Heterotopic vs Heterotropic

Abstract

To the Editor: Question 6 of the Self-Assessment Quiz on Spinal Cord Injury (Phys Ther, July 1982) mentions “heterotropic bone formation.” I bring to the attention of the editors of Physical Therapy the correct term—heterotopic. Though it may have been a typographical error, I hope correction will be conveyed to readers, as even in conversation I have heard the wrong term used. According to Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary , heterotopic means “occurring at an abnormal place or upon the wrong part of the body.” “Heterotropic” is not found in Dorland's or, for that matter, in any dictionary I consulted. The closest words are heterotropia—“failure of the visual axes to remain parallel when fusion is a possibility,” and heterotrophic—“not self-sustaining; said of organisms which require a reduced form of carbon for energy and synthesis.”