Eponyms

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Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome

Other Known Aliases – Strøm-Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome

Definition – hypersecretory condition of the stomach caused by a gastrinoma

Clinical Significance – Signs of symptoms of ZES include chronic diarrhea, steatorrhea, GERD, nausea, hematemesis, malabsorption, weight loss, and abdominal pain. This syndrome should be considered in any patient with refractory GERD or PUD. Diagnosis is confirmed with elevated fasting gastrin levels.

History – Named after Robert Milton Zollinger (1903-1992) and Edwin Homer Ellison (1918-1970), who were both American general surgeons and both received their medical doctorates from Ohio State University in 1927 and 1940 respectively. Zollinger would go on to serve in mobile surgical teams during World War II in France and received the Legion of Merit Award and Battle Stars for his contributions. After the war, he would become chairman of the department of surgery at Ohio State in 1947, whee he would spend the majority of career. Ellison would distinguish himself in the realm of research and his career would culminate as chairman of surgery at Marquette School of Medicine in 1967. In 1955, they would present their postulation that hypersecretion of the stomach acid could be due to tumors at the American Surgical Association meeting in Philadelphia and would publish their findings later that year. It should be noted that Roar Strøm, a Norwegian physician, published his findings of this condition in 1952.

References

  1. Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA.  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed.  New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
  2. Bartolucci S, Forbis P.  Stedman’s Medical Eponyms.  2nd ed.  Baltimore, MD; LWW.  2005.
  3. Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012).  Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software].  Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
  4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
  5. Up To Date. www.uptodate.com
  6. R. Strøm: A case of peptic ulcer and insuloma. Acta Chirurgica Scandinavica, Stockholm, 1952-1953, 104: 252-260.
  7. R. M. Zollinger, E. H. Ellison. Primary peptic ulcerations of the jejunum associated with islet cell tumors of the pancreas. Annals of Surgery, Philadelphia, 1955, 142: 709-728.

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Castell’s Point

Other Known Aliases – none

Definition – percussion point on the lowest intercostal space (usually 8th or 9th) in the left anterior axillary line

Clinical Significance – This point is an alternative maneuver to clinically determine if a patient has splenomegaly. With the patient in the supine position, have the patient fully expire and begin percussing in this point while the patient fully inspires. At full expiration, resonance should be appreciated from either the splenic flexure of the colon or gas in the stomach. During inspiration, the spleen moves inferiorly and, if enlarged, will enter this point. This will change the percussion from resonance to dullness.

History – Named after Donald Castell (1935-2021), an American gastroenterologist who received his medical doctorate from George Washington University in 1960. He would spend the majority of his career in the Navy culminating in chair of the Department of Medicine at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. He also held numerous leadership positions national in the American Gastroenterology Association and had a prolific career in scholarship and research. It was through this passion for research that he published his eponymous finding in 1967 while stationed in the Great Lakes naval base in Illinois.

References

  1. Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA.  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed.  New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
  2. Bartolucci S, Forbis P.  Stedman’s Medical Eponyms.  2nd ed.  Baltimore, MD; LWW.  2005.
  3. Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012).  Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software].  Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
  4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
  5. Up To Date. www.uptodate.com
  6. Castell DO. The spleen percussion sign. A useful diagnostic technique. Ann Intern Med. 1967; 67(6):1265-7. [pubmed]
  7. https://medicine.musc.edu/departments/dom/news-and-awards/2021/january-2021/remembering-don-castell

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Traube’s Space

Other Known Aliases – none

Definition – crescent-shaped, anatomic space of the LUQ bordered by the lower edge of the lung, anterior border of the spleen, left costal margin, and the inferior margin of the left lobe of the liver

Clinical Significance – Clinically, the surface borders are the sixth rib superiorly, the left mid-axillary line laterally, and the left costal margin inferiorly. The importance of this space is during percussion for splenomegaly. If the spleen is not enlarged, then there will be resonance to percussion. If splenomegaly is present, then there will be dullness. False positives include recent meals, fundal mass, left pleural effusions, or pericardial effusion.

