ABSTRACT
Median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS), also known as Dunbar syndrome, celiac axis syndrome, or celiac artery compression syndrome, is caused by a band of tissue called the median arcuate ligament that compresses the celiac artery and sometimes the celiac plexus too. MALS does not always cause symptoms, but when symptoms occur, surgery is the treatment of choice. This case report focuses on the case of a 27-year-old woman presenting with postprandial episodes of abdominal pain and vomiting accompanied by loss of weight, which was found to be MALS.
ABSTRACT
The evolution of knowledge regarding the anatomy and physiology of the spleen throughout Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages is described, and general perceptions about this organ during different eras along this time line are presented. The original words of great physicians from the period of time stretching from Ancient Egypt to the Avicennan era are quoted and discussed to demonstrate how knowledge of the spleen has evolved and to present the theories that dominated each era. Furthermore, theories about illnesses relating to the spleen are reported, which show how this organ was perceived-in terms of its function and anatomy-during each era.
Subject(s)
Anatomy/history , Physiology/history , Spleen/anatomy & histology , Spleen/physiology , History, 15th Century , History, 16th Century , History, 17th Century , History, 18th Century , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , History, Ancient , History, Medieval , HumansABSTRACT
The current study displays a very rare combination of ossified interclinoid ligaments at the sella turcica region associated with bilateral foramina of Vesalius. In a macerated skull four osseous bars interconnecting the clinoid processes bilaterally were detected. Specifically, two bilateral osseous bars were observed bridging the gap between the anterior and middle clinoid processes forming the so called caroticoclinoid foramen on each side and two additional osseous bridges linked the anterior and posterior clinoid processes, bilaterally. Furthermore, two distinct bilateral foramina of Vesalius were documented just anterior and medial to the foramen ovale. The awareness of the osseous sellar bridges is crucial for the physician and especially the neurosurgeon since their presence may complicate the removal of clinoid processes and induce damage of the internal carotid artery and oculomotor nerves. Furthermore, the likely existence of the foramen of Vesalius may lead to transfer of an infected thrombus into the cranial cavity and complicate a percutaneous trigeminal rhizotomy.
ABSTRACT
A very rare case of an accessory branch of the median nerve taking its origin in the region of the right arm was observed to supply the infero-medial portion of the brachialis muscle in a male cadaver. Simultaneously, the ipsilateral musculocutaneous nerve was innervating the muscles of the anterior compartment of the arm. Such an aberrant muscular branch of the median nerve for the brachialis muscle is very rarely reported in the literature. Lesion of the median nerve proximal to the branch's origin site could induce weak flexion of the elbow, whereas injury of the musculocutaneous nerve could lead to misinterpretation of symptoms. We discuss the patterns of brachialis muscle innervation as well as the clinical applications of such a variant.
