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Vesalius on the variability of the human skull: book I chapter V of De humani corporis fabrica.

Vesalius' short chapter on craniology and the "unnatural" shapes that skulls could take is a uniquely interesting illustration of the young anatomist's position halfway between a traditional belief in a standard or canonical "natural" human anatomy and the host of variations confronted in his day-to-day observation of actual cadavers. His interest in variability is marked in both editions of De humani corporis fabrica (1543, 1555), and it is no coincidence that two of the anatomical features that today bear the great anatomist's name are atypical. In their shape, all of the five skulls that illustrate Chapter 5 of Book I of the Fabrica fall within margins of variability recognized as standard today, but even in Vesalius' own century it was noticed that the sutures in the four "unnatural" skulls do not occur in real life. The article considers the meaning of this unusual departure from his reliance upon observation and includes a translation of Vesalius' craniology chapter from the original Latin, with annotations and two appendices containing his 1555 revisions and clinical addenda.

Anatomy↗

Anatomical informatics: Millennial perspectives on a newer frontier.

One of the most ancient of sciences, anatomy has evolved over many centuries. Its methods have progressively encompassed dissection instruments, manual illustration, stains, microscopes, cameras and photography, and digital imaging systems. Like many other more modern scientific disciplines in the late 20th century, anatomy has also benefited from the revolutionary development of digital computers and their automated information management and analytical capabilities. By using newer methods of computer and information sciences, anatomists have made outstanding contributions to science, medicine, and education. In that regard, there is a strong rationale for recognizing anatomical informatics as a proper subdiscipline of anatomy. A high-level survey of the field reveals important anatomical applications of computer sciences methods in imaging, image processing and visualization, virtual reality, modeling and simulation, structural database processing, networking, and artificial intelligence. Within this framework, computational anatomy is a developing field focusing on data-driven mathematical models of bodily structures. Mastering such computer sciences and informatics methods is crucial for new anatomists, who will shape the future in research, clinical knowledge, and teaching.

Anatomy↗

Exposure to formaldehyde in anatomy: an occupational health hazard?

The adverse effects of formaldehyde have been discussed very emotionally in public. Anatomists, technicians in histology and embalming laboratories, as well as medical students during their dissection course are all exposed to formaldehyde, which in many situations crosses the threshold for irritation of the eyes and upper respiratory tract. There is no doubt about the acute toxic effects and the occurrence of contact dermatitis caused by formaldehyde. Studies in rats and mice using high concentrations over an extremely long period (which would not be tolerated by humans) resulted in squamous carcinoma of the nose. Epidemiologic studies on the mortality of medical personnel exposed to formaldehyde do not provide sufficient evidence of cancerogenicity. A number of recommendations will be given for defining the exact concentration in a dissecting room or laboratory and for ways of reducing formaldehyde concentrations and thus minimizing adverse health hazards. These data could initiate a discussion among anatomists, and with technicians and students, based on a sound scientific background rather than on emotion.

Anatomy↗

Clinical anatomy research in a research-driven anatomy department.

Clinical anatomy is too often viewed as a discipline that reiterates the wisdom of the past, characterized more by description of what is known than by active investigation and critical analysis of hypotheses and ideas. Various misconceptions follow from an acceptance of this premise: the teaching of clinical anatomists is textbook based, there is no clinical anatomy research worthy of the name, and any research that does exist fails to utilize modern technology and does not stand comparison with serious biomedical research as found in cell and molecular biology. The aim of this paper is to challenge each of these contentions by reference to ongoing clinical research studies within this department. It is argued that all teaching (including that of clinical anatomy) should be research-informed and that the discipline of clinical anatomy should have at its base a vigorous research ethos driven by clinically related problems. In interacting with physicians, the role of the clinical anatomist should be to promulgate a questioning scientific spirit, with its willingness to test and challenge accepted anatomic dicta.

Anatomy↗

Anatomical instruction and training for professionalism from the 19th to the 21st centuries.

