NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ858991
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1935-9772
EISSN: N/A
A Need for Logical and Consistent Anatomical Nomenclature for Cutaneous Nerves of the Limbs
Gest, Thomas R.; Burkel, William E.; Cortright, Gerald W.
Anatomical Sciences Education, v2 n3 p126-134 May-Jun 2009
The system of anatomical nomenclature needs to be logical and consistent. However, variations in translation to English of the Latin and Greek terminology used in Nomina Anatomica and Terminologia Anatomica have led to some inconsistency in the nomenclature of cutaneous nerves in the limbs. An historical review of cutaneous nerve nomenclature reveals that there are two general naming conventions: one primarily American and one primarily British. The American convention presents cutaneous nerves of the limbs in the format "medial brachial cutaneous nerve", while the British convention presents the same nerve as "medial cutaneous nerve of the arm", thereby translating "brachii" to "of the arm". If logically and consistently applied throughout the body, the British convention would rename the sural nerve to the "nerve of the calf", the brachial artery would become the "artery of the arm", the femoral nerve would be "nerve of the thigh", and femur would be "bone of the thigh" or "thigh bone". The British convention leads to many other nomenclatural inconsistencies, which would seem to make learning anatomy more difficult for the beginning student. In this era of contracting anatomy curricula, every effort should be made to keep anatomical nomenclature simple, logical, and consistent. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774. Tel: 800-825-7550; Tel: 201-748-6645; Fax: 201-748-6021; e-mail: subinfo@wiley.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2429
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A