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🦴 New bone layer 🐋 Bony ear cover 🌻 Leafy flower ring
involucrum

involucrum

9.9
A layer of new bone that forms around dead bone during a bone infection
  • noun
  • /ˌɪnvəˈlʌkrəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : involucro
  • In patients with bone infections, the formation of an involucrum around the dead bone indicates the body's healing process.

Examples

  • Doctors often observe the growth of an involucrum when treating chronic osteomyelitis.

  • The involucrum serves as a protective layer that encapsulates the necrotic bone during an infection.

  • Second, the medial lip of the tympanic bone is greatly inflated and consists of dense bone (involucrum, inv.).

    Academic text (2001)

Surface Forms

involucrum singular
involucra plural

Etymology

Involucrum comes from the Latin involvere, which means 'to wrap' and has parts in- 'in' and volvere 'to roll'. So an involucrum in medicine is a new layer of bone that 'wraps' around a piece of dead bone.