Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

cholecystectomy
82
04_189283 ch03.qxp 4/18/08 10:14 PM Page 82
http://www.rashidislamiccenter.com
http://www.allofislam.com/

---

chondromalacia
Abnormal softening or degen-
eration of cartilage. See also 
patellofemoral syn-
drome.
chondromalacia patella
See 
patellofemoral
syndrome.
chondroplasia
The formation of cartilage by
specialized cells called chondrocytes.
chondrosarcoma
A malignant tumor that arises
in cartilage cells (chondroblasts). Chondrosarcoma
can be primary or secondary. Primary chondrosar-
coma forms in bone and is a disease in children.
Secondary chondrosarcoma arises from a preexist-
ing benign defect of cartilage (such as an osteo-
chondroma or enchondroma), usually after age 40.
The main treatment is surgery. See also 
cartilage;
sarcoma.
chorda tendinea
A thread-like band of fibrous
tissue that attaches on one end to the edge of the tri-
cuspid and mitral valves of the heart and on the
other end to the papillary muscle within the heart.
The chorda tendinea serves to anchor the valves.
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. 
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
Ceaseless, restless, rapid, complex body
movements that look well coordinated and pur-
poseful but are, in fact, involuntary. The term
chorea is derived from the Greek word 
choreia,
which means “dancing” (as is choreography)
because chorea was thought to be suggestive of a
grotesque dance. See also 
Huntington’s disease;
Sydenham’s chorea.