Sagittal

SAGITTAL (sagittalis, from Latin sagitta - arrow), lying in the direction of an arrow flying from front to back. This term is used in anatomy to denote 1) lines or directions and 2) planes. A sagittal line is one that runs from front to back and is perpendicular to the vertical line (in the standing position). Example: sutura sagittalis - the sagittal suture between the two parietal bones. Sagittal planes are planes perpendicular to the horizontal plane, passing through sagittal lines and parallel to each other. One of these planes, passing through the middle of the body and dividing it into two mirror-equal parts, is called the median plane. If to two perpendicular planes - the horizontal and sagittal - we add a third plane perpendicular to both (this plane is called frontal), then we will have a system of three mutually perpendicular planes or three mutually perpendicular axes, in relation to which the position of each organ can be geometrically precisely determined, which is why these terms have wide application in medicine for anatomical orientation.