Medical Terminology Simplified

2–16 Directional terms are commonly used in radi/o/logy to describe the direc-

tion of the x-ray beam from its source and its point of exit. In an anter/o/poster/ior

projection, the beam enters the body anteriorly and exits posteriorly.

A poster/o/anter/ior projection indicates that the beam enters the body on the

____________________side and exits on the ____________________side.

2–17 Use anter/ior or poster/ior to complete the following statements, which

refer to the position of body structures.

The stomach is located on the __________ / __________side of the body.

The shoulder blades are located on the ____________________ / __________side

of the body.

2–18 The term inferior in the English language refers to something of little or no

importance. However, when used in a medical report, it designates a position or di-

rection meaning lower, below.

Combine infer/o(lower, below) +-ior (pertaining to) to form a directional term that

literally means pertaining to lower or below.

__________ / __________

2–19 In medical terms, the prefix super- designates an upper position. When you

say “the head is superior to the stomach,” you mean it is located above the stomach.

When you say “the eyes are superior to the mouth,” you mean they are located

__________the mouth.

2–20 The word element later/omeans side, to one side.A radiographic projection

that enters through the left or right side of the body is referred to as a later/al projection.

The term later/alpositionrefers to the __________(of the body).

Review the three basic rules for building medical words.

• Rule 1:Word root links a suffix that begins with a vowel.


• Rule 2:CF (root + o) links a suffix that begins with a consonant.


• Rule 3:CF (root + o) links a root to another root to form a compound word. (This rule holds true even if
  the next root begins with a vowel.)

2–21 Here is a review of terms in radi/o/logy that specify the direction of the

x-ray beam from its source to its exit surface before striking the film.

Build directional terms that mean

pertaining to the side or to one side (of the body):__________ / __________

pertaining to the anterior, or front, and the side (of the body):

__________ / _____ / __________ / __________

pertaining to the posterior, or back, and the side (of the body):

____________________ / _____ / __________ / __________

Boldfaceindicates a word root or combining form. Blueindicates a suffix. Pinkindicates a prefix.

36 CHAPTER 2• Body Structure

infer/ior

ĭn-FĒ-rē-or

above

side

anter/ior

ăn-TĒ-rē-or

poster/ior

pŏs-TĒ-rē-or

posterior, anterior

pŏs-TĒ-rē-or, ăn-TĒ-rē-

or

or

back, front

later/al

LĂT-ĕr-ăl

anter/o/later/al

ăn-tĕr-ō-LĂT-ĕr-ăl

poster/o/later/al

pŏs-tĕr-ō-LĂT-ĕr-ăl

!