General Human Anatomy Overview

General Overview of Human Anatomy
Anatomy is the essential foundation of medical and surgical practice
I. DEFINITION
• From Greek anatomia or anatome "to cut through" or dissect. • Anatomy is the
science that allows the study of the structure and spatial relationships of the
different organs and tissues that make up living beings. (Deribet Alger 1961) •
II. THE DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF ANATOMY
Different types of anatomy are distinguished:
- General anatomy, which studies the basic parts of the human body: tissues,
organs, systems, and apparatuses.
- Descriptive anatomy, which studies the morphology of the different structures of
the human body.
- Topographic anatomy, which examines the arrangement and relationships of
organs within specific regions.
- Functional anatomy, which studies the relationship between the morphology and
the function of an organ or an apparatus.
-Developmental anatomy, which studies the evolution of organs from the
embryonic and fetal stages to adulthood.
- Comparative anatomy, which studies the evolution and changes of organs
according to different animal species.
. FUNDAMENTAL DEFINITIONS
- Tissues correspond to a group of cells with the same functional differentiation.
Different types of tissues are distinguished: epithelial, connective and supportive,
muscular, nervous, mucous membranes...

- An organ is an anatomical structure composed of a set of different tissues with
one or more specific functions.
- A system is the grouping of organs with the same structure. - An apparatus is a
set of systems ensuring the same function.
Nine major systems can be distinguished.
• The locomotor system: skeletal, muscular, and joint systems that ensure
movement.
• The cardiovascular system: circulation of blood and lymph.
• The respiratory system: gas exchanges between blood and air; it includes the
airways, lungs, and respiratory muscles.
• The digestive system: digestion; it includes the digestive tract and accessory
glands.
• The endocrine system: regulation and coordination of the body's metabolic
activities; it includes the endocrine glands.
• The urinary system: urinary excretion; it includes the kidneys and urinary
excretory pathways.
• The genital system: reproduction; it includes the external and internal genital
organs.
• The nervous system: relational life and innervation of other organs; it includes
the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems.
• The sensory system: relational life.
IV. ANATOMICAL POSITIONS
• The reference anatomical position is described with the subject standing, eyes
looking forward, arms and forearms along the body, feet together, hands
supinated (palms facing forward).

V. ANATOMICAL LANDMARKS
• Body axis: this is the vertical line that starts from a point at the top of the skull
(the vertex) and descends along the midline, passing through C7 and the gluteal
crease
Everything must happen in the 3 planes of space.
There are 3 planes: median (sagittal), coronal (frontal), and transverse
(horizontal).
- Sagittal plane: any vertical plane dividing the body from front to back into right
and left parts; the median plane is unique: it is the one that passes through the
midline axis of the plane. Other planes parallel to it are called para-median or
parasagittal planes.
- Coronal or frontal plane: any vertical plane parallel to the ventral surface of the
body, dividing it into ventral and dorsal parts.
- Axial or transverse plane: any plane perpendicular to the vertical axis of the body
or limbs, dividing the body into an upper or cranial part and a lower or caudal part.
VI. TERMS OF LOCATION• Anterior (or ventral): in front of the body.
• Posterior (or dorsal): behind the body.
• Superior: at the top of the body.
• Inferior: at the bottom of the body.
• Lateral and medial: respectively moving away from or toward the midline.
• Palmar and dorsal: for hand diagrams.
• Plantar and dorsal: for foot diagrams.
• Cranial and caudal: equivalent to superior and inferior.
• Proximal and distal: respectively closer to and farther from the studied element
(for upper or lower limbs, always relative to the root of the limb).

• Median: located on the midline.
VII. THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MOVEMENTSFundamental movements
• Flexion and extension - movements in the sagittal plane, around the frontal
axis
• Flexion - a bringing together of bone segments (closing)• Extension - a moving
apart of segments (opening)
ABDUCTION AND ADDUCTION movements in the frontal plane, around the sagittal axis
• Abduction - moving the segments away from the median sagittal plane (the middle)
• Adduction - bringing the segments closer together
• Exceptions - definition of finger movements according to a hand axis passing through the 3rd
finger and toe movements according to a foot axis passing through the 2nd toe
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ROTATION
• External rotation - movement of the anterior surface of the limb away from the median
sagittal plane (the middle)
• Internal rotation - movement of the anterior surface of the limb toward the median sagittal
plane
• OTHER MOVEMENTS Circumduction - combination of fundamental movements (thumb)
Protrusion and retrusion: forward and backward movement (lower jaw, arm, shoulder)
Lateral bending - movement of the axial skeleton in the frontal plane (for example, tilting the
head or trunk to the side),
Pronation and supination - internal and external rotation of the forearm through the rotation
of a bone (radius) around its longitudinal axis,
Dorsiflexion and plantarflexion - flexion and extension at the ankle and toes.
Inversion and eversion - adduction and abduction of the ankle. More precisely, the subtalar
joints allow the foot to twist inward and outward (plantar flexion + adduction + internal
rotation / dorsiflexion + abduction + external rotation).
Anterior tilt and posterior tilt of the pelvis - tilting of the pelvis forward and downward

(anterior superior iliac spine points downward) and tilting of the pelvis backward and upward
(anterior superior iliac spine points upward),