Folia Morphologica 2010, tom 69, nr 3

Anomalies of the inferior vena cava are rare and result mainly from abnormal embryological development. Among these, the most common are double inferior vena cava (IVC), with an incidence of 0.2––3% [2, 11], and left sided IVC with an incidence of 0.69% [20]. They are mostly incidentally diagnosedon imaging of the area, usually with computed tomography (CT scanning) or magnetic resonanceimaging (MRI) done for other reasons...

Variations of the great arteries in the thoracic region are well known and the aortic arch is one ofthem. In 65–80% of cases, three branches arise from the arch of the aorta — the brachiocephalictrunk, the left common carotid artery, and the left subclavian artery. This pattern is described by Adachi [2] as type A...

Early in the development of the heart, the single heart tube consists of the inner and outer tubes,the endocardium, and myocardium, respectively, which are separated by an extracellular matrix secretedby the myocardial cells and termed cardiac jelly. This extracellular matrix promotes the tubularlumen during contraction and acts as a site for the deposition of inductive factors from the myocardialcells which can modify the differentiation of specific endocardial cells...

The embryonic development of the vertebral column has been widely investigated [7–11] and hasbeen summarised by O’Rahilly and Meyer [12]. Detailed, well illustrated studies of the vertebralcolumn, as a whole and particular regions of the column, at the end of the embryonic period havebeen performed by O’Rahilly et al....

Disk degeneration has been linked to mechanical loading. The importance of mechanical factorshas been emphasised by experiments on cadaver spines with both a severe single event and relentlessloading [1, 2, 11, 27, 45]. Failure of disks is more common in areas where the heaviest mechanical stresses are present such as the lower lumbar region...

The tunica intima of the aorta varies in its histomorphology depending on blood flow dynamics,age, and animal species [3, 12]. These variations are important in intimal integrity, prediction, and diagnosisof atherosclerosis [13, 22, 27]. The goat is a suitable model for studying vascular disease andfor use in experimental cardiovascular surgery because the structure of some of its vessels [16, 28] and its physiological cardiovascular parameters [9, 17, 20] resemble those of humans...

The ansa cervicalis (AC) is a union of nerves found in the anterior triangle of the neck, which givesmotor innervations to the infra hyoid muscles [5, 11, 22]. The AC is usually used to re-innervate thelarynx following recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis [6, 21]. Thyroid cancer patients may present withparalysed vocal cords due to the disease process, or the recurrent laryngeal nerve may need to be sacrificedbecause of the invasion of cancer, even if the vocal cords are properly functioning before surgery...

Olfactory cues play an important role in the behaviour of fish, such as the procurement of food,recognition of sex, defence against predators, parental behaviour, and orientation [13]. Olfaction isa mediator of chemical signals and is involved in diverse teleost behaviour [10]. The olfactory organof fish is the only vertebrate organ in which nerve cells are directly exposed to the aquatic ecosystem...

The craniovertebral joints are shaped to give a wide range of movement to the head and to transmit theweight of the head to the rest of the vertebral column. The movements include: flexion, extension, bilateralbending and rotation, distraction, and axial loading. However, the proper biomechanics of these joints maybe disrupted by a pathological ossification that can develop between the occipital condyles and the superiorarticular facets of the atlas...

Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AASs) are synthetic derivatives of testosterone and are important pharmacologicallyfor their use in the treatment of various medical conditions such as growth deficiency,some blood disorders, osteoporosis, hypogonadal dysfunction and the commencement of delayedpuberty in men, and growth promotion...