Clinical anatomy : official journal of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists & the British Association of Clinical Anatomists
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It is rare to encounter exceptional individuals such as Ludwik Maurycy Hirschfeld. He was born into poverty and early on discovered his passion for medicine, particularly anatomy. His life is a testament to what pure human determination can achieve. ⋯ Hirshfeld remained as a professor until 1875. His death in 1876 was a great loss to the scientific community. His scientific accomplishments were astounding but he should also be remembered as a great humanitarian, an individual who offered medical treatment to the poor, and who strived to instill in his students a passion for anatomy.
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On the basis of the principles of the unifying articular theory, predictable patterns of proximal ascent have been described for fibular (peroneal) and tibial intraneural ganglion cysts in the knee region. The mechanism underlying distal descent into the terminal branches of the fibular and tibial nerves has not been previously elucidated. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate if and when cyst descent distal to the articular branch-joint connection occurs in intraneural ganglion cysts to understand directionality of intraneural cyst propagation. ⋯ The authors believe that parent terminal branch descent follows ascent up the articular branch from an affected joint of origin. This mechanism for bidirectional flow explains cyst within terminal branches of the fibular and tibial nerves and is dependent on pressure fluxes and resistances. This new pattern is consistent with principles previously described in a unified (articular) theory, is generalizable to other intraneural ganglion cysts arising from joints, and has important implications for pathogenesis and treatment of these intraneural cysts.