and German, and went on to the University of Tokyo medical school, where he graduated an MD in 1901.
In 1903 he traveled to Marburg, Germany, where he started working with Dr. Karl Albert Ludwig Aschoff (1866-1942), a noted pathologist. Tawara’s work led him to the discovery of what today we call the “atrioventricular node” (AV node) and the connections of the AV node and the Bundle of His (the right and left bundle branch). His work with Aschoff led to the eponym of “node of Aschoff-Tawara” for the AV node. Tawara’s work also led to the understanding of the function of the Purkinje fibers. Tawara gave the entire system the name “Reitzleitungssytem” or the “conduction system” of the heart.
In 1906 Dr. Tawara published his discoveries in a German-language article entitled “The Conduction System of the Mammalian Heart — An Anatomicopathological Study on the Atrioventricular Bundle and the Purkinje Fibers”. The same year he returned to Japan and in 1908 became Professor of Pathology at the University of Kyushu until his retirement in 1933.
Sources:
1. "Sunao Tawara" Suma, K. Clin Cardiol (1991) 14; 442-443
2. "Sunao Tawara, A Cardiac Pathophysiologist" Loukas, M. et al Clinical Anatomy 21:2–4 (2008)
3. "Sunao Tawara: A Father of Modern Cardiology" Suma, K. J Pacing Clin Electrophysiol (2001) 24:1; 88- 96