Definition of "heterotopic" [heterotopic]

• Medicine Occurring in an abnormal anatomic location: heterotopic bone formation. (adjective)
• Medicine Grafted or transplanted into an abnormal location: heterotopic liver transplantation. (adjective)
• Ecology Occurring in a number of different habitats. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The procedure is called heterotopic heart transplantation, or a "piggyback transplant.""
• "As their studies showed, a neuropeptide in the brain known as Substance P appears to trigger the formation of the extraskeletal bone, but through its elimination, this abnormal growth, also known as heterotopic ossification, can be prevented."
• "Seven years before the man showed up at the hospital, he had undergone a procedure known as a heterotopic heart transplant, in which a new heart is implanted into a patient's body to support the malfunctioning one."