Terminologia Anatomica and its practical usage: pitfalls and how to avoid them

Abstract

In 2016, the Federative International Programme for Anatomical Terminology tentatively approved the updated and extended version of anatomical terminology that replaced the previous version of Terminologia Anatomica (1998). This modern version has already appeared in new editions of leading anatomical atlases and textbooks, including Netter's Atlas of Human Anatomy, even though it was originally available only as a draft and the final version is different. We believe that updated and extended versions of anatomical terminology are important and they can be a powerful tool in communication between anatomists and other specialists around the world. In general, the new version uses more precise and adequate anatomical terms and many segments, including the part dealing with the nervous system, which is also known as the Terminologia Neuroanatomica, have been considerably improved. Nevertheless, some segments have not been extended or modernised, while other parts have been modified considerably, thereby posing a challenge to those who prefer the traditional version of Latin terminology because a number of official names for bones, muscles, organs and blood vessels have been changed. Whilst most of these changes seem to be inspired by a long anatomical tradition and thus cannot come as a surprise to anyone in the field, other modifications are characterised by terminological innovativeness. Selected new and unexpected changes that might cause confusion among those who prefer traditional anatomical terms and definitions are discussed here.

Anatomical and medical terminology: new challenges and perspectives

“…Currently, one of the greatest challenges is that many authors, researchers, teachers, instructors and clinicians do not adhere to the official version of anatomical terminology since they continue to use older or erroneous names. This situation merits additional research and a number of solutions have been proposed [21][22][23]. These invalid terms, for example eponyms, i.e.…”

Definiciones de los Reparos, Marcas Óseas o Accidentes de la Superficie del Hueso en Anatomía Humana

“…Una manera de comprender mejor los diferentes términos incluidos como reparos, marcas óseas o accidentes de la superficie del hueso, sería revisar de manera frecuente la Terminologia Anatomica (FIPAT), estudiar dichos términos y realizar un análisis crítico de ellos para poder dar una explicación más clara a los estudiantes del área de las Ciencias de la Salud. Como lo señalaron Chmielewski & Domagala (2020) es importante recordar que la terminología anatómica es parte de la terminología científica que merece la debida consideración y puede actualizarse y mejorarse cuando sea necesario. Sin embargo, como lo señalaron Wen et al (2019) la actual Terminologia Anatomica (FIPAT), se encuentra redactada en latín y a partir de ella se realiza la traducción al idioma correspondiente, entonces, al igual que estos autores, cabe preguntarse si la traducción al español es las más adecuada y correcta para denominar esas estructuras y reparos, marcas o accidentes en las superficies de los huesos que aparecen publicados en los textos de anatomía disponibles en Chile.…”

A plea for extension of the anatomical nomenclature: Vessels

“…Some anatomically and/clinically very important terms have been already mentioned in our previous articles, but we felt inevitable to remind readers of them [6,8,9,[11][12][13]15]. If we check the anatomical terminology in current journals, monographs and textbook, there are still many terms found to be obsolete, incorrect or even eponymic although the last revision of the anatomical nomenclature -Terminologia Anatomica (TA)has been issued more than 20 years ago and eponyms have been banned from the anatomical nomenclature already in the Parisiensia Nomina Anatomica (PNA) in 1955 [16,[72][73][74][75][76]].…”