| spindle-shaped | 1. Having the shape of a spindle. 2. <botany> Thickest in the middle, and tapering to both ends; fusiform; applied chiefly to roots. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| spindle-shaped muscle | <anatomy> One that has a fleshy belly, tapering at either extremity. Synonym: musculus fusiformis, spindle-shaped muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| neuromuscular spindle | A fusiform end organ in skeletal muscle in which afferent and a few efferent nerve fibres terminate; it contains from 3 to 10 striated muscle fibres (intrafusal fibres) that are much smaller than the ordinary muscle fibres, are separated from them by a capsule that encloses the organ, and are innervated by the thin axon of a gamma motoneuron (gamma motor fibre); the sensory endings that occur on the intrafusal fibres are either annulospiral or flower spray endings; this sensory end organ is particularly sensitive to passive stretch of the muscle in which it is enclosed. Synonym: Kuhne's spindle, muscle spindle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| neurotendinous spindle | <cell biology, physiology> A proprioceptive sensory nerve ending embedded among the fibres of a tendon, often near the musculotendinous junction; it is compressed and activated by any increase of the tendon's tension, caused either by active contraction or passive stretch of the corresponding muscle. Synonym: neurotendinous organ, neurotendinous spindle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| nevus, epithelioid and spindle cell | A benign compound nevus occurring most often in children before puberty, composed of spindle and epithelioid cells located mainly in the dermis, sometimes in association with large atypical cells and multinucleate cells, and having a close histopathological resemblance to malignant melanoma. The tumour presents as a smooth to slightly scaly, round to oval, raised, firm papule or nodule, ranging in colour from pink-tan to purplish red, often with surface telangiectasia. (12 Dec 1998) |
| nevus, spindle cell | A form of pigmented nevus showing intense melanocytic activity around the dermo-epidermal junction. Large numbers of spindle-shaped melanocytes proliferate downward toward the dermis and usually a large amount of pigment is present. It was first described in 1976 and the bulk of patients reported have been young females with the lesions presenting on the thighs. (12 Dec 1998) |
| nuclear spindle | See: spindle and mitosis. (18 Nov 1997) |
| Krukenberg's spindle | A vertical fusiform area of melanin pigmentation on the posterior surface of the central cornea. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Kuhne's spindle | A fusiform end organ in skeletal muscle in which afferent and a few efferent nerve fibres terminate; it contains from 3 to 10 striated muscle fibres (intrafusal fibres) that are much smaller than the ordinary muscle fibres, are separated from them by a capsule that encloses the organ, and are innervated by the thin axon of a gamma motoneuron (gamma motor fibre); the sensory endings that occur on the intrafusal fibres are either annulospiral or flower spray endings; this sensory end organ is particularly sensitive to passive stretch of the muscle in which it is enclosed. Synonym: Kuhne's spindle, muscle spindle. (05 Mar 2000) |