Nomina Anatomica
Encyclopedia
In the late nineteenth century some 50,000 terms for various body parts were in use. The same structures were described by different names, depending (among other things) on the anatomist’s school and national tradition. Vernacular translations of Latin and Greek, as well as various eponymous terms, were barriers to effective international communication. There was disagreement and confusion among anatomists regarding anatomical terminology.

Editions

The first and last entries in the following table aren't NA editions, but they are included for the sake of continuity.

Although these early editions were authorized by different bodies, they are sometimes considered part of the same series.
Edition Year Notes
BNA 1895 Work on a new international system of anatomical terminology began in 1887. The system was approved in 1895 by the Ninth Congress of the Anatomische Gesellschaft in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

 (then "Basle"), Switzerland. It became known as the Basle Nomina Anatomica (BNA). The BNA reduced the number of anatomical terms from 50,000 down to 5,528.

The International Federation of Associations of Anatomists
International Federation of Associations of Anatomists
The International Federation of Associations of Anatomists is an umbrella scientific organization of national and multinational Anatomy Associations, dedicated to anatomy and biomorphological sciences.-Origins and objectives:In 1903, Prof...

 (IFAA) is the international body representing anatomical societies from throughout the world. The First Federative International Congress of Anatomy met in Geneva in 1903.
BNA revisions 1933–1935 The BNA was adopted by anatomists from many countries including Spain and the United States, but the reception was far from universal.
  • French anatomists preferred to continue in their own tradition.

  • British anatomists broke away from the BNA in 1933, adopting the Birmingham
    Birmingham
    Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

     Revision (BR)
    .

  • The Anatomische Gesellschaft itself produced a revision, the Jena
    Jena
    Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...

     Nomina Anatomica (JNA)
    , in 1935. The JNA was notable for its adoption of a pronograde (horizontal) axis, which was well suited for the use of common anatomy for humans and other vertebrates.


The BNA and its various revisions (BR, JNA) remained standard international terminology until 1955.
first edition of Nomina Anatomica 1956 The Fifth Congress (Oxford, 1950) established a committee, the International Anatomical Nomenclature Committee (IANC), to work on standardized anatomical terminology. The IANC’s revision of the BNA was approved in 1955 at the Sixth Congress, meeting in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. It was originally called the Parisiensia Nomina Anatomica (PNA) but later became known simply as the Nomina Anatomica (NA).

It contained 5,640 terms, of which 4,286 were unchanged from the BNA.

The committee favored the BNA's orthograde orientation (anatomical position) over the JNA's pronograde orientation, which led to a schism with veterinary anatomists, and the subsequent publication of the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria
Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria
The Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria is a text prepared by the International Committee on Veterinary Gross Anatomical Nomenclature. It is used as the standard reference for anatomical terminology in the field of Veterinary Science.The text is continually under revision...

 in 1968.
second edition 1961 Revisions of Nomina Anatomica were approved at the Seventh Congress (New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, 1960)
third edition 1966 the Eighth Congress (Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...

, 1965)
fourth edition 1977 the Ninth Congress (Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...

, 1970), the Tenth Congress (Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, 1975). The fourth edition introduced the Nomina Histologica and Nomina Embryologica.
fifth edition 1983 the Eleventh Congress (Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

, 1980).
sixth edition 1989 the Twelfth Congress (London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, 1985). (The title of the sixth edition includes the phrase "authorised by the Twelfth International Congress of Anatomists in London, 1985", but this authorization is disputed.)
Terminologia Anatomica
Terminologia Anatomica
Terminologia Anatomica is the international standard on human anatomic terminology. It was developed by the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology and the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists and was released in 1998. It supersedes the previous standard, Nomina...

 (see below)
1998 the Thirteenth Congress (Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

, 1989)

Twelfth congress

Around the time of the Twelfth Congress (London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, 1985), a dispute arose over the editorial independence
Editorial independence
Editorial independence is the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from the owners of a publication. Editorial independence is tested, for instance, if a newspaper runs articles that may be unpopular with its advertising clientele....

 of the IANC. The IANC did not believe that their work should be subject to the approval of IFAA Member Associations.

The types of discussion underlying this dispute are illustrated in an article by Roger Warwick, then Honorary Secretary of the IANC:
An aura of scholasticism, erudition and, unfortunately, pedantry has therefore often impeded attempts to rationalize and simplify anatomical nomenclature, and such obstruction still persists. The preservation of archaic terms such as Lien, Ventriculus, Epiplooon and Syndesmologia, in a world which uses and continues to use Splen, Gaster, Omentum and Arthrologia (and their numerous derivatives) provides an example of such pedantry.

