Medical Terminology Simplified

2–44 The frontal (coronal) plane is commonly used to take an anter/o/poster/ior

(AP) chest radiograph, indicating that the x-ray beam enters the body on the anterior

side and exits the body on the ____________________ / __________side. The radi-

ograph produced shows a view from the front of the chest toward the back (of the body).

2–45 In the previous frame, you learned that anter/o/poster/ior is used in

radi/o/logy to describe the direction or path of an x-ray beam. The CF radi/o

means radiation; x-ray; radius (lower arm bone on thumb side).

The suffix -logy means ____________________ __________.

2–46 Use radi/oto form a word that means study of radiation or x-rays:

__________ / _____ / __________.

2-47 Identify the abbreviation in Frame 2–45 that designates the path of an x-ray

beam from the anterior to the posterior part of the body: __________.

Body Cavities

2–48 Body cavitiesare hollow spaces within the body that help protect, separate,

and support internal organs. There are four body cavities: two dors/al cavities, which

are located in the back (posterior) part of the body, and two ventr/al cavities, which

are located in the front (anterior) part of the body. The thorac/ic and abdominal

cavities are separated by a muscular wall known as the diaphragm.Because the ab-

dominal and pelvic cavities are not separated by a wall, they are commonly referred

together as the abdominopelvic cavity.Review Figure 2–3 to study the location of

the dors/al cavities.

2–49 The dors/al cavity is subdivided into the (1) crani/aland (2) spin/alcavi-

ties. The crani/al cavity is encased by the skull and contains the brain; the spin/al

cavity contains the spinal cord.

Practice building words that refer to the body cavities by building a term that means

pertaining to the cranium (skull):__________ / __________

pertaining to the spine:__________ / __________

2–50 The (3) diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle that plays an important role in

breathing. It separates the thorac/ic cavity from the abdomin/o/pelv/ic cavity. Lo-

cate the diaphragm in Figure 2–3.

2–51 Let us review some of the elements in the previous frame. Indicate the root

that refers to the

pelvis:____________________

chest:____________________

abdomen:____________________

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

44 CHAPTER 2• Body Structure

poster/ior

pŏs-TĒ-rē-or

study of

AP

crani/al

KRĀ-nē-ăl

spin/al

SPĪ-năl

pelv

thorac

abdomin

radi/o/logy

rā-dē-ŎL-ō-jē