Subtalar joint middle facet agenesis: a case report and literature review.

Articular facet morphology plays a fundamental role in subtalar joint biomechanics and stability, and likely influences the development of hindfoot osteoarthritis. While multiple anatomical studies have shown wide variation in articular facet configuration, the clinico-radiological findings are rarely presented. We illustrate a case of bilateral subtalar joint middle facet agenesis in a 45-year-old woman, which was missed despite several presentations.

A survey of teaching undergraduate neuroanatomy in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Background: Medical students' perception of neuroanatomy as a challenging topic has implications for referrals and interaction with specialists in the clinical neurosciences. Given plans to introduce a standardised Medical Licensing Assessment by 2023, it is important to understand the current framework of neuroanatomy education. This study aims to describe how neuroanatomy is taught and assessed in the UK and Ireland.

Sternocleidomastoid innervation from an aberrant nerve arising from the hypoglossal nerve: a prospective study of 160 neck dissections.

Background: Anatomical variants of the spinal root of the accessory nerve and cervical plexus are well known but other variants are exceptionally rare.

Methods: A prospective study of 160 selective neck dissections was undertaken following an index case, where a presumed C1 nerve (travelling with the hypoglossal nerve) was found to innervate sternocleidomastoid (SCM). A search was subsequently made for this variant while not compromising the neck dissection surgery itself.

A brief history of topographical anatomy.

This brief history of topographical anatomy begins with Egyptian medical papyri and the works known collectively as the Greco-Arabian canon, the time line then moves on to the excitement of discovery that characterised the Renaissance, the increasing regulatory and legislative frameworks introduced in the 18th and 19th centuries, and ends with a consideration of the impact of technology that epitomises the period from the late 19th century to the present day. This paper is based on a lecture I gave at the Winter Meeting of the Anatomical Society in Cambridge in December 2015, when I was awarded the Anatomical Society Medal.

Communication of the anterior branch of the great auricular nerve with the marginal mandibular nerve: A prospective study of 25 neck dissections.

The great auricular nerve originates from the cervical plexus (C2, 3) and supplies sensation to the lower part of the pinna and the skin overlying the angle of the mandible. We have previously reported an unusual anatomical variant where the anterior division of the great auricular nerve passed into the submandibular triangle and was joined on its deep surface by the marginal mandibular division of the facial nerve. We now report a prospective study of 25 neck dissections in which a meticulous search for this variant resulted in the same communication between the great auricular nerve and the marginal mandibular division of the facial nerve being found in one further patient (an incidence of 2/25 patients in our series).

New focus on anatomy for surgical trainees.

The demise of anatomy teaching in the undergraduate medical curriculum has inevitably reduced the general level of applied anatomical knowledge displayed by junior doctors. Initiatives such as the European Working Time Directive have exacerbated the problem by reducing trainees' opportunities to acquire appropriate anatomical knowledge and clinical skills through workplace training. Medical Schools and postgraduate Colleges and Schools of Surgery must work together to design and deliver quality-assured courses in core and non-core anatomy, that cross the undergraduate/postgraduate interface.

Great auricular communication with the marginal mandibular nerve - a previously unreported anatomical variant.

The great auricular nerve that originates from the cervical plexus and supplies sensation to the lower part of the auricle and the skin overlying the angle of the mandible has no motor component. During an elective neck dissection for a squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, we found that the anterior division of the great auricular nerve divided, with a long branch that passed into the submandibular triangle anterior and superficial to the facial vein, and was joined on its deep surface by the marginal mandibular division of the facial nerve. Although anatomical variants of other branches of the cervical plexus have been described, this is, to our knowledge, the first time a communication between the great auricular nerve and a branch of the facial nerve has been reported outside the parotid gland.