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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A Moment in History

Jean-Louis Petit

Jean Louis Petit
(1674 – 1750)

French surgeon and anatomist, Jean Louis Petit was born in Paris in on March 13, 1674.  His family rented an apartment at his house to Alexis Littre (1658 – 1726), a French anatomist. Petit became an apprentice of Littre at seven years of age, helping him in the dissections for his lectures and at an early age became the assistant in charge of the anatomic amphitheater.

Because of Petit’s dedication to anatomy and medicine, in 1690 at the age of sixteen, became a disciple of a famous Paris surgeon, Castel.

In 1692, Petit entered the French army and performed surgery in two military campaigns. By 1693 he started delivering lectures and was accepted as a great surgeon, being invited to the most difficult operations.  In 1700 he was appointed Chief Surgeon of the Military School in Paris and in the same year he received the degree of Master of Surgery from the Faculty of Paris.

In 1715 he was made a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and an honorary member of the Royal Society of London. He was appointed by the King as the first Director General of the Royal Academy of Surgery when it was founded in 1731.

Petit’s written works are of historical importance.  “Traite des Maladies des Os” ( A Treatise on Bone Diseases);  “Traite des Maladies Chirurgicales et des Operation” (A Treatise on Surgical Diseases and their Operations” This last book was published posthumously in 1774. He also published a monograph on hemorrhage, another on lachrymal fistula, and others.

He was one of the first to perform choIecystotomy and mastoidotomy. His original tourniquet design for amputations saved many in the battlefield and the design of the same surgical instrument today has not changed much since its invention by him.

His name is remembered in the lumbar triangle, also called the "triangle of Petit", and the abdominal hernia that can ensue through that area of weakness, the lumbar hernia or "Petit's hernia".

Sources:
1. “Jean Louis Petit – A Sketch of his Life, Character, and Writings” Hayne, AP San Fran Western Lancet 1875 4: 446-454
2. “Oeuvres compl?tes de Jean-Louis Petit” 1837 Imprimerie de F. Chapoulaud
3. Extraits de l'eloge de Jean-Louis Petit Ius dans Ia seance publique de I' Academie royale de chirurgie du 26 mai 1750” Louis A. Chirurgie 2001: 126 : 475- 81


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Biceps brachii

Biceps brachii muscle - Image modified from the original, Wikimedia Commons. Public domain
Biceps brachii muscle.
Click on the image for a larger depiction

The musculus biceps brachii is a long muscle found in the anterior, aspect of the arm and is one of the three muscles contained in the anterior compartment (flexor compartment) of the arm, the other two being the brachialis and coracobrachialis muscles.  It is composed by two muscular heads, one long (lateral) , and one short (medial) that originate superiorly from separate tendons that attach to the scapula. These two heads join to  form a single long, oval-shaped belly with a single tendon that crosses the elbow joint and attaches to the radius. 

The short tendon of the biceps brachii passes anteromedial to the shoulder joint and attaches to the coracoid process of the scapula by way of a tendon that mixes with the tendon of the coracobrachialis muscle.

The long cylindrical tendon of the biceps brachii is found in the intertubercular (bicipital) groove (Lat: sulcus intertubercularis) of the humerus, and passes between the greater and lesser tubercles of the humerus, entering the articular cavity of shoulder joint, and continues superiorly to insert in the supraglenoid tubercle of the scapula.

The distal, common tendon of the biceps brachii courses inferiorly and attaches to the radial (bicipital) tuberosity of the radius. There is a well-defined bursa between the radial tuberosity and the biceps brachii tendon that allows for movement of the tendon.

Also, a flat, fascial extension of the tendon, known as the bicipital aponeurosis extends inferomedially to blend with the antebrachial aponeurosis that covers the epitrochlear muscles of the forearm (pronator teres, flexor carpi radialis muscles). The brachial artery passes between the tendon of the biceps brachii and the bicipital aponeurosis in the anterior aspect of the elbow joint.

The biceps brachii crosses both the shoulder and the elbow join. As such, its functions will depend on which joint is fixed and which one is not. This muscle flexes the elbow, supinates the forearm, and flexes the shoulder.

It is innervated by the musculocutaneous nerve (C5,D6) which is a branch of the brachial plexus. It receives arterial supply by way of muscular branches that arise from the brachial artery.

The name of the muscle literally means "two heads" as the prefix "bi" means "two" and the Latin term "-ceps" means "head".

Note: Because the long and the short head of the biceps brachii attach to different locations of the scapula, some authors and Internet websites say that there are 18 muscles that attach to the scapula. I do not agree, as the biceps brachii is a single muscle that happens to have to separate attachments to the scapula. It would be different if this article was titled "Name the 18 separate muscular attachment points of the scapula". Dr. Miranda

The image is modified from the original via Wikimedia. Public domain. Animated image below by Wikimedia Commons - Anatomography [CC BY-SA 2.1 following Creative Commons attributes.

Niwadare, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia CommonsSources:
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