Eponymous ANATOMICS
Like all science, Anatomy has its own language. The set of terms used to designate and describe the organism or its parts is called the Anatomical Nomenclature. With the extraordinary accumulation of knowledge at the end of the last century, thanks to the work of important “anatomical schools” (especially in Italy, France, England and Germany), the same structures of the human body were given different names in these centers of study and research.
Due to this lack of methodology and unavoidable arbitrariness, more than 20 000 anatomical terms were consigned (today reduced to a few more than 5 000). The first attempt to standardize and create an international anatomical nomenclature took place in 1895. In successive Anatomy congresses in 1933, 1936 and 1950 revisions were made, and finally in 1955 in Paris the Anatomical Nomenclature, known under the acronym PNA, was officially approved. (Paris Nominates Anatomically).
Subsequent revisions were made in 1960, 1965 and 1970, as the anatomical nomenclature has a dynamic character and can always be criticized and modified, provided there are sufficient reasons for the modifications and to be approved at International Anatomy Congresses. The officially adopted language is Latin (because it is a “dead language”), but each country can translate it into its own vernacular.
In designating a structure of the organism, the nomenclature seeks to use terms that are not only signs for memory but also bring some information or description about that structure. Within this principle, the eponymes (names of persons to designate things) were abolished and the terms indicate: the form (trapezius muscle); your position or situation (median nerve); its course (circumflex scapular artery); their connections or interrelations (sacroiliac ligament); its relationship to the skeleton (radial artery); its function (m. scapula lifter); mixed criterion (m. superficial flexor of the fingers - function and situation). However, there are improper or not very logical names that have been retained because they are consecrated by use.
Below is a list of the eponyms that were used to designate elements of the human anatomy. Eponyms have only historical importance in anatomy. They are difficult to memorize, inaccurate and ethnocentric. They are often redundant because the same structure is renamed several times depending on the country. The tendency is that the eponymes will be disused over the years. In order for us to have scientific precision and universalization we need to make use of the following current nomenclature:
Old Name | Current Name |
His angle | Cardiac notch |
Louis angle | Sternum Angle |
Sylvius Aqueduct | Midbrain Aqueduct |
Purkinje Cellular Layer | Purkingense Stratum |
Fallopian canal | Facial Nerve Canal |
Malpighi Capsule | Spleen Capsule |
Santorini Cartilage | Minor Duodenum Papilla |
Willis Circle | Brain Arterial Circle |
Meynert's commission | Dorsal Supra-Optic Commissioning |
Malpighi Corpuscle | Splenic Pulp |
Meckel's diverticulum | Ileal diverticulum |
Bartholin's Duct | Greater Sublingual Duct |
Oddi sphincter | M. Hepatopancreatic Ampoule Sphincter |
Camper Fascia | Intermediate Coating Fascia |
Scarpa Fascia | Membrane Stratum |
His beam | Atrioventricular fascicle |
Purkinge beam | Subdendocardial Branches |
Rolling Fissure | Central Groove (brain) |
Sylvius Fissure | Lateral Groove (brain) |
Graff Follicle | Vesicular Ovarian Follicle |
Luschka's foramen | Lateral Opening of the Fourth Ventricle |
Magendie's foramen | Median Opening of the Fourth Ventricle |
Monro's foramen | Interventricular foramen (brain) |
Scarpa ganglion | Vestibular ganglion |
Bartolin Gland | Greater Vestibular Gland |
Bowman's gland | Olfactory Glands |
Cowper Gland | Bulbouretral Gland |
Langerhans Islets | Pancreatic eyes |
Morgagni Gaps | Urethral Gaps |
Fallopian Ligament | Inguinal Ligament |
Bowman Membrane | Anterior Limiting Blade (cornea) |
Vidian Nerve | Pterygoid Canal Nerve |
Meynert Core | Basilar nucleus (olfactory nucleus) |
Worm Bone | Sutural Bone |
Adam's apple | Laryngeal prominence |
Vario Bridge | bridge |
Douglas fold | Retouterine Fold |
Haversian Pleats | Synovial folds |
Achilles tendon | Achilles tendon |
Arnold's tract | Frontopontine tract |
Eustachian tube | Hearing Tuba |
Fallopian tube | Uterine Tuba |
Galen's Vein | Magna Cerebral Vein |
Morgagni Ventricle | Larynx Ventricle |
The above list does not contain all the eponymes, just some commonly used. For full eponymous names, look for an International Anatomical Terminology book that contains FCAT (CFTA) affiliation & #8211; Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology.