Frequency of Agenesis Palmaris Longus through Clinical Examination - An East African Study

INTRODUCTION: The Palmaris longus, one of the most variable muscles in the body both flexes the wrist and tenses the palmar fascia. It is used by surgeons as a source of tendon graft and racial differences in its variation have been documented. We sought to determine the frequency of the absence of the Palmaris longus in an East African population. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted using ten common clinical tests among patients and students in a large teaching hospital in East Africa to determine the presence of a Palmaris longus. RESULTS: The overall rate of absence was 4.4% with unilateral absence at 3.3% and bilateral absence at 1.1%. The overall difference between males and females was not statistically significant (p = 0.605). Participants were more likely to have absence in their non dominant hand. DISCUSSION: Our findings though in contrast to many studies worldwide, it concurs with most studies done in the African setting. These differences may be due to the higher levels of manual labour and the more use of the right hand in these activities. The frequency of the absence of Palmaris longus in East Africa has been determined. Surgeons should acquaint themselves with prevalence in their areas of practice

A mental hook for learning the three-dimensional anatomy of the sphenoid bone: an angelic resemblance

The sphenoid bone seems to resemble a biblical angel. The angel had six wings, and used two to cover the eyes (lesser wings with optic canal representing the eyes), two to fly (greater wings), and two (broad lateral pterygoid plates) to cover the feet (medial pterygoid plates with hamulus). This illustration may help surgical trainees to conceptualise and understand the clinical implications of this wide-ranging bone

A convenient three dimensional model to teach the arterial supply of the brainstem

An easier approach of teaching the three dimensional nature of arteries of the brainstem is being proposed and aids the understanding of clinical vascular conditions of the brain. Various regions of a standing student appear to represent different parts of the brainstem: head (midbrain), trunk (pons), thigh (medulla oblongata), leg (spinal cord), satchel (cerebellum) and plastic box (fourth ventricle). The vertebral arteries travel proximal to the spinal cord and medulla oblongata and unite at the position of the belt buckle to form the basilar artery. The basilar artery runs superiorly and finally bifurcates laterally at the neck of the student, to form the posterior cerebral artery. The teaching aid is simple, convenient and depicts 19 arteries of brainstem and circle of Willis

Descriptions of anatomical structures using everyday objects may disadvantage students from developing countries

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A 3-dimensional anatomy model of the heart organ using a gloved hand.

Teaching and learning the three-dimensional anatomy of the heart can be challenging. The use of the hand to model structures in the heart has proven useful. In this article a more comprehensive model of the heart using a gloved hand is proposed