We have inherited a number of archaic and now somewhat irrational terms which are confusing to the non-Latinistic students and scientists of today . . . Knowledge of Latin is extremely limited today, and thus any Latin nomenclature must be simplified to the utmost to achieve maximum clarity, usefulness, and hence acceptance.

Unless anatomical nomenclatue is subject to a most rigorous revision, in terms of simplification and rationalization, general use of such an internationally official nomenclature as Nomina Anatomica will decline rather than increase.


What declined, however, was the influence of the IANC on anatomical terminology. The IANC published a sixth edition of Nomina Anatomica, but it was never approved by the IFAA.

Thirteenth congress

Instead, at the Thirteenth Congress (Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

, 1989), the IFAA created a new committee – the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology (FCAT). The FCAT took over the task of revising international anatomical terminology. The result was the publication, in 1998, of a “new, updated, simplified and uniform anatomical terminology,” the Terminologia Anatomica (TA)
. The IANC was acknowledged in this work as follows:
Since the first meeting, the FCAT made several contacts with the IANC aiming at the natural transition from the old approach to the approach established by the General Assembly of the IFAA. Such initiatives, however, did not result in a modus vivendi
Modus vivendi
Modus vivendi is a Latin phrase signifying an agreement between those whose opinions differ, such that they agree to disagree.Modus means mode, way. Vivendi means of living. Together, way of living, implies an accommodation between disputing parties to allow life to go on. It usually describes...

for harmonious collaboration.

Terminologia Anatomica (TA)

The Terminologia Anatomica
Terminologia Anatomica
Terminologia Anatomica is the international standard on human anatomic terminology. It was developed by the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology and the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists and was released in 1998. It supersedes the previous standard, Nomina...

 
is the joint creation of the FCAT (now FICAT—the Federative International Committee on Anatomical Terminology
Federative International Committee on Anatomical Terminology
The Federative International Committee on Anatomical Terminology is a groups of expert, who review, analyze and discuss the terms of the morphological structures of the human body...

) and the Member Associations of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists
International Federation of Associations of Anatomists
The International Federation of Associations of Anatomists is an umbrella scientific organization of national and multinational Anatomy Associations, dedicated to anatomy and biomorphological sciences.-Origins and objectives:In 1903, Prof...

 (IFAA). The first edition, published in 1998, supersedes all previous lists. It is the international standard for anatomical terminology.

The 39th edition of Gray’s Anatomy (2005) explicitly recognizes Terminologia Anatomica.

Modern use of the Nomina Anatomica

NA and its derivatives are still used in some contexts (even the controversial sixth edition), and there remain some obstacles to universal adoption of TA:
  • The TA is only available in Latin, English, and Spanish, while the NA is available in many additional languages, which has had an impact upon international adoption of TA.

  • Terminologia Embryologica
    Terminologia Embryologica
    The Terminologia Embryologica is a standardized list of words used in the description of human embryologic and fetal structures. It was produced by the Federative International Committee on Anatomical Terminology on behalf of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists and recently...

     is under development, but is not yet available. By contrast, multiple editions of Nomina Embryologica were published.

  • Nomina Histologica underwent several editions. Until recently, there was no Terminologia Histologica
    Terminologia Histologica
    The Terminologia Histologica is a controlled vocabulary for use in cytology and histology. In April 2011, Terminologia Histologica has been by the Federative International Programme on Anatomical Terminologies , the successor of FCAT....

    . However, an edition was published in 2008.

  • There is no "Terminologia" equivalent to the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria
    Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria
    The Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria is a text prepared by the International Committee on Veterinary Gross Anatomical Nomenclature. It is used as the standard reference for anatomical terminology in the field of Veterinary Science.The text is continually under revision...

    .

See also

  • International Federation of Associations of Anatomists
    International Federation of Associations of Anatomists
    The International Federation of Associations of Anatomists is an umbrella scientific organization of national and multinational Anatomy Associations, dedicated to anatomy and biomorphological sciences.-Origins and objectives:In 1903, Prof...

  • International Morphological Terminology
    International Morphological Terminology
    International Morphological Terminology is used by the colleges of medicine and dentistry and other areas of the health sciences. Facilitates communication and exchanges between scientists from different countries of the world and is used daily in the fields of research, teaching and medical...

  • Federative International Committee on Anatomical Terminology
    Federative International Committee on Anatomical Terminology
    The Federative International Committee on Anatomical Terminology is a groups of expert, who review, analyze and discuss the terms of the morphological structures of the human body...

  • Iberian Latin American Symposium Terminology
    Iberian Latin American Symposium Terminology
    At the Iberian Latin American Symposia Terminology of anatomy, histology and embryology is studied, analyzes, translates and disseminates international morphological terminology, for it is used daily by educational institutions of medicine and other areas of health, speaking Spanish and...

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