Des Moines University » Bill Dyche

Anatomy word of the month: fornix

Bill Dyche — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:00:57 +0000

Deep within each cerebral hemisphere is an arch of nerve fibers that is aptly named the fornix which means an arch, a vaulted ceiling, a brothel. A brothel? Although the fornix is a part of the brain, the limbic system, dealing with strong emotions such as rage, fear and sexual arousal, the anatomical term is strictly architectural. A fornix is also found at the superior end of the vagina, again, in the architectural sense, describing its “vaulted ceiling” surrounding the cervix of the uterus.

The architectural reference became associated with “brothel” in ancient Rome where prostitutes were restricted to soliciting only under the archways of the outer city gates. The same stem is found in fornication, a word that originally meant to be “a frequenter of brothels”, later, more broadly as intercourse outside of marriage.

Anatomy word of the month: mastoid

Bill Dyche — Mon, 06 May 2013 10:04:08 +0000

Would you believe that the name for the little bony prominence behind your ear means “like a breast” referring to its shape? The name was more familiar to the public before the advent of antibiotics as mastoiditis. Inflammation in this area can erode through the bone into the cranium and become meningitis (inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain) and even encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). Before antibiotics, mastoiditis had a high mortality rate among children who typically developed the inflammation as an extension of a middle ear infection. The same word root is found in the term mastectomy (removal of a breast). Using the Latin root gives us mammogram (an x-ray of the breast).

Would you believe that the same word root is found in Amazons? Part of the myth of this legendary race of warrior woman is that they amputated their right breast in order to pull their war bows unhindered in battle. Hence, the ancient Greeks named them a mazos, literally, without a breast.

Anatomy word of the month: Pudendal nerve

Bill Dyche — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:40:16 +0000

Pudendal comes from a Latin word meaning, “to be ashamed”. Interesting that this term is an archaic reference to the external genitalia. Obviously, the association of “shame” to “private parts”, those areas that should be hidden from view whether with a fig leaf or clothing, stems from ancient times. However, the term is still used to identify the artery, vein and nerve that primarily supply the genital area: internal pudendal artery, vein and pudendal nerve. Pudendal is also attached to a medical procedure used during delivery, a pudendal block, to anesthetize the area surrounding the vagina before passage of the baby’s head.

Anatomy word of the month: Crista galli

Bill Dyche — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:10:35 +0000

The “cock’s comb” is a wedge of bone found on the anterior floor inside of the skull in the midline. The meninges (protective membranes surrounding the brain) are anchored anteriorly at this point. The Latin name for the group of animals including chickens and turkeys is galliformes. Those imaginative ancient anatomists thought that the vertical, curved wedge of bone resembled the comb on a rooster’s head.

Anatomy word of the month: retinaculum

Bill Dyche — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:09:43 +0000

A “cord or cable” in Latin. Retinacula are thickenings of tissue underneath your skin that serve to bind down tendons of muscles so they don’t “bowstring” at certain joints, meaning pop up when the joint is flexed or extended. For example, there is a retinaculum on the underside of your wrist that keeps tendons from popping up when you flex or bend your hand at the wrist. But, you may have noticed that there is distinct cord that becomes prominent when you bend your wrist. Hold on to the fingers of your right hand and attempt to bend your wrist against resistance. You likely will see a distinct cord pop up in the middle of your wrist. One of the muscle tendons at the wrist, the palmaris longus, “the long muscle of the palm”, is outside of the retinaculum, that is, not bound down. If you don’t see this cord in one or the other of your wrists, don’t be upset! It is missing in a portion of the normal population.

Anatomy word of the month: bursa

Bill Dyche — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 11:34:12 +0000

A bursa, Latin for a little bag or purse, is a closed fluid-filled sack that is typically found in places where a tendon crosses a bone or a muscle comes in contact with bone. It acts as a shock absorber and protection against friction damage to tendons, primarily. They are found in and around our shoulder and elbow joints among other places. Inflammation of a bursa is called bursitis, a term most people have heard of or may have suffered with at some time. Pain and limitation of range of motion of a joint can be caused by bursitis, although there can be other causes. At some universities the official responsible for paying out funds is called the Bursar, literally, “holder of the purse”. After the official has “disbursed” all funds, he or she has literally emptied the purse!

