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Vol 79, No 3 (2020)
Original article
Submitted: 2019-08-17
Accepted: 2019-09-27
Published online: 2019-10-09
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A plea for extension of the official nomenclature of the microscopic structure of human tissues and organs, the Terminologia Histologica

I. Varga1, D. Kachlík2, M. Klein1
·
Pubmed: 31617576
·
Folia Morphol 2020;79(3):610-620.
Affiliations
  1. Comenius University, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Histology and Embryology, Bratislava, Slovakia
  2. Charles University, Second Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Prague, Czech Republic

open access

Vol 79, No 3 (2020)
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Submitted: 2019-08-17
Accepted: 2019-09-27
Published online: 2019-10-09

Abstract

Background: At first sight, the issue of terminology in morphological sciences may seem as “closed and changeless chapter”, as many of the structures within the human body have been known for centuries. However, the exact opposite is true. Terminologia Histologica: International Terms for Human Cytology and Histology published under the Federative International Programme on Anatomical Terminology in 2008 is a new standard in human cell and tissue terminology. The list of items in the first and still valid official nomenclature of cellular and tissue structures, the Terminologia Histologica (TH), is the best and most extensive of all the histological nomenclatures ever issued.

Materials and methods: The aim of this article is a systematic and in-depth analysis of the current internationally accepted nomenclature TH, with focus on important histological structures which are missing in this first edition. Some should be incorporated just for the sake of completeness and consistence, others are purely absent terms for individual structures or some are recently described new tissue structures.

Results: We also discuss about a question, how to deal with the issue of eponyms. Eponyms reflect medicine’s rich and colourful history. Although they have not been considered official terms in the anatomical nomenclature since 1955, they are still widely used in clinical practice.

Conclusions: We hope that this opinion article will develop a wide scientific discussion before the publication of the second edition, so perhaps the mentioned minor flaws will be corrected, so the new edition of the TH will become truly an internationally accepted communication tool for all histologists, histopathologists and anatomists.

Abstract

Background: At first sight, the issue of terminology in morphological sciences may seem as “closed and changeless chapter”, as many of the structures within the human body have been known for centuries. However, the exact opposite is true. Terminologia Histologica: International Terms for Human Cytology and Histology published under the Federative International Programme on Anatomical Terminology in 2008 is a new standard in human cell and tissue terminology. The list of items in the first and still valid official nomenclature of cellular and tissue structures, the Terminologia Histologica (TH), is the best and most extensive of all the histological nomenclatures ever issued.

Materials and methods: The aim of this article is a systematic and in-depth analysis of the current internationally accepted nomenclature TH, with focus on important histological structures which are missing in this first edition. Some should be incorporated just for the sake of completeness and consistence, others are purely absent terms for individual structures or some are recently described new tissue structures.

Results: We also discuss about a question, how to deal with the issue of eponyms. Eponyms reflect medicine’s rich and colourful history. Although they have not been considered official terms in the anatomical nomenclature since 1955, they are still widely used in clinical practice.

Conclusions: We hope that this opinion article will develop a wide scientific discussion before the publication of the second edition, so perhaps the mentioned minor flaws will be corrected, so the new edition of the TH will become truly an internationally accepted communication tool for all histologists, histopathologists and anatomists.

Get Citation

Keywords

histology; histopathology; terminology; nomenclature; Terminologia Histologica

About this article
Title

A plea for extension of the official nomenclature of the microscopic structure of human tissues and organs, the Terminologia Histologica

Journal

Folia Morphologica

Issue

Vol 79, No 3 (2020)

Article type

Original article

Pages

610-620

Published online

2019-10-09

Page views

1124

Article views/downloads

919

DOI

10.5603/FM.a2019.0110

Pubmed

31617576

Bibliographic record

Folia Morphol 2020;79(3):610-620.

Keywords

histology
histopathology
terminology
nomenclature
Terminologia Histologica

Authors

I. Varga
D. Kachlík
M. Klein

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