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 lumbar region of the spine is composed by five lumbar vertebrae. Although sharing characteristics common to all vertebrae, a lumbar vertebra can be differentiated by the following:
• The vertebral body is large, tall, and when viewed from superior, the vertebral body has a longer transverse diameter and a shorter anteroposterior diameter. Most anatomists describe the vertebral body as being “kidney-shaped”. The massiveness of the vertebral body is due to the larger weight that each consecutive vertebra has to bear in the lumbar region. Because of this, lumbar vertebrae have larger anular epiphyses, and the vertebral body is hourglass-shaped with a “waist”. As with other vertebrae, the body of a lumbar vertebra has vertebral endplates, nutritional foramina, and in its posterior aspect they present with basivertebral foramina.
• The pedicles in the lumbar vertebrae are larger, course in a mostly anteroposterior direction, and have a oval cross-section where the superoinferior diameter is longer and the transverse diameter is shorter. This is important for transpedicular procedures for vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty.
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• The transverse processes are also larger than other vertebrae. Of interest are the facts that the transverse process of the third lumbar vertebra is the longest of all lumbar vertebrae and that the transverse process of the fifth lumbar vertebra courses superolaterally at an angle of almost 45 degrees because of the presence of the strong iliolumbar ligament. The lumbar transverse processes have a small tubercle called the mammillary process.
• The lumbar spinous processes are large and have a square shape.
Again, because of the larger weight bearing capacity of the lumbar vertebrae, they have strong ligaments and their zygapophyseal joints and articular facets tend to be oriented with their surfaces in a transverse plane. This has two consequences: The rotational mobility of the whole lumbovertebral region is limited and they tend not to have anteroposterior displacement.
Image property of CAA.Inc. Photographer: D.M. Klein.
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UPDATED: The term [ischemia] arises from the Greek word [ισχαιμία], meaning "to slow down the flow of blood". The root portion arises from the Greek [σφίγγω] meaning "to constrict" or "to stop". The uffix is [-emia] from the Greek [αίμα] (ema) meaning blood. Another potential origin is the Greek word [ischanein], meaning " to keep at bay" or 'to hold in check". It was Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) who first used the term [ischemia] to denote a local reduction in the flow of blood.
Today the term ischemia means "localized reduction in the flow of blood to an organ or region of an organ". Ischemia occurs when there is a stenosis or stricture of an artery.
Note: The links to Google Translate include an icon that will allow you to hear the Greek or Latin pronunciation of the word.
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The bifurcation of the aorta is the point at which the abdominal aorta ends distally. At this point the aorta bifurcates giving origin to the right and left common iliac arteries. These arteries trend anterolaterally towards the pelvic brim.
The aortic bifurcation is usually found anterior to the inferior border of the 4th lumbar vertebra vertebra, slightly to the left of the midline. In surface anatomy, the bifurcation corresponds to a point slightly left to the midline and just about two fingerbreadths (two centimeters) inferior to the umbilicus.
This is an important landmark in surface anatomy in laparoscopic surgery. When placing the first periumbilical trocar the surgeon must angle the trocar posteroinferiorly towards the pelvic basin as to avoid perforating or lacerating the abdominal aorta. This situation has been studied in many journal articles.
Inferior to the aortic bifurcation is the confluence of both common iliac veins which give origin to the inferior vena cava.
The middle sacral artery arises from the lower portion of the abdominal aorta and appears inferior to the aortic bifurcation in the midline an continuing on its way to the anterior aspect of the sacrum.
The fact that the aorta bifurcates in front of the 4th lumbar vertebra leaves the L5-S1 intervertebral disc free of major arteries (with the exception of the middle sacral artery) allowing surgeons access to the intervertebral disc to perform laparoscopic removal of the disc with implantation of a device to allow intervertebral fusion in the case of intervertebral disc disease.
Sources:
1. “Major vascular injuries during laparoscopic procedures” Nordestgaard, AG et al Am J Surg (1995) 169,5: 543–545
2. “Evaluation of the direct trocar insertion technique at laparoscopy” Byron. JW et al Obst Gyn (1989) 74:3, 423-425
3. “Open versus closed establishment of pneumoperitoneum in laparoscopic surgery” Bonjer, HJ et al Br J Surg, 84: 599–602
4. “Serious Trocar Accidents in Laparoscopic Surgery: A French Survey of 103,852 Operations” Champault G et al Surg Lap Endosc (1996) 6(5):367-70
5. “Major vascular injuries during gynecologic laparoscopy” Chapron CM et al J Am Coll Surg (1997) 185:5 461-465
Image property of:CAA.Inc.Artist: Victoria G. Ratcliffe
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Adjectival medical term that means “pertaining to a hospital”. The word is a derivate of the Greek word [νοσοκομείο] (nosokomio) meaning “hospital”. This term is itself composed by two Greek terms: [νόσος] (nosos), meaning “disease” or “injury” and [κομέω], meaning “to take care of”, so the Greek term [νοσοκομείο] means “to take care of a sick person” and the place where you do that is logically, a “hospital”.
This term was later adopted by Roman doctors, giving rise to the Latin term “nosocomium”, from which we derive our English “nosocomial”.
Although we use the term “hospital-acquired infection”, a proper way of saying this is “nosocomial infection”. A synonym for [nosocomial] is [iatrogenic].
Interestingly, the Latin root for “injury”, or [noxa] gave us the Golden Rule of Surgery” “Primum Non Nocere”
Thanks to Sharon L. Mueller, RN for suggesting this article.
Note: The links to Google Translate include an icon that will allow you to hear the Greek or Latin pronunciation of the word.
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Middle cardiac vein
The middle cardiac vein is a vein that runs alongside or parallel to the posterior interventricular artery, also known as the posterior descending artery (PDA).
The middle cardiac vein appears close to the cardiac apex and ascends in the posterior interventricular sulcus (groove) to empty into the coronary sinus. It is responsible for venous drainage of the posterior aspect of the right and left ventricular wall as well as the posterior aspect of the interventricular septum.
Sources:
1 "Tratado de Anatomia Humana" Testut et Latarjet 8 Ed. 1931 Salvat Editores, Spain
2. "Anatomy of the Human Body" Henry Gray 1918. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger
Original image modified. Image courtesy of bartleby.com
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