EDITORIAL

Attitudinally correct nomenclature

A C Cook, R H Anderson

Cardiac Unit, Institute of Child Health, University College, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children Trust, London, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor R H Anderson, Cardiac Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK;
r.anderson@ich.ucl.ac.uk

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For half a century, inappropriate terms have been used to describe the various parts of the heart in a clinical context. Does the cardiological community have the fortitude to correct these mistakes?

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Keywords: cardiac anatomy; nomenclature; coronary arteries; ventricular structure; atrioventricular junctions

It is an undeniable fact that cardiac components are not always described according to the position they occupy within the body. This situation was initially drawn to our attention by Francisco Cosio. Thanks to his efforts, an attitudinally correct nomenclature was proposed to account for those features known to be of particular interest to those dealing with abnormal cardiac rhythms.¹ The problem, however, is not confined to the electrophysiology laboratory. In this review, we will highlight other areas in which, currently, cardiac structures are not described appropriately with regard to the rest of the thoracic coordinates.

Thus, it is an accepted fact that all structures within the body are best described following the convention of the anatomical position (fig 1). Irrespective of the posture, or the location of the body, the subject is considered to be standing upright and facing the observer. Coordinates are then derived according to the . . . [Full text of this article]

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eLetters:

Read all eLetters

Attitudinally incorrect but workable nomenclature

S Richard Underwood

Online, 4 Jul 2002 [Full text]

Author's reply to Professor Underwood

Andrew C Cook, et al.

Online, 9 Jul 2002 [Full text]