Anatomy &Physiology                                                                                                                   Fall ’04
Assignment #2

The Skeletal System

Instructions

Please read each section/question carefully. Answer questions in complete sentences, and if/when you need to cite outside materials, please use 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 Tuesday November 2nd. 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.

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.