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Background: Reflecting on teaching is commonly cited as a fundamental practice for personal and professional development. Educational research into the scholarship of teaching and learning anatomy includes engaging in discipline specific literature on teaching, reflecting on individual teaching methods and communicating these findings to peers. The aim of this paper was to formally assess the opinions of senior anatomy instructors regarding the state of anatomical knowledge at their respective institutions.Materials and Methods: An open-ended questionnaire was devised consisting of eight direct questions seeking opinions on anatomy teaching, knowledge, potential educational developments and general thoughts on the teaching of anatomy to medical students. These were distributed to senior Anatomy Faculty (identified by the author by their affiliation with the Anatomical Society of Southern Africa) based at the eight national medical schools within the country.Results and Conclusions: A number of key themes emerged. Most senior faculty felt that the standard of medical education at their respective institutions was "good." However, emphasis was also placed on the "quality of teaching" incorporating clinical scenarios. There were also indications that staff are split into those that are keen to do research and those that are happy to provide teaching to medical students as their primary function. Several challenges such as time constraints within the curricula, lack of cadavers to reinforce knowledge and lack of appropriately qualified staff were highlighted. Recommendations included fostering partnerships with both clinicians and medical scientists into the anatomy curriculum thus improving teaching and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situs inversus totalis is a congenital condition characterized by the transposition of the thoracic and abdominal organs to the opposite side of the body. Situs inversus totalis is typically asymptomatic, however, these individuals are susceptible to certain defects and malformations such as vascular anomalies and mal-positioned viscera, which can result in a shortened lifespan. There are reports on penetrating abdominal injury in patients with situs inversus. In addition, the presence of pathology of thoracic and abdominal organs in situs inversus patients have been reported. However, from the literature reviewed, there is a paucity of reports on penetrating chest injuries in patients with situs inversus. Hence, we present a case of a patient who presented with a stab chest with situs inversus totalis and a brief discussion on the embryology of the condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arising from the aorta, the right (RCA) and left (LCA) coronary arteries provide the arterial supply to both the atria and the ventricles of the heart. An extensive literature review revealed that most studies have either evaluated the morphology of the RCA or the LCA independently. This study aimed to document the relationship between the morphology of the RCA and LCA using coronary angiograms. In addition, variations such as split or double RCA and an absent LCA were documented. A review of 500 coronary angiograms was conducted and the RCA and LCA were classified according to their branching patterns and arterial dominance. The most prevalent branching pattern of the LCA was bifurcation (in 65.8%; 329/500), while trifurcation and quadrifurcation occurred in 20.4% (102/500) and 1.6% (8/500), respectively. The LCA was absent in 11.8% (59/500) of cases with the bifurcation and trifurcation of its branches in 10.8% (54/500) and 1.4% (7/500), respectively. The splitting of the RCA occurred in 4.2% (21/500) of the angiograms. A split RCA with concomitant absent LCA was documented in 1.2% (6/500) of the angiograms. The RCA and LCA were dominant in 77.2% (386/500) and 9.8% (49/500) of cases, respectively, whereas co-dominance occurred in 13% (65/500) of the sample examined. In most cases where a split RCA was present, the RCA was found to be non-dominant. With the advent of coronary arteriography, a comprehensive understanding of coronary arterial anatomy and their anomalies has become essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enthesopathy is considered to be an osseous phenomenon, either disease-specific or bone-site specific, which occurs at the enthesis of bone. Upon routine cadaveric dissection of the glenohumeral region in two Caucasian females, enthesopathy of the right proximal humerus was observed unilaterally in both cases. Case 1 exhibited an inconsistent pattern of bony protuberances and crests dispersed across the lesser and greater tuberosities of the right humeral head. Varying degrees of ossification of the distal subscapularis muscle was also observed. Case 2 presented with a distinctively large enthesophyte that protruded supero-medially from the proximal right humerus. In addition, ossification of the distal-most aspect of the supraspinatus muscle was identified. Cases 1 and 2 were both reflective of osteophytic enthesopathy as proliferative change was clearly visible on the proximal aspect of each humerus. Whilst the presence of enthesopathies may be indicative of underlying pathology, it may prove beneficial to the field of bioarchaeology for the remodelling of lifestyles of ancient civilizations through the provision of current day variations as seen in these two case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The carotid canal (CC) located in the petrous temporal bone transmits the internal carotid artery, internal carotid venous plexus and sympathetic nerve plexus from the neck into the cranial cavity. It is an accessible passage into the cranial cavity and is considered an important anatomical landmark for neurosurgeons. The aim of this study was to investigate the topographical, morphometric and morphological parameters of the CC.Materials and Methods: An examination of the CC and related adjacent structures in 81 dry skull specimens was performed. Distribution of sample by sex was 34 females and 47 males, and by race 77 African and 4 Caucasian. The mean age was 50 years (range: 14-100 years).Results: The external opening of the CC was found to be round-shaped, oval-shaped and tear-drop-shaped in 28.4%, 49.4% and 22.2% of the specimens, respectively. (1) Mean diameters [mm]: (a) medio-lateral 7.52 mm and (b) antero-posterior 5.41mm. Statistically significant difference in the vertical diameter was recorded in the race groups and laterality of the samples. (2) Mean distances [mm] between: (a) medial margins of external opening of CC was 50.03 mm, (b) lateral margins of external opening of CC was 62.73 mm and (c) external openings of CC and foramen lacerum was 15.6 mm. There was a statistically significant correlation between race and location of the opening of external CC in relation to foramen lacerum (viz. postero-lateral, lateral and diagonal, and lateral).Conclusions: The present study corroborated previous reports on the CC; however, the tear-drop shaped external CC opening was a unique finding. The knowledge of the reference measurements pertaining to the CC and its relationship to adjacent structures may postulate a suitable surgical "safe-zone" range within the CC area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Non-recognition of a critical aortic arch branch variation at surgery, with fatal consequences, prompted a retrospective analysis of the prevalence of aortic arch branch variations in the South African population., Methods: Three hundred and twenty aortic arch angiograms were analysed from existing records (January 1988--March 1998) of the vascular unit, Department of Surgery, University of Natal., Results: Aortic arch branch variations were observed in 17 cases (5.3%). These variations were as follows: (i) 11 cases with two primary branches (3.4%); (ii) 1 case with three primary branches (0.3%); and (iii) 5 cases with four primary branches (1.6%)., Conclusion: The clinical presentations which these variations give rise to are well known and may present during the first days of life or later in adulthood, or remain clinically silent. Non-recognition of the latter situation in the presence of vascular trauma may have fatal consequences.