For most of the 19th century, anatomists in the United States saw the affective, emotional aspects of human dissection as salient ingredients in professional formation. Professionalism (or "character") signified medical integrity and guaranteed correct professional conduct. As gross anatomy came under siege in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, crowded out of medical curricula by the new experimental sciences, medical educators rethought what it was that dissecting a human body stood to give medical students. As they embraced a new understanding of professionalism premised on an allegiance to science, anatomists celebrated the habits of mind and sensibility to scientific investigation that could be acquired at the dissecting table. One consequence was a deliberate distancing of gross anatomy from the "art of medicine," and with it a de facto suppression of attention to the affective components of human dissection. During this period in the opening decades of the 20th century, the norm of silence about the emotional dimensions of dissection was set in place. The confluence of various movements by the 1960s and 1970s both revived attention to the emotional experience of dissection and sparked a renewed discussion about the relationship between the affective components of learning anatomy and the professional formation of future healers. There is a need to balance the tension between the "affective" and "scientific" aspects of anatomy, and by extension the tension between the "art" and "science" of medical practice. One method is to use small-group "learning societies" as a means to cultivate and meld both dimensions of the professional ethic.

Anatomy↗

The contributors to Volume 1 (1891) of The Journal of Comparative Neurology: C.L. Herrick, C.H. Turner, H.R. Pemberton, B.G. Wilder, F.W. Langdon, C.J. Herrick, C. von Kupffer, O.S. Strong, T.B. Stowell.

The concept of a truly innovative "neurology" journal germinated in the mind of Clarence Luther Herrick and then flowered, in March of 1891, as the first issue of Volume 1 of The Journal of Comparative Neurology. The other parts appeared in June, October, and December of the same year. The contributors to this volume, and their affiliations, were: C.L. Herrick (University of Cincinnati-UC), C.H. Turner (UC), B.G. Wilder (Cornell), F.W. Langdon (Miami Medical College, Cincinnati), C.J. Herrick (UC) H.R. Pemberton (Princeton), T.B. Stowell (State Normal and Training School, Potsdam), and O.S. Strong of Columbia who translated a large paper by Carl von Kupffer, the famous German anatomist. In 1890-91 some of these scientists (e.g., Wilder, Langdon, Stowell, von Kupffer) were well known and had already made notable contributions in their chosen fields. However, several were students (e.g., Turner, C.J. Herrick, Pemberton, Strong), most of whom would make important contributions in later years. The founder of JCN, Clarence Luther Herrick, by 1891 had an excellent reputation in geology and natural science and had already established a successful scientific journal. Based on the totality of their contributions, the authors of the papers that made up Volume 1 of JCN were a unique group. Textbooks that went through several editions came from Wilder, C.J. Herrick, and Strong; the latter is currently going into its 9th edition. Structures were named in recognition of the original descriptions by von Kupffer and C.L. Herrick, a type of insect behavior recognized Turner's discovery, and after their deaths several had university buildings, one a scientific club, and one a research award, named in their honor. There were also interesting and important links between these nine men. Turner and C.J. Herrick were students of C.L. Herrick, and Stowell served as a member of the Association of American Anatomists nomenclature committee which was chaired by Wilder. C.J. Herrick became a student (for his Ph.D.) of Strong's, and Strong became an associate editor of JCN under C.J. Herrick. Of the nine, two practiced medicine; Langdon in an academic setting, Pemberton in private practice. The lives of the nine scientists whose work made up Volume 1 of JCN are reviewed. Many of these individuals were notable, not only for their work in the first volume of JCN, but for their larger and enduring contributions in the biomedical sciences.

Anatomy, Comparative↗

Subfascial lifting.

The authors demonstrate by anatomical dissection that inaccuracies made by classical anatomists have worried plastic surgeons for many years. They demonstrate that continuity between the parotid fascia and the fibrous platysma has not been recognized. In addition, anatomists in the past have not been aware that the platysma is a unique type of fasciomuscular layer because in contrast to conventional anatomical opinions, the platysma has no bony attachment to the mandible.

