Chondroplasia
Chondroplasia: The formation of cartilage by specialized cells called chondrocytes.
Read Also:
- Chondrosarcoma
Chondrosarcoma: A malignant tumor that forms in cartilage cells (chondroplasts) and that produces cartilage matrix. Chondrosarcoma can be primary or secondary. Primary chondrosarcoma forms in bone and is found in children. Secondary chondrosarcoma arises from preexisting benign defects of cartilage (such as an osteochondroma or enchondroma), usually after age 40. Treatment is mainly by surgery.
- Chorda tympani
Chorda tympani: A branch of the facial nerve (the seventh cranial nerve) that serves the taste buds in the front of the tongue, runs through the middle ear, and carries taste messages to the brain. The chorda tympani is part of one of three cranial nerves involved in taste.
- Chordae tendineae
Chordae tendineae: Thread-like bands of fibrous tissue which attach on one end to the edges of the tricuspid and mitral valves of the heart and on the other end to the papillary muscles, small muscles within the heart that serve to anchor the valves.
- Chordoma
Chordoma: A benign tumor, usually in the lower back, that originates from cells destined to form cartilage. These cells are remnants of the primitive notochord, the flexible rod of cells in the embryo that forms the supporting axis of the body. Chordomas induce bone destruction.
- Chorea
Chorea: Ceaseless rapid complex body movements that look well coordinated and purposeful but are, in fact, involuntary. Chorea was thought suggestive of a grotesque dance. The term “chorea” is derived from the Greek word “choreia” for dancing (as is choreography).