Anatomy & Physiology

Summer 07

Skeletal System

Instructions
Please read each section/question carefully. Answer questions in complete sentences, and cite all outside materials using footnotes.  All work is to be typed, and may be submitted either by email or in class.  This assignment is due no later than midnight Thursday July 19th.  NO LATE PAPERS ACCEPTED.

Short Answer:

1. Compare the bones of the axial skeleton to the appendicular skeleton – name a minimum of 2 similarities and a minimum of 2 differences. [hint: think structure and function]
2. Discuss the similarities of the pectoral and pelvic girdles.
3. Which bone has left an ‘impression’ on you? Explain why it you like this bone. [shape, name, place in body, etc]
4. Read about fractures.  Outline the 4 basic phases of healing, noting which bone cells are primarily responsible for each phase. 
5. The knee is said to be the most complex of all the joints.  Name and identify the ligaments and describe where they are and their contribution to the knee’s structure, function and stability.
6.  What is a bone scan?  What do hot spots and cold spots indicate?
7. What part of the ulna is called the ‘elbow’?
8. What is the difference between a strain and a sprain?

Case Study A

 One of the defensive tackles was slow to get up after a collision. The athletic trainer noticed a protrusion of several ribs on the left, medial aspect of his lower anterior chest.
Q1: what specific part of the thoracic cage has been injured?

The coach orders the trainer to ‘wrap’ him up and send him back out to the field. The trainer doesn’t think this is a good idea.
Q2: How should he explain potential ramifications of this? [hint – what secondary injuries could occur if the player is hit again]
Q3: Knowing what part of the skeleton is damaged, would you think this area would heal quickly or slowly? Explain.

Case Study B

A patient is unconscious. Radiographic films reveal that the superior articulating process of the atlas has been fractured.
Q1: What structure does this articulating process normally link to?
Q2: Which of the following could have produced this condition: falling on the top of the head or being hit in the jaw with an uppercut? Explain.

Case Study C

A physician glances into his waiting room and notices three women. Miss M is 25 yrs old and is sitting erect in a chair, clutching her hands, with severely deformed fingers and wrists, in her lap. Mrs. T, age 83,is frail and is noticeably hunched in her chair, the result of an excessive vertebral curvature in her thoracic region. Mrs. W is 52 yrs old, and is slowly rubbing her slightly enlarged knees.
Q1: Without glancing at their files, how might the physician remember which patient has osteoporosis, which has rheumatoid arthritis and which is coping with osteoarthritis?
Q2: Discuss how rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis are different in their etiology.

  Case Study D

Ms. N has given birth to a 7 lb 3 oz little boy.  After the initial joy of the experience waned, the attending physician came to speak to her, it seems her son has a cleft palate. 

Q1: what bones failed to unite embryologically to cause this?

Q2: The doctor will suggest a procedure to correct it, when is this procedure usually performed for maximal benefit?

Case Study E

Jimmy has been in an auto accident. He can’t open his mouth, and has been told that he suffers from the following: black eye, broken nose, broken cheek, broken upper jaw, damaged eye socket and punctured lung. 

Q1: Describe exactly what bony structures that have been damaged as a result of this accident.

  Case Study F

Kate loves pretending she is a human cannonball. As she jumps off the diving board, she assumes the proper position before she pounds into the water: head and thighs tucked against her chest; back rounded; arms pressed against her sides while her forearms, crossed in front of her shins, hold her legs tightly folded against her chest.

Q1: Use the proper anatomical terms to describe the position of Kate’s back, head and limbs.