Face↗

Microsurgical anatomy in China.

This is a general review on the recent advances made in China of microsurgical anatomy. In recent years, more than 300 research papers and a number of monographs on microsurgical anatomy have been published in China. In the research of skin and musculocutaneous flaps, much applied anatomical data about more than 30 new donor areas have been collected and the investigations on the patterns of the blood supply of the flaps are instructively significant to clinical practice. New donor areas have also been introduced for scapular, radial, tibial and other bone flaps, and the range of indications for using the periosteal and cartilaginous flaps has been broadened. On the basis of the technique of superficial lymphaticovenous anastomosis, new information for deep typhaticovenous anastomosis has been provided by clinical anatomists. Through experimental research, the anatomists pointed out that lymphatic vessels with contracting ability should be selected for anastomosis in order to enhance the long term effect of the operation. The successful experiment of bridging the peripheral nerve gap with skeletal muscle, which has been clinically used, has opened up a hopeful prospect for solving the problem of the unavailability of autogenous nerve donors. The identification of nerve fascicles in the nerve trunk provides a morphological basis for the selection of different suture patterns. In addition, much research work has been done on the tranplantation of the suprarenal gland, pancreas, parathyroid gland, testis, kidney of foetus and other small organs.

Anatomy↗

[Clinical anatomy as an integrating element in teaching surgical subjects].

Different conceptions to revise the licensing regulations for physicians (Approbationsordnung für Arzte) aim to interlock preclinical and clinical subjects. Therefore a more practice-oriented anatomy has to be taught in basic and postgraduate medical education. At the Westfalian Wilhelms University of Münster we established an interdisciplinary anatomical education, executed by clinical lecturers in cooperation with the educational staff of the Department of Anatomy. The intergral element is the comprehensive constitution of clinical anatomy: clinical practitioners of different specialties together with anatomists give lessons in applied anatomy accompanying the dissection course. Clinically experienced lecturers of anatomy guide senior medical students in practical courses, refreshing their anatomical knowledge using particular prosections. These courses correlate with the topics of the distinct clinical tutorials. Conjointly clinical practitioners and anatomists plan, and perform meetings in postgraduate medical education.

Anatomy↗

Internal architecture of the proximal femur--Adam's or Adams' arch? Historical mystery.

The designation 'Adam Bogen' describing the thick medial cortex of the femoral neck is an incorrect term. This arch was described by Robert Adams (1795-1871), an outstanding Irish anatomist and surgeon. He was famous mainly for his book on gout and the description of disorders of cardiac rhythm, the so-called Adams-Stokes syndrome. He published his original description in the today unfortunately almost forgotten Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology, Vol. II (London, Longman, 1836-1839). The main editor of this monumental six-volume work was the famous anatomist and surgeon R.B.Todd. This book represents a significant source of information on diseases and injuries of the great joints (shoulder, elbow, wrist, knee, ankle).

Anatomy↗

Soemmerring's work on the nervous system: a view on brain structure and function from the late eighteenth century.

