Ansa pancreatica. Review of the literature

Ansa pancreatica is a reversed S-shaped pancreatic duct arising from the main pancreatic duct of Wirsung and ending at or near the minor duodenal papilla. Described for the first time in 1961, it is a rare anatomic variant of the pancreatic ducts system and is characterized by the absence of the accessory duct of Santorini. It probably serves as a counter measure after the accessory duct obliteration, in order to maintain sufficient pancreatic juice drainage. The literature concerning ansa pancreatica seems to be rather poor, compared to other anatomic variants and congenital anomalies of the pancreatic ducts. We tried to define the ansa pancreatica incidence among general population and highlight the possible differences between different populations, and to define its possible correlation with pancreatitis. The existing data correlate ansa pancreatica with recurrent acute pancreatitis and pancreatitis in alcoholics. Despite the lack of extended data, ansa pancreatica is a rare anatomic variant, proven to play an important role in certain clinical conditions

Corona Mortis: Surgical Anatomy, Physiology and Clinical Significance

Corona mortis (CM) is classically defined as the arterial anastomosis between the obturator artery and the inferior epigastric artery that crosses the posterior aspect of the superior ramus of the symphysis pubis. Its clinical impact is considered great, as it lies within the surgical field of numerous specialties (general surgeons, orthopedists, gynecologists, urologists). Our systematic study of the literature revealed a diversity in the incidence of the Corona Mortis between cadaveric and patient studies. The new technological advances and especially the CT angiography, applied on the retropubic region vessels, have given the chance to obtain more precise depictions and thus estimations on the real incidence of corona mortis. This review intends to extract for the first time the corona mortisrsquo incidence from the major CT angiographic studies in bibliography and compare it with the incidence of CM in the major cadaveric studies. Special attention was given to the question whether this anastomosis is that important as its name implies (mortis) in the clinical setting or not

Desmoid tumor in Gardner's Syndrome presented as acute abdomen

BACKGROUND: Gardner's syndrome can occasionally be complicated with intra-abdominal desmoid tumor. These tumors usually remain asymptomatic but can exhibit symptoms due to intestinal, vascular and ureteral compression and obstruction. CASE PRESENTATION: A rare case of a 41-year-old male patient with Gardner's syndrome complicated with intra-abdominal desmoid tumor, which first presented as acute abdomen, is presented. CONCLUSION: Extra-abdominal manifestations of Gardner's syndrome along with a palpable abdominal mass would raise suspicion for the presence of a desmoid tumor in the majority of cases. In life-threatening cases, surgical treatment should be considered as a palliative approach, though the extent of excision remains debatabl

Dimitrios Mavrokordatos (1811-1839), the eve of the Hellenic School of Anatomy in modern era Greece

Dimitrios Alexandrou Mavrokordatos was the first regular professor of Anatomy and Physiology of the Hellenic “Othonian” University of Athens. He had completed his studies in Germany and thus he had been chosen to stimulate the empirical physicians of Greece to awaken. He died young, but his passion was so great that he had published a masterpiece in the new Greece, “On the anatomy of the human body”, and left his fortune for his pupils, even though they had rebelled against him sometime before his death. With his teaching and book he established a kind of Greek “nomina anatomica” which formed the basis for medicine in the newly born country

Common origin of the second and third palmar digital arteries in an ulnar type superficial palmar arch: a case report

Τhe superficial palmar arch (SPA) is usually formed by an anastomosis between the ulnar artery (UA) and the radial artery (RA) and gives off three common palmar digital arteries. Many variations of the SPA have been reported in the pertinent literature (ulnar type arch, radial type arch, complete and incomplete arch, etc). Complete SPA is reported to be formed in the 69.2 % of the right hands and 70.5 % of the left hands in the pertinent literature. We report a case of a complete ulnar type SPA, where the first and second palmar digital arteries emerge from a common stem

Jean Falcon (1491-1541), a great surgeon and anatomist of the 16th century

Jean Falcon, an Aragon native, became a famous surgeon at the Faculty of Montpellier. He was a Royal physician, wealthy enough to live a luxurious life and treat influential patients. His lectures were legendary, and his works gave him fame among the surgeons’ class. Of all his manuscripts stands the “Guidon”, which became an anatomical surgeons’ handbook, worthy of reference from the scientific community for centuries

A cadaveric study of anatomical variations of the normal arterial pattern in hellenic population

Introduction. Arterial variations may cause significant complications during diagnostic and interventional procedures. The objective of the study. Our study examined 73 donated cadavers in the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in an effort to unearth possible artery alternations. Material and methods. The major branches of the abdominal aorta, the arteries of the limps and the neck were inquired. Results. In 58.9% of the cadavers no arterial variation was found, whereas one, two and three alternations at the same cadaver were observed in 21.9%, 12.3% and 6.8% respectively. The most common anatomical variations were noted in the vascular branching of the celiac trunk found in 24.7% of the cadavers. Conclusions. There was no statistically significant difference between the two genders concerning the frequency of the observed arterial variations (p<0.05)

Joseph-Pierre Éléonord Pétrequin (1809-1876), the majestic French surgeon who introduced the concept of surgical anatomy

Pétrequin was a French surgeon born in the town of Villeurbanne, near the city of Lyon. He lived in an era when surgery was evolving towards a more complex and modern specialty. His magnificent career was shared between surgical pathology and history of surgery. His two most significant works were “Traité d’anatomie médico-chirurgicale et topographique” (An Assay of Medical and Surgical Anatomy and Topography) and “La chirurgie d’Hippocrate” (The Surgery of Hippocrates). Having realized the need for surgery to be combined with anatomy, he was the scholar who introduced the concept of surgical anatomy. His innovations, travels and publications won him a series of nominations and a place among th greatest European surgeons and philosophers of all times

Anatomy of the lymphatics

The lymphatic system is perhaps the most complicated system of Homo sapiens. An introduction to the anatomy, embryology, and anomalies of the lymphatics is presented. The overall anatomy and drainage of the lymphatic vessels in outlined. The topographic anatomy, relations, and variations of the principle vessels of the lymphatic system (the right lymphatic duct, the thoracic duct, and the cisterna chyli) are presented in detail