Etymology of Selected Medical Terms Used in Radiology: The Mythologic Connection

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Etymology of Selected Medical Terms Used in Radiology

The Mythologic Connection

Christos S. Georgiades¹

^¹ Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21287.

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Fig. 1A. —Caput Medusae. Head of Medusa by Michelangelo da Merisi, otherwise known as Caravaggio (oil on canvas, 1590, Galleria Uffizi, Florence, Italy), shows live reptiles that replaced the gorgon's hair. Blood can be seen gushing from Medusa's severed neck after Perseus, with Athena's help, beheaded her.

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Fig. 1B. —Caput Medusae. Axial contrast-enhanced CT scan of abdomen shows dilated serpentine paraumbilical veins in 55-year-old woman with cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Physical examination found patient to have caput medusae sign.

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Fig. 1C. —Caput Medusae. Perseus and Andromeda by Joachim Wtewael (oil on canvas, 1611, Musee de Louvre, Paris, France) shows Perseus, in this postrenaissance rendition of the fable of Medusa, on his flying horse holding Medusa's head in his left hand and preparing to save a chained Andromeda from the sea monster who was sent by Poseidon, god of the sea and Athena's arch rival, who, in turn, was Perseus' protector.

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Fig. 2A. —Cyclopia. Photograph of gross specimen of stillborn male fetus shows midline fused orbits (cyclopic deformity), arhinia (Greek, congenital absence of nose), and proboscis (Greek, trunk).

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Fig. 2B. —Cyclopia. in utero sonogram of male fetus (shown in A) with alobar holoprosencephaly shows fused thalami (Greek, vestibules, long arrow) and proboscis (short arrow).

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Fig. 2C. —Cyclopia. Polyphem by Johan Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein (1862, Landesmuseum, Oldenburg, Germany) shows single midline eye characteristic of the race of the Cyclopes. This particular Cyclops, Polyphemus, was blinded by Odysseus and his men during their long journey home from Troy.

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Fig. 3A. —Galactocele. Partial view of screening mammogram of 47-year-old woman shows layering dense fluid level (arrow), magnified in insert, indicative of galactocele.

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Fig. 3B. —Galactocele. Pygmalion and Galatea by Francois Boucher (oil on canvas, ca. 1750) shows the milky white marble statue of Galatea coming to life as Pygmalion, the sculptor, watches in awe. Pygmalion fell in love with his statue, which, in his mind, was the image of the perfect woman. The goddess Aphrodite (next to the statue) took pity on Pygmalion and breathed life into the statue.

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Fig. 3C. —Galactocele. Birth of Aphrodite by Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, also known as Sandro Botticelli (tempera on canvas, 1480, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy), shows the gods of winds (left) and a nymph welcome Aphrodite and shower her with roses as she is born from the sea.

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Fig. 4A. —Hippocampus. Poseidon and His Sea Horses by Leonardo da Vinci (ca. 1511, Windsor Royal Library, London, England) depicts the sea horses (Greek, hippocampi) as horses with fish tails instead of hind legs. The spiral appearance of their tails gave the name to the well-known sea horses and to the hippocampus, part of the human limbic system.

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Fig. 4B. —Hippocampus. Coronal T2-weighted MR image obtained through hippocampi of 14-year-old boy who presented with seizure disorder shows malacia of left hippocampus (arrow) indicative of mesial temporal sclerosis.

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Fig. 5A. —Labyrinthitis. Axial gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted MR image of 42-year-old woman who presented with acute onset vertigo shows increased signal in left cochlea (arrow) and horizontal semicircular canal, compatible with labyrinthitis. (Courtesy of Yousem D, Baltimore, MD)

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Fig. 5B. —Labyrinthitis. Theseus Slaying the Minotaur (detail by Capana Cassone, sixteenth century, oil on canvas, Avignon Museum, France), in which artist uses medieval themes to depict Theseus wearing armor and slaying the Minotaur. Ariadne, who helped Theseus find his way through the maze, is seen in the left foreground.

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Fig. 6A. —Omphalocele. Omphale and Hercules by Francois Lemoyne (oil on canvas, 1724, Musee de Louvre, Paris, France) shows Hercules (Latin name for Heracles) and Omphale, the Queen of Lydia, depicted in a romantic scene with a cupid by their side. Hercules was especially fond of Omphale's navel. Not surprisingly, the Greek word for navel is omphalus.

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Fig. 6B. —Omphalocele. Sonogram of male fetus shows thin membrane (long arrow) surrounding partially herniated echogenic liver. Umbilical cord (short arrow) is seen inserting in midline of membrane, which is indicative of omphalocele.

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Fig. 7A. —Phrygian cap. Punishment of Midas by Hendrick de Clerck (1620, Rijkmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) shows Apollo busy flaying Marsyas as the frightened Midas, King of Phrygia, is watching in the background. King Midas is seen wearing ass's ears, his punishment for insulting Apollo. A violin (modern equivalent to the ancient lyre) and a set of pan pipes are also seen in the foreground.

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Fig. 7B. —Phrygian cap. Priapus (unknown artist, House of the Vettii, Pompeii, Italy) shows "the pruner" wearing so-called phrygian cap (what King Midas wore to hide his ass's ears) and holding a pruning knife. He was cursed to carry large genitalia by the mother of gods, Hera, who wanted to punish Aphrodite (Priapus's mother) for her promiscuity.

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Fig. 7C. —Phrygian cap. Sonogram of right upper quadrant in 36-year-old man shows an apparently septate gallbladder. Further examination revealed this to be only folded gallbladder without a septum, compatible with phrygian cap deformity.

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Fig. 7D. —Phrygian cap. Flaying of Marsyas by Tiziano Vecellio, better known as Titian (Kromeriz, State Museum, Czech Republic), shows Marsyas hanging upside down as Apollo's accomplices flay him. Apollo is seen in the left background playing music. One of his accomplices, standing to the left of Apollo, is sporting a phrygian cap.

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Fig. 8A. —Sirenomelia. Stamnos of Odysseus and the Sirens (unknown artist, Greece, 460 B.C.; British Museum, London, England) shows Odysseus, tied to the center mast, surrounded by the Sirens (half women, half birds), whose melodious songs drew many Greek sailors to their drowning death. His comrades, with their wax-plugged ears, managed to row past the Sirens' realm.

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Fig. 8B. —Sirenomelia. Ulysses and the Sirens by Herbert James Draper (1909, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, England) shows Odysseus' encounter with the Sirens. The latter have taken a more appealing, mermaidlike form. (Reprinted with permission from Ferens Art Gallery)

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Fig. 8C. —Sirenomelia. Photograph of gross specimen of stillborn fetus shows mermaidlike appearance of fused lower extremities indicative of sirenomelia. (Courtesy of Sheth S, Baltimore, MD)

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Fig. 8D. —Sirenomelia. In utero sonogram of same fetus as in C shows fused lower extremities (arrow). (Courtesy of Sheth S, Baltimore, MD)

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Fig. 9A. —Syrinx. Pan and Syrinx by Jean-Francois de Troy (oil on canvas, 1733) shows Syrinx being comforted by a god, while Pan, her pursuer, appears through a clump of reeds, symbolic of Syrinx's later transformation.

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Fig. 9B. —Syrinx. Midsagittal T1-weighted MR image of 25-year-old man with Chiari malformation shows cervical cord syrinx (arrow).

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