appendix

appendix

1. a body of separate additional material at the end of a book, magazine, etc., esp one that is documentary or explanatory

2. Anatomy See vermiform appendix

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

appendix

[ə′pen·diks]

(anatomy)

Any appendage.

vermiform appendix

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Appendix

 

a process of the cecum in lemurs, apes, humans, many rodents, and some Carnivora. The base of the human appendix is situated at the bottom of the cecum, 2–3 cm below the start of the ileum. The average length of the appendix in adults is 8–10 cm, and the cavity averages 4–5 mm in diameter. The appendix is not fixed and is sometimes found behind the peritoneum. It has its own mesentery with fatty tissue, blood vessels, nerves, and lymph nodes. Its wall consists of a mucous membrane and serous, muscular, and submucosal layers. The function and role of the appendix have been little-studied. Disorders of the appendix include appendicitis, diverticulosis, tumors, and, sometimes in humans, infestation by parasitic worms, protozoans, and fungi.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.