Samuel Thomas Soemmerring (1755-1830) was an encyclopaedic anatomist and one of the most experienced and renowned neuro-anatomists in the late eighteenth century. His description and illustration of the brainstem with its still accepted classification of cranial nerves (1778), the discovery of the acervulus in the epiphysis (1785), his demonstration of the crossing of the optic nerve fibres (1788), and of the macula lutea in the retina of the eye he had discovered in 1791, won him great recognition. Probably, unaware of Francesco Gennari's (1750-1797) and Félix Vicq d'Azyr's (1748-1794) observation, Soemmerring in the final years of the eighteenth century saw the broad white line running through the calcarine cortex of the occipital lobe. Soemmerring's comprehensive textbooks on the nervous system Vom Hirn and Rückenmark, 1788/1792, and Hirn- und Nervenlehre as part of his anatomical handbook Vom Baue des menschlichen Körpers, 1791/2nd edn, 1800, comprise all the knowledge in the field of neuro-anatomy at his time. Although the structure-function relationships mentioned are generally hypothetical, Soemmerring was convinced that mental faculties are executed in certain brain regions. In his treatise Uber das Organ der Seele, 1796, he localized the functions of the soul within the cerebrospinal fluid, which should come into close contact with the demonstrated and presumed nerve endings in the walls of the ventricular cavities. This last attempt of a synthesis of anatomy and metaphysics provoked passionate discussions and was criticised for epistemological reasons. Nevertheless, Soemmerring had moved the brain into the centre of the science of man what led to far-reaching consequences in the complexity of the discourse about man.

Brain↗

The "antilingula"--fact or fiction?

PURPOSE: The "antilingula" is a term that is only used in oral and maxillofacial surgery publications. It is not found in anatomy texts. This paper examines the origin of the term "antilingula" and explores the literature to determine why there is a bony lump on the lateral surface of the mandible. METHODS: The English literature was searched for references to this bony lump on the lateral surface of the mandible to find its origin and intent. Discussion with anatomists about the "antilingula" were undertaken to determine their understanding of it. RESULTS: Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons began using this bony prominence as a guide to the position of the entrance of the inferior alveolar nerve on the medial surface of the mandible in the 1950s. Beginning in 1976, many descriptions of ramus osteotomies refer to the "antilingula" and recommend it as a guide for making bone cuts safely without injuring the inferior alveolar nerve. However, research studies that have been performed reveal no evidence that the "antilingula" has any relationship to the entrance of the inferior alveolar nerve. Discussions with anatomists suggest it is a bony response to the muscles and tendons that insert in that area rather than having a relationship to the entrance of the inferior alveolar nerve. CONCLUSION: The use of the "antilingula" for marking the location of ramus osteotomies is illogical.

Animals↗

A contribution to the history of renal structure knowledge (from Galen to Malpighi).

This work documents the progressive gain in knowledge on renal anatomy acquired by anatomists from Galen to Malpighi. Galen, with albeit his rather imaginative explanations, was the first anatomist to recognize the urine producing function of the kidney. His influence was felt up to the Middle Ages; his followers imagined the presence of two cavities within the kidney that were separated by a porous membrane that they called the "colatorium" which was capable of filtering the urine from the blood. It was only later that Berengario da Carpi, divorcing himself from Galenic dogmatism, finally dismissed the presence of the colatorium. He described the renal papillae and gave the first elementary model of renal vascularization. Further important progress was due to the studies of Falloppius and Eustachius who brought contemporary understanding of renal structure to the limit of what could be seen with the unaided eye. They distinguished the difference between the unilobar canine kidney and the human multilobar organ, they also described the minor and major calyces and, furthermore, guessed at the canalicular structure of its parenchyma. Highmore was then responsible for the description of the archiform vessels which he hypothesized as an arterio-venous anastomotic net between the renal cortex and medulla. With the invention of the microscope, new doors opened for the study of renal structure. Bellini proved the canalicular organization of the parenchyma and, moreover, described the interlobular vessels. Malpighi then described the glomerulus and its relation to the intrarenal excretory ducts. The basis had now been laid for the beginning of modern nephrology.

Anatomy↗

Human liver caudate lobe and liver segment.

