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

Georg Eduard Von Rindfleisch

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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Ligament of Marshall

Published: Tuesday, October 22, 2024 18:05 | Written by: Efrain A. Miranda, Ph.D. | Hits: 489

John Marshall
John Marshall (1818 – 1891)

The ligament of Marshall (LOM)is the embryological remnant of the sinus venosus and left cardinal vein. It contains fat, fibrocellular tissues, blood vessels, muscle bundles (bundles of Marshall), autonomic nerve fibers, and some ganglia corresponding to the ganglionated plexuses (plexi) of the heart. 

It was first described by John Marshall (1818-1891) in an 1850 paper titled “On the Development of the Great Anterior Veins Man and Mammalia; including an Account of certain remnants of Fœtal Structure found in the Adult, a Comparative View of these Great Veins the different and an Analysis of their occasional peculiarities in the Human Subject”. In this paper, Marshall makes a detailed embryological description of the structures that derive from the left cardinal vein in the human and adds comparative anatomy with other mammalian species.

The left cardinal vein, which originally enters the left side of the sinus venosus, regresses and modifies leaving the following structures in the adult: From superior to inferior they are the brachiocephalic vein, the obliterated duct of Cuvier, the oblique vein of the left ventricle, and the coronary sinus.

The embryological remnant of the left cardinal vein closes and forms a fibrous cord known as the “duct of Cuvier” (named a after French anatomist and naturalist, Baron de la Cuvier (1769 – 1832)). As this fibrous cord crosses the gap between the left pulmonary vein and the left superior pulmonary vein, the visceral pericardium creates a fold over it; that fold is the ligament of Marshall.

In his paper John Marshall calls it the “vestigial fold of the pericardium”. He describes in this fold “a duplicature of the serous layer of the pericardium, including cellular and fatty tissue, the vestigial fold contains some fibrous bands, small blood-vessels and nervous filaments” …” in the interval between the pulmonary artery and vein”.
Ligament of Marshall (yellow arrow)

The image shows the ligament of Marshall (yellow arrow), the left pulmonary artery (LPA), and the left superior pulmonary vein (LSPV). Click on the image for a larger depiction.

Marshall continues his description as the LOM descends toward the heart and states that there is a portion of the left cardinal vein that is total obliterated and sometimes “wanting”. This is the obliterated portion of the duct of Cuvier, which he does not specifically describes in the LOM. In some cases, Marshall says that the duct is absent and replaced by some whitish fibrous streaks crossing the base of the left pulmonary veins. Today we call this the “obliterated portion of the vein of Marshall”.

He then continues describing a small vein that continues towards and opens in the superior aspect of the coronary sinus. This is the patent portion of the duct of Cuvier, and he calls this structure the “small oblique auricular vein”. Today we call this the “oblique vein of the left atrium” or eponymically, the “vein of Marshall”. The coronary sinus is the end portion of the left cardinal vein.

Contemporary studies on the structure of the LOM have described autonomic nerve fibers and aggregations of neuronal bodies (ganglia) on and around the LOM. Also, cardiac musculature extending from the left atrium, and the coronary sinus over the root of the vein of Marshall have been described (bundles of Marshall).

In some cases, the left cardinal vein does not regress and presents in the adult as a “persistent left superior vena cava”. In this case there is no obliterated duct of Cuvier, the oblique vein of the left atrium and coronary sinus are enlarged, and the venous blood from the head and the left upper extremity drains through the coronary sinus into the right atrium. The following image shows a persistent left superior vena cava (yellow arrow), the left atrial appendage (LAA), the left pulmonary artery (LPA), and the left superior pulmonary vein (LSPV). Click on the image for a larger depiction.

Persistent left superior vena cava

Because of the autonomic nerve fibers and ganglia involved, the LOM (and coronary sinus) have been described as being one of the potential foci for atrial fibrillation (AFib) and has become a target for ablation in AFib surgical procedures.

Personal note:  My personal thanks to my good friend and contributor to "Medical Terminology Daily", Dr. Randall K. Wolf for the surgical images.

Sources:
1. “On the Development of the Great Anterior Veins Man and Mammalia; including an Account of certain remnants of Fœtal Structure found Adult, a Comparative View of these Great Veins the different and an Analysis of their occasional peculiarities in the Human Subject” 1850 Phil Trans R Soc 140:133 – 170
2. “The ligament of Marshall: a structural analysis in human hearts with implications for atrial arrhythmias” Kim, D, Lai, A, Hwang, C. et al. JACC. 2000 Oct, 36 (4) 1324–1327.
3. “Myocardium of the Superior Vena Cava, Coronary Sinus, Vein of Marshall, and the Pulmonary Vein Ostia: Gross Anatomic Studies in 620 Hearts” DeSimone CV, Noheria A, Lachman N, Edwards WD, et al. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2012 Dec; 23(12)
4. “Correlative Anatomy for the Electrophysiologist: Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation. Part I: Pulmonary Vein Ostia, Superior Vena Cava, Vein of Marshall” Macedo PG, Kapa S, Mears JA, Fratianni A, Asirvatham SJ. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2010 Jun 1;21(6):721-30.
5. “"Human Embryology" WLJ Larsen 1993 Churchill Livingstone
6. “Langman's Medical Embryology" Sadler, T.W. 7ed. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1995.
7. "Vascular Surgery: A Comprehensive Review" Moore, Wesley S. USA: W.B. Saunders, 1998.
8. Portrait of J. Marshall by Alphonse Legros, Courtesy of Wikipedia. Public Domain.