History – Named after Ludwig Traube (1818-1876), a German physician who received his medical doctorate from the University of Berlin in 1840. Due to prejudice against his Jewish ancestry, his academic career was handicapped despite working with notable physicians in Germany and publishing on ground breaking experimental physiology studies, which included using temperature measurement as a routine clinical examination method. A master in auscultation and percussion, he was sought after throughout Germany to study under and utilized these techniques in his popular patient clinics. It was here that one of his former students, Oscar Fraentzel, observed the master clinician and published a report in 1868 on this eponymous space, which he named after his mentor.

References

  1. Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA.  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed.  New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
  2. Bartolucci S, Forbis P.  Stedman’s Medical Eponyms.  2nd ed.  Baltimore, MD; LWW.  2005.
  3. Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012).  Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software].  Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
  4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
  5. Up To Date. www.uptodate.com
  6. O. Fraentzel. Bemerkungen über den halbmondförmigen Raum und über den Vocalfremitus. Berliner klinische Wochenschrift, 1868, 5: 509-511 [link]

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Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

Other Known Aliases – autoimmune thyroiditis

Definition – autoimmune destruction of the thyroid gland

Clinical Significance – the gradual destruction of the thyroid gland will initially cause hyperthyroid symptoms, before progressing back to euthyroid, and eventually hypothyroid symptoms. As a result, the diagnosis can be tricky depending on where in the disease spectrum the patient is in. Overall, this is the most common cause/form of hypothryoidism and the most common autoantibodies are against thyroid peroxidase, thyroglobulin, and TSH receptors.

History – Named after Hakaru Hashimoto (1881-1934), a Japanese surgeon and general practioner, who received his medical doctorate from Fukuoka Medical College in 1907. He would study surgery under the direction of Hayari Miyake, Japan’s first neurosurgeon, and would publish his thesis findings on lymphomatous changes of excised thyroids in 1912, which would become the basis of his eponymous disease. He would frequently visit his patients in their homes, traveling almost exclusively by rickshaw, and was known not to charge his poorer patients any fees for his services.

References

  1. Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA.  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed.  New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
  2. Bartolucci S, Forbis P.  Stedman’s Medical Eponyms.  2nd ed.  Baltimore, MD; LWW.  2005.
  3. Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012).  Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software].  Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
  4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
  5. Up To Date. www.uptodate.com
  6. Hashimoto H. Zur Kenntnis der lymphomatösen Veränderung der Schilddrüse (Struma lymphomatosa). Archiv für klinische Chirurgie. 1912;97:219-248.

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Bonney Test

Other Known Aliases – none

Definition – bedside test with urinary incontinence to determine if it is due to anatomical or structural issues

Clinical Significance – After a positive stress incontinence test, Bonney test is performed, where either a specialized instrument or examiner’s fingers are placed laterally to the urethral opening and pushed up to elevate the neck of the bladder. The patient then coughs to see if urine still escapes. If no urine leaks, then the incontinence is due the descent of the bladder neck into the vagina. If urine still escapes, it is due to weakness in the sphincter.

History – Named after William Francis Victor Bonney (1872-1953), a British gynecologist who received his medical doctorate from Chelsea Hospital for Women in 1896. He would go on to achieve Master of Surgery distinction in 1899 and was accepted as a fellow in the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians in 1900. He would spend his entire career developing, pioneering, and mastering operative techniques in gynecologic surgery towards more conservative approaches to reduce mortality, morbidity, and disability associated with the more conventional approaches of the time. This was largely due to his wife, Annie, receiving a total hysterectomy early in their marriage for anemia associated with her heavy cycles. He also developed his own antiseptic solution called “Bonney’s Blue” used during vaginal surgeries which profoundly reduced infectious mortality. He would author more than 200 manuscripts during his career culminating his Textbook of Gynaecologic Surgery that is still in print today. He is regarded as one of, if not the, major influencer in modern gynecologic surgery.

