macula corneae

macula cor·ne·ae (kôrn-)

n.

A corneal opacity.

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macula

pl. maculae [L.]

1. a stain, spot, or thickening;

2. an area distinguishable by color or otherwise from its surroundings. Often used alone to refer to the macula retinae.

3. a macule: a discolored spot on the skin that is not raised above the surface.

4. a corneal scar that can be seen without special optical aids; presenting as a gray spot intermediate between a nebula and a leukoma.

5. macula lutea.

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macula acusticae

terminations of the vestibulocochlear nerve in the utricle and saccule.

macula adherens

see desmosome.

macula atrophica

a white atrophic patch on the skin.

macula corneae

a circumscribed opacity of the cornea.

macula cribrosa

a perforated spot or area; one of three perforated areas (inferior, medial and superior) in the wall of the vestibule of the ear through which branches of the vestibulocochlear nerve pass to the saccule, utricle and semicircular canals.

macula densa

a zone of heavily nucleated cells in the distal renal tubule.

macula folliculi

the point on the surface of a vesicular ovarian follicle where rupture occurs; follicular stigma.

macula germinativa

germinal area; the part of the conceptus where the embryo is formed.

inner ear macula

sensory receptor areas in the walls of the utriculus and sacculus which monitor the position of the head relative to gravity; see also macula sacculi, macula utriculi (below).

macula lutea

an irregular yellowish depression on the retina, lateral to and slightly below the optic disk. Called also macula retinae.

macula retinae

see macula lutea (above).

macula sacculi

a thickening on the wall of the saccule where the epithelium contains hair cells that receive and transmit vestibular impulses.

macula utriculi

a thickening in the wall of the utricle where the epithelium contains hair cells that are stimulated by linear acceleration and deceleration and by gravity.