anastomosis

Vein skeleton of a Hydrangea leaf

An anastomosis (plural anastomoses, from gr. ἀναστόμωσις, communicating opening) is a network of streams that both branch out and reconnect, such as blood vessels or leaf veins. The term is used in medicine, biology, mycology and geology.

Medicine

A network of blood vessels

Anastomosis is the connection of two structures.^[1] It refers to connections between blood vessels or between other tubular structures such as loops of intestine. In circulatory anastomosis, many arteries naturally anastomose with each other, for example the inferior epigastric artery and superior epigastric artery.The circulatory anastomosis is further divided into arterial and venous anastomosis. Arterial anastomosis includes actual arterial anastomosis(eg. palmar arch, plantar arch) and potential arterial anastomosis(eg. coronary arteries and cortical branch of cerebral arteries). An example of surgical anastomosis occurs when a segment of intestine is resected and the two remaining ends are sewn or stapled together (anastomosed), for example Roux-en-Y anastomosis. The procedure is referred to as intestinal anastomosis.

Pathological anastomosis results from trauma or disease and may involve veins, arteries, or intestines. These are usually referred to as fistulas. In the cases of veins or arteries, traumatic fistulas usually occur between artery and vein. Traumatic intestinal fistulas usually occur between two loops of intestine (enetero-enteric fistula) or intestine and skin (enterocutaneous fistula). Portacaval anastomosis, by contrast, is an anastomosis between a vein of the portal circulation and a vein of the systemic circulation, which allows blood to bypass the liver in patients with portal hypertension, often resulting in hemorrhoids, esophageal varices, or caput medusae.

Biology

Evolution

In evolution, anastomosis is a recombination of evolutionary lineage. Conventional accounts of evolutionary lineage present themselves as the simple branching out of species into novel forms. Under anastomosis, species might recombine after initial branching out, such as in the case of recent research which shows that ancestral populations along human and chimpanzee lineages may have interbred after an initial branching event.^[2] The concept of anastomosis also applies to the theory of symbiogenesis, in which new species emerge from the formation of novel symbiotic relationships.

Mycology

In mycology, anastomosis is the fusion between branches of the same or different hyphae.^[3] Hence the bifurcating fungal hyphae can form true reticulating networks. By sharing materials in the form of dissolved ions, hormones, and nucleotides, the fungus maintains bidirectional communication with itself. The fungal network might begin from several origins; several spores, several points of penetration, each a spreading circumference of absorption and assimilation. Once encountering the tip of another expanding, exploring self, the tips press against each other in pheromonal recognition, fusing to form a genetic singular that can cover hectares called a genet.

For fungi, anastomosis is also sex. In some fungi, two different haploid mating types — if compatible — merge. Somatically, they form a morphologically similar mycelial wave front that continues to grow and explore. The significant difference, is that in each septated unit is binucleate, containing two unfused nuclei, i.e. one from each parent that do not undergo karyogamy.

Geology

In geology, anastomosis refers to quartz (or other) veins displaying this property, which is often related to shearing in metamorphic regions.

Anastomose streams (or rivers) consist of multiple channels that divide and reconnect. Rivers with anastomose reaches include the Magdalena River in Colombia,^[4] the upper Columbia River in British Columbia, Canada,^[5] and the upper Narew River in Poland.^[6]

References