Filippo Civinini

Filippo Civinini (1805-1844) was an Italian anatomist from Pistoia. Civinini was a professor of anatomy at the University of Pisa. He composed the first catalogue regarding the collections of anatomy at the Museum of Pisa.

In 1835 Civinini provided the first description of a neuroma that causes a painful foot condition known today as Morton's metatarsalgia. He made the discovery during the dissection of a cadaver, which he described in an article called "Su un nervoso gangliare rigonfiamento alla pianta del piede" (On the neural ganglion swelling on the sole of the foot). Civinini has the following anatomical structures named after him, however these terms have largely been replaced by clinical nomenclature:
* "Civinini's canal": the anterior canaliculus of chorda tympani, or "iter chordae anterius".
* "Civinini's ligament": the pterygospinal ligament.
* "Civinini's process": The pterygoid processes of the sphenoid bone or "processus pterygospinosus".
* "Foramen of Civinini": Foramen pterygospinosum.

References

* [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17216022 Discovery of Plantar Neuroma]