1. A spherical or spindle-shaped condensation of phagocytic macrophages in a reticular stroma investing the wall of the splenic arterial capillaries shortly before they release their blood in the cords of red pulp. 2. The outer end of the inner segment of the retinal rods and cones. 3. Having the shape of an ellipse or oval. SYN: sheath of Schweigger-Seidel. [G. ellips, oval, + eidos, form]
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el·lip·soid (e-lipґsoid) [Gr. ellipēs (kyklos), defective (circle) + -oid] 1. any structure shaped like an oval or a spindle. 2. Schweigger-Seidel sheath. 3. in ophthalmology, the acidophilic outer region of the inner segment of the dendritic process of a retinal rod or cone, lying between the cilium and the myoid, and containing some glycogen and many mitochondria; called also visual cell e.Medical dictionary. 2011.