Anatomical Eponyms Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bowman's capsule

Bowman's capsule is named after Sir William Bowman (1816-1892), a British surgeon and anatomist. Gerota's capsule is the membrane that surrounds the whole kidney. Glisson's capsule surrounds the liver. Breschet's sinus is a vein in the cranium.

Answer: Ampulla of Vater

The ampulla is named after Abraham Vater, a German anatomist who described it in 1720. Broca's and Wernicke's areas are found on the cerebral cortex, controlling speech. Gartner's duct is a remnant in the female of tissue that forms the reproductive tract in the male.

Answer: duodenum

The sphincter is named after Ruggero Oddi (1864-1913). It is a muscle that surrounds the Ampulla of Vater, thereby regulating the flow of bile and pancreatic secretions.

Answer: Stensen's duct

Stensen's duct is named after Niels Stensen (1638-1686), a Danish anatomist credited with its discovery. The parotid gland is found in front of the ear. It swells up in those who contract mumps. The Mullerian duct forms the female reproductive tract. Haversian canals are found in bone. The ductus arteriosus is a vessel connecting the pulmonary artery and aorta in foetuses.

Answer: Virchow's node

Virchow's node is named after Rudolf Virchow (1829 - 1902), a German pathologist. Nodes of Ranvier are found along nerve cells. Axillary nodes are also lymph nodes, but found in the armpit. The sino-atrial node is the natural pacemaker for the heart.

Answer: Circle of Willis

This is a circle of arteries that interconnect around the base of the brain. It is named after Thomas Willis (1621-1673) who contributed vastly to the field of neurology. Eisenmenger's complex and Fallot's tetralogy are both congenital heart defects. The external carotid artery supplies blood to the external parts of the head.

Answer: Langer's lines

Langer's lines can be recognised by pinching up a fold of skin in varying directions, to see which way the creases form most naturally. Incisions made parallel to these lines heal more neatly and with less scarring than incisions across the lines. They were discovered by Karl Langer, a professor of anatomy (1819-1887). Beau's lines form in nails after severe illness. Kerley's lines are found in the lung on a chest x-ray. Spiegel's lines are found on the abdominal wall, marking the lateral border of the rectus abdominis muscle.

Answer: Foramen of Luschka

These are 2 openings in the fourth ventricle of the brain, described by Hubert von Luschka in 1859. They can be obstructed, causing hydrocephalus (increased fluid pressure on the brain) in the congenital Dandy-Walker malformation. The Foramen of Winslow is a connection between the greater and lesser sacs of the abdominal peritoneal cavity. Bochdalek's and Morgagni's foraminae are defects in the diaphragm, which can lead to a diaphragmatic hernia between the abdominal and thoracic cavities.

Answer: Bundle of His

The Bundle of His is named after the Swiss cardiologist, Wilhelm His Jr., who discovered it in 1893. Pick's pyramidal bundle and Meynert's bundle are both nerve bundles in the brain. Killian's bundle is the inferior constrictor muscle of the pharynx.

Answer: eye

This is a ring of fibrous strands that connect the lens of the eye to the ciliary body. The ciliary body pulls on the lens through the zonular fibres, to change the shape of the lens. This causes a change of focus in the vision. It also holds the lens in place.

It is named after Johann Gottfried Zinn (1727-1759), a German anatomist and botanist, who wrote the first detailed book on the anatomy of the eye. The Zinnia flower was named in his honour by Carolus Linnaeus.