References

  1. Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA.  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed.  New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
  2. Bartolucci S, Forbis P.  Stedman’s Medical Eponyms.  2nd ed.  Baltimore, MD; LWW.  2005.
  3. Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012).  Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software].  Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
  4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
  5. Up To Date. www.uptodate.com
  6. Bonney, William Francis Victor (1872–1953). In: Baskett TF. Eponyms and Names in Obstetrics and Gynaecology . Cambridge University Press; 2019. [book]
  7. Powell, John L. MD, FACOG, FACS Powell’s Pearls, Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey: June 2005 – Volume 60 – Issue 6 – p 337-340 doi: 10.1097/01.ogx.0000162245.13467.5d

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Behçet’s Disease

Other Known Aliases – Silk Road Disease

Definition – systemic inflammatory disorder that commonly effects the eyes, mouth, GI/GU tract, nervous system, and blood vessels

Clinical Significance – Pathogenesis is largely unknown, but theorized to have a genetic predisposition. It is rare in the United States and more common in the Middle East and Asia, where it received is other eponym as the “silk road disease” due to the trading routes going through Turkey and the Mediterranean. Onset of the disease in most commonly in 20’s-40’s and is more common in men than women. Treatment is most commonly antiinflammatories and immunosuppressants.

History – Named after Hulusi Behçet (1889-1948), a Turkish dermatologist who received his medical doctorate from the Gülhane Military Medical Academy in Istanbul in 1910. He served as staff physician at the Edirne Military Hospital during World War I and took a special interest in venereal diseases and dermatology. He would go on to become professor in the newly formed republic of Turkey and was the first person in Turkish academia to receive this rank. He took a special interest in the manifestations of syphilis and published extensively on this condition. He described is eponymous condition in 1936 after following several patients with similar symptoms and presenting them at meeting in Paris. It should be noted that several others had described this condition, as early as 1922, but Behçet was the first to recommend it as a previously undiscovered disease process.

References

  1. Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA.  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed.  New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
  2. Bartolucci S, Forbis P.  Stedman’s Medical Eponyms.  2nd ed.  Baltimore, MD; LWW.  2005.
  3. Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012).  Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software].  Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
  4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
  5. Up To Date. www.uptodate.com
  6. H. Behçet. Über rezidivierende, aphtöse, durch ein Virus verursachte Geschwüre am Mund, am Auge und an den Genitalien. Dermatologische Wochenschrift, Hamburg, 1937, 105(36): 1152-1163.

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Osgood-Schlatter Disease

Other Known Aliases – tibial tubercle apophysitis

Definition – inflammation of the patellar tendon at the insertion of the tibial tuberosity

Clinical Significance – Seen in adolescent athletes who participates in sports with repeated jumping or overloading of the knee in the bent position. This repetitive trauma on the open growth plates causes the painful separation of the tuberosity from the anterior tibia and manifests as a painful “bump”. Pain will persist until the epiphysis closes, but a persistent bump will remain. Treatment is with rest, NSAIDs, unloading bracing, and potentially casting in knee extension.

History – Named after two physician who contemporaneously studied this condition. Robert Bayley Osgood (1873-1956), an American orthopaedic surgeon who received his medical doctorate from Harvard University in 1899, and Carl Schlatter (1863-1934), a Swiss surgeon who received his medical doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1889. Osgood would spend his career at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital culminating in Professor of Surgery and Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at both of these institutions. He would help write one of the first textbooks on orthopaedic surgery called “Diseases of the Bones and Joints” and creating one of the first structured orthopaedic residencies in the US at Harvard University. Schlatter surgery training started under Billroth in Vienna and would go on to perform the world’s first gastrectomy with end-to-end esophago-jejunostomy in 1897. Both published case reports and observations of this disease process in 1903

References

  1. Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA.  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed.  New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
  2. Bartolucci S, Forbis P.  Stedman’s Medical Eponyms.  2nd ed.  Baltimore, MD; LWW.  2005.
  3. Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012).  Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software].  Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
  4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
  5. Up To Date. www.uptodate.com
  6. Nowinski RJ, Mehlman CT. Hyphenated history: Osgood-Schlatter disease. Am J Orthop (Belle Mead NJ). 1998; 27(8):584-5. [pubmed]
  7. Osgood RB. Lesions of the tibial tubercle occurring during adolescence. Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 1903; 148: 114-117
  8. Schlatter C. Verletzungen des schnabelförmigen Forsatzes der oberen Tibiaepiphyse. Beitrage zur klinischen Chirurgie, 1903; 38: 874-887

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Galeazzi Fracture

Other Known Aliases – none

Definition – fracture of the distal third of the radius with dislocation at the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) often seen after a FOOSH with the forearm in pronation

Clinical Significance – Due to the dual injury mechanism, there is a higher than normal risk fo compartment syndrome and nerve injury seen with this injury, specifically the anterior interosseous nerve (AIN). This can lead to to inability to make the “OK” sign with the thumb and index finger. Patients may also present with wrist drop due to injury of the radial nerve. Often described with Monteggia fractures due to the similar, but opposite injury patterns.

