Autochthonous

Autochthonous (from the Greek autos-self and chthon-country), independent. A disorder of autochthonous origin means that the causes of the disorder lie in the organ itself, and not in the nervous system supplying it, not in endocrine influences, and not in any external influences. For example, there is an excessively developed lower jaw, powerfully developed supraorbital arches, a wide nose, and thick lips. This feature may depend on increased activity of the brain appendage, but may also be autochthonous, i.e., an independent feature of the skull skeleton (a feature of the so-called partial constitution). The term autochthonous is also used to characterize the method of formation of certain local changes; for example, an autochthonous thrombus (see), i.e., a thrombus that formed initially (as opposed to a continued thrombus, which forms through further layers); an autochthonous focus of hematopoiesis, i.e., independent local development of blood-forming tissue.