trabecula
Sign in to saveAlso known as trabeculae
right|thumb|200x200px|Inside of a bone showing the trabecular structure thumb|A typical carcinoid tumor of the [[lung showing a trabecular pattern of elongated groups of cells.]] A trabecula (: trabeculae, from Latin for 'small beam') is a small, often microscopic, tissue element in the form of a small beam, strut or rod that supports or anchors a framework of parts within a body or organ. A trabecula generally has a mechanical function, and is usually composed of dense collagenous tissue (such as the trabecula of the spleen). It can be composed of other material such as muscle and bone. In th
Key facts
- Anatomy.Name
- Trabecula
- Anatomy.Image
- Coxa-valga-norma-vara-000.svg
- Anatomy.Caption
- Alternation of trabecular pattern in the thigh bone reflects mechanical stress
- Anatomy.PartOf
- Bone
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Gray1189.png
via Wikidata · CC0
~15 min read
Article
9 sectionsContents
- Bone trabecula
- Structure
- Clinical significance
- Birds
- Trabecula in other organisms
- History
- Other uses
- See also
- References
right|thumb|200x200px|Inside of a bone showing the trabecular structure thumb|A typical carcinoid tumor of the [[lung showing a trabecular pattern of elongated groups of cells.]] A trabecula (: trabeculae, from Latin for 'small beam') is a small, often microscopic, tissue element in the form of a small beam, strut or rod that supports or anchors a framework of parts within a body or organ. A trabecula generally has a mechanical function, and is usually composed of dense collagenous tissue (such as the trabecula of the spleen). It can be composed of other material such as muscle and bone. In the heart, muscles form trabeculae carneae and septomarginal trabeculae, and the left atrial appendage has a tubular trabeculated structure.
Cancellous bone is formed from groupings of trabeculated bone tissue. In cross section, trabeculae of a cancellous bone can look like septa, but in three dimensions they are topologically distinct, with trabeculae being roughly rod or pillar-shaped and septa being sheet-like.