History – Named after Ricardo Galeazzi (1866-1952), an Italian orthopaedic surgeon who received his medical doctorate from the Turin Medical School in 1886. His career would primarily focus on pediatrics making advancements in the understanding in congenital hip dysplasia, scoliosis, and achondroplasia after being appointed Director of the Pius Institute for Crippled Children in 1903, and going on to direct the orthopaedic clinic of the University of Milan for 35 years. He would publish his experience of 18 cases bearing his name in 1935, but it should be noted that it was first published in 1842 by Sir Astley Cooper.

References

  1. Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA.  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed.  New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
  2. Bartolucci S, Forbis P.  Stedman’s Medical Eponyms.  2nd ed.  Baltimore, MD; LWW.  2005.
  3. Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012).  Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software].  Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
  4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
  5. Up To Date. www.uptodate.com
  6. Galeazzi R. Archivio di ortopedia pubblicazione ufficiale del Pio istituto dei rachitici. Istituto ortopedico Gaetano Pini. 1935. [link]
  7. SCAGLIETTI O. Riccardo Galeazzi, 1866-1952. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1953; 35-B(4):679-80. [pubmed]

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Epstein-Barr Virus

Other Known Aliases – Human gammaherpesvirus 4

Definition – double-stranded DNA herpes virus that infects B lymphocytes and epithelial cells and has both active replication and latency periods that can cause disease

Clinical Significance – known to the be the causative pathogen for infectious mononucleosis, it is also associated Burkitt’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and other various other diseases and cancers. It is transmitted through oral transfer of saliva and genital secretions

History – Named after Sir Michael Anthony Epstein (1921-), a British pathologist who received his medical doctorate from Cambridge University, and Yvonne Barr (1932-2016), an Irish pathologist who received her PhD from the University of London in 1966. Upon hearing a lecture by Denis Burkitt in 1961 on a new endemic cancer in Africa, the former decided to change his career path to search for the cause of this cancer. After working for two years on tumor cells from this cancer, he, with the help of the later as a PhD student, finally isolated the virus cell lines and published their preliminary findings, with colleague Bert Achong, in the Lancet in 1964.

References

  1. Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA.  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed.  New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
  2. Bartolucci S, Forbis P.  Stedman’s Medical Eponyms.  2nd ed.  Baltimore, MD; LWW.  2005.
  3. Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012).  Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software].  Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
  4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
  5. Up To Date. www.uptodate.com
  6. EPSTEIN MA, ACHONG BG, BARR YM. VIRUS PARTICLES IN CULTURED LYMPHOBLASTS FROM BURKITT’S LYMPHOMA. Lancet. 1964; 1(7335):702-3. [pubmed]

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Schamroth Test

Other Known Aliases – none

Definition – test used for diagnosing nail clubbing by examining the window seen between the nails of opposite fingers

Clinical Significance – there should be a diamond size window in “normal” nails when performing this test. In patients with nail clubbing, this window is obliterated

History – Named after Leo Schamroth (1924-1988), a Belgium-born, South African cardiologist who received his medical doctorate from the University of Witwatersrand in 1948. He completed his residency at Johannesburg General Hospital and joined the staff at Baragwanath Hospital in 1956, where he would stay his entire career culminating in chief physician in 1972. He would publish over 300 papers and eight textbooks in the realm of cardiology, and his Introduction to Electrocardiography is still one of the most stolen medical textbooks in the world. He published his eponymous finding in an article entitled “Personal Experience” in 1972 in the South African Medical Journal.

References

  1. Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA.  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed.  New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
  2. Bartolucci S, Forbis P.  Stedman’s Medical Eponyms.  2nd ed.  Baltimore, MD; LWW.  2005.
  3. Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012).  Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software].  Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
  4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
  5. Up To Date. www.uptodate.com
  6. Schamroth L. Personal experience. S Afr Med J. 1976; 50(9):297-300. [pubmed]