Recently, the caudate lobe has seemed to be the final target for aggressive cancer surgery of the liver. This lobe has five surfaces: the dorsal, left and hilar-free surfaces and the right and ventral-border planes. Surgeons have divided the caudate lobe into three parts: Spiegel's lobe, which is called the 'caudate lobe and papillary process' by anatomists, the caudate process, viewed as almost the same entity by anatomists, and the paracaval portion corresponding to the dorsally located parenchyma in front of the inferior vena cava. All three parts are supplied by primary branches originating from the left and right portal veins, including the hilar bifurcation area. The hilar bifurcation branch often (50%) supplies the paracaval portion and it sometimes (29%) extends its territory to Spiegel's lobe. It was postulated by Couinaud that the paracaval portion or the S9 is not defined by its supplying portal vein branch but by its 'dorsal location' in the liver. Couinaud's caudate lobe or dorsal-liver concept cause, and still now causes, great logical confusion for surgeons. We attempt here to describe the margins of the lobe, border branches of the portal vein, the left/right territorial border of the portal vein or Cantile's line and other topics closely relating to the surgery within these contexts. Finally, the caudate lobe as a liver segment will be discussed.

Bile Duct Neoplasms↗

Teaching anatomy; a clinicians view.

The General Plan Anatomy as defined by the Netherlands Association of Anatomists and published in the European Journal of Morphology in 1999 is a good starting point for discussion between anatomists and clinicians to define what is indispensable anatomical knowledge for a competent physician. The plan to teach anatomy within a clinical context and to relate form and structure on function makes learning anatomy more attractive and will have a greater appeal for the student. The list of discipline-related objectives is too extensive for a general practitioner whereas parts of this list are too limited for related medical specialists. Teaching anatomy and teaching clinical sciences and expertise must become more integrated.

Anatomy↗

"Giving body" to embryos. Modeling, mechanism, and the microtome in late nineteenth-century anatomy.

Reinvestigating the work of the anatomist Wilhelm His (1831-1904) shows how engaging with models in three dimensions can revise our accounts of scientific change. His is known to historians of biology for articulating a mechanical approach to embryology and for inventing a section cutter, or microtome. Focusing on the wax models that he also made in the late 1860s shows how the other two innovations were linked; reconstructing embryos from the sections, His claimed, provided compelling evidence for mechanical views. The next generation of embryologists appropriated His's work selectively. In the 1880s anatomists took up "plastic reconstruction" to visualize the complex forms of higher vertebrate, especially human, embryos. An increasingly dominant experimental embryology, by contrast, drew on His's mechanical approach but had little use for the waxes and effaced them from the history of his work. Recovering these models offers a fresh perspective on the transformation of a central science of animal life and enriches our understanding of the relations between representation in two dimensions and three.

Animals↗

The arachnoid and the myth of Arachne.

The discovery of the arachnoid membrane is a relatively recent advance. Ancient anatomists noted the presence of the dura mater and pia mater, but the intervening arachnoid membrane was left undescribed. It was not until the 17th century that anatomists discovered a layer separating the pia mater from the dura mater and named this cobweb-like layer the "arachnoid." Arachnoid means "spider-like" and has an interesting etymology that can be traced to the ancient Greek myth of Arachne.

Arachnoid↗

Herophilus of Alexandria (325-255 B. C.). The father of anatomy.

Herophilus (325-255 B. C.) is one of the group that has been called the great Greek physicians. All members of this group lived during the last 400 years of Greek intellectual leadership and the first 200 years of Roman domination. Herophilus was born in the Greek town of Chalcedon. He received his medical training under Praxagoras, a famous physician and anatomist who taught at the Hippocratean medical school on the island of Cos (Kos). He moved to Alexandria, Egypt, as a young man and lived there for the rest of his life. With his younger contemporary, Erasistratus, he did the first ever scientific human cadaveric dissections for a short period of no more than 30-40 years. Human dissection then was forbidden and was not allowed again for 1800 years. It seems that only these two physicians ever performed human dissection until the Renaissance, around 1530 A. D. The anatomic and physiologic discoveries of Herophilus were phenomenal. As Hippocrates is called the Father of Medicine, Herophilus is called the Father of Anatomy. Most would argue that he was the greatest anatomist of antiquity and perhaps of all time. The only person who might challenge him in this assessment is Vesalius, who worked during the 16th century A. D.

Anatomy↗