Anatomy word of the month: Epoophoron

Bill Dyche — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:23:12 +0000

“Upon the egg-bearer” (Greek) refers to a cluster of blind-ending tubules near the ovary of the adult female that are vestiges (remnants) of a male reproductive system, at least, potentially male. Fetuses of both sexes start out with all the basic structures to equip them to develop either a female or male reproductive system including two sets of sex ducts. Potentially female ducts may become a uterus with uterine tubes and potentially male ducts may become an epididymis and vas deferens. Through complex hormonal controls one set of ducts survives and develops appropriate to the sex and the alternate set deteriorates into a few remnants of what might have been. Such a complex apparatus also sets the stage for potential abnormalities in sexual development. The epoophoron is a vestige of an epididymis, entirely nonfunctional in the female, that would have become a structure in a male that is responsible for temporary storage of sperm while they undergo final maturation.

Anatomy word of the month: Carotid

Bill Dyche — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 10:18:58 +0000

Feel that pulse in the side of your neck, the one the paramedics on TV shows reach for to check if someone’s heart has stopped? The carotid arteries are the major blood supply to the head. Specifically, branches called internal carotids, one on each side of your neck, are the major blood supply to the brain. In ancient times people discovered that animals could be “put to sleep”, rendered unconscious, by pressing on both of these vessels. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the Greek word for these arteries means “to stupefy or make sleepy”.

Anatomy word of the month: tragus

Bill Dyche — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 10:00:10 +0000

The small flap of skin covered cartilage at the front of your ear canal is named “goat” in Greek! Tragi is the term for hair that grows in the outer ear canal, especially in older men. So, tragus is a fanciful reference to the chin whiskers of a he-goat. Goatee, a narrow pointed beard, is a similar reference.

Anatomy word of the month: Eustachian tube

Bill Dyche — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:25:23 +0000

Most anatomical terms are descriptive in Latin or Greek. However, “Eustachian” doesn’t mean anything. It is a term called an eponym. Traditionally, in anatomy the person who first discovered or described an anatomical structure was honored by having that structure named after them. Bartolommeo Eustachi (Eustachius), a sixteenth century Italian anatomist, described the tube that connects the middle ear cavity with the throat. It helps equalize pressure on either side of the ear drum. When your ear feels blocked as often happens when rapidly ascending or descending in a plane, you yawn to “pop” your ears. What you are doing is widening the Eustachian (auditory) tube to allow passage of more air.

Anatomy word of the month: Gubernaculum

Bill Dyche — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 10:20:59 +0000

A guide or leader, literally, helm or rudder in Latin. The testis or testicle of the adult male does not originate in the scrotum, but must be guided into its adult position from inside the abdominal cavity. The job of the gubernaculum, a cord of tissue extending from the embryonic testis through the inguinal canal to the scrotum, is to assure that the journey of the testis is successful. Although an unfamiliar term to most, you may know a related word referring to the election of a state governor. Can you think of the word?

In some male newborns one or both testes become stuck in the inguinal canal. Undescended testis(es) is called cryptorchidism (hidden testicle). Orchis is the Greek word for testis.

By the way, the selection of a governor is called a gubernatorial election.

Anatomy word of the month: Buccinator

Bill Dyche — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 10:17:41 +0000

The “trumpeter” in Latin. Our cheek muscles, the buccinator, assist the tongue during chewing movements to hold food between our teeth. Otherwise food would accumulate between our cheek and gums making chewing much less efficient and much more frustrating to accomplish. The buccinator muscles also hold in our cheeks during whistling and forceful blowing through pursed lips as in playing a trumpet, hence, the “trumpeter” muscles. Think of Louis Armstrong’s ballooning cheeks when he is hitting those high notes!