Anatomical naming conventions

In anatomy, generally, there is a single technical term that is used to refer to a particular anatomical structure or concept to reduce ambiguity and ease communication. However, there are particular structures that have more than one technical name; one name may be used more frequently than the other or different names may be used depending on the speciality/discipline, but both are valid. In these activity guides, you'll find that for any structure for which there is more than one technical name, a single name is used throughout for consistency. Below are some examples (this list is not exhaustive), along with their other acceptable technical names.

Patellar ligament

ThisThese activity guideguides usesuse the term "patellar ligament" to refer to the connective tissue connecting the patella to the tibial tuberosity. Some practitioners refer to this structure as the inferior portion of the "patellar tendon." The reason for referring to this tissue as the patellar ligament is that ligaments connect bones and this ligament connects the patella (a bone) to the tibia (another bone). The reason for referring to this tissue as the patellar tendon is that the patella develops as a sesamoid bone within the patellar tendon (the patella in a newborn is purely cartilage that later ossifies into a bone), thus this structure is one continuous with a sesamoid bone in the middle. Both terms are correct but are simply defined from differing perspectives: "patellar ligament" is a term defined from a functional perspective whereas "patellar tendon" is a term defined from a developmental perspective. This activity guide chooses to use theThe term "patellar ligament" was chosen for these activity guides because it is the term used in both the Netter's and Rohen et al. anatomical atlases.

References cited

• Netter, Frank H. Atlas of Human Anatomy. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier, 2019.
• Rohen, J. W., Yokochi, C., & Lütjen-Drecoll, E. (2011). Color atlas of anatomy: A photographic study of the human body (7th ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.