Hypochondrium

Definitions, etymology, and modern controversies

The word derives from the Greek word υποχόνδριο ("hypochondrio"). This Greek word means literally "below the cartilage" which refers to the costal cartilages. In other words, the word refers to the area of the ventral trunk that is located below the costal cartilages. The word once referred only to the soft portion of the abdomen between the rib cage and the navel (the region once believed to be the seat of hypochondriasis), but it is not used that way in modern anatomy's schemes for the regions of the abdomen.

Some sources have disputed usage of the term for the parts of the anterior abdominal wall below the costal margins. The region named the right hypochondrium exists anatomically, but is almost totally under the chest wall. In clinical situations, the parts of the abdominal wall just below the right and left costal margins are referred to as the right and left hypochondriac regions respectively.

Significance of region

Clinically speaking, symptoms and signs arising from this region are of great importance and have a specific list of diseases in their differential diagnoses.

Additional images

File:Gray1034.png|Front view of the thoracic and abdominal viscera

References

References

1. (2016). "Gray's anatomy : the anatomical basis of clinical practice".
2. [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hypochondrium thefreedictionary.com]
3. (2013-02-13). "Clinically oriented anatomy".
4. "Definition of HYPOCHONDRIAC".
5. (January 2006). "Hypochondria". Lancet.
6. (June 2014). "The surface landmarks of the abdominal wall: a plea for standardization". Archives of Medical Science.
7. (December 2012). "Left upper quadrant abdominal pain". The Western Journal of Emergency Medicine.
8. (2018-05-01). "US of Right Upper Quadrant Pain in the Emergency Department: Diagnosing beyond Gallbladder and Biliary Disease". Radiographics.