Eponyms

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Varess Needle

 

Other Known Aliases – None

Definition – 12-15cm long, 2 cannula instrument used for insuflating the abdominal cavity before laparoscopic port placement.  The outer cannula has a beveled needle for dissecting through the abdominal wall.  The spring-loaded inner stylet resides within the outer cannula and has a dull tip to prevent injury to abdominal viscera.  Due to this spring-loaded mechanism, the inner stylet retracts into the outer cannula while it moves through the abdominal planes and advances past the sharp, cutting tip of the outer cannula once through the peritoneum.

Image result for veress needleImage result for veress needle

Clinical Significance – Using the Varess needle is the oldest and most traditional techniques for obtaining laparoscopic access

History – Named after János Vares (1903-1979), a Hungarian internist, who used iatrogenic pneumothoraces to treat tuberculosis patients.  He created this spring loaded needle in 1932 and published his results in 1936 (in a Hungarian journal), which was subsequently translated and published in German for wider audience in 1938.  Raoul Palmer (1904-1985), a French gynecologist, began using the Varess needle for laparoscopic surgery in 1947.

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. Vares J. Neues instrument zur ausfuhrung von brust-oder bauchpunktionen und pneumothoraxbehandlung. Deut Med Wochenschr. 1938;64:1480-1481.
  6. Palmer R. Instrumentation et technique de la coelioscopie gynécologique. Gynecologie et obstetrique. 1947; 46(4):420-31. [pubmed]

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Glisson’s Capsule

 

Other Known Aliases – None

Definition – Outer capsule of connective fibrous tissue, surrounding the liver, the intrahepatic branches of the portal vein, hepatic arteries, and bile duct

Clinical Significance – The is a structure that must be dissected while operating on the liver.  In trauma, you can have subcapsular hematomas from hemorrhage that are contained by Glisson’s capsule.

History – Named after Francis Glisson (1597-1667), who was an English physician, anatomist, and pathologist.  His work on the liver in the late 1600s produced the foremost textbook on the digestive system, The Anatomia Hepatis, where he first described the covering of the liver in detail.

 

 

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. Haubrich WS. Glisson of Glisson’s capsule of the liver. Gastroenterology. 2001; 120(6):1362. [pubmed]

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Whipple Operation

 

Other Known Aliases – Kausch-Whipple procedure

Definition – Radical pancreaticoduodenectomy with distal antrectomy, cholestectomy, and pancreaticojejunostomy, choledocojejunostomy, and gastrojejunostomy

Clinical Significance – Used for resection of carcinoma of the head of the pancreas.

History – The first resection of a periampullary cancer was performed by German surgeon Walther Kausch (1867-1928) in 1909, took four hours to complete, and the patient survived for 9 months.  American surgeon Allen Oldfather Whipple (1881-1963) began working on and refining the procedure in 1935 and in 1940, successfully shortened it to a one-stage procedure.

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/. Accessed March 7, 2017.
  5. Whipple AO. Observations on radical surgery for lesions of the pancreas. Surgery, gynecology & obstetrics. 1946; 82:623-31. [pubmed]

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Tetralogy of Fallot

 

Other Known Aliases – Fallot’s tetrad, Fallot’s syndrome, Steno-Fallot tetralogy

Definition – Congenital cyanotic heart disease due to ventriculo-septal defect, pulmonary stenosis, right ventricular hypertrophy, and overiding aorta.

Clinical Significance – This is one of the six congenital cyanotic heart defects and is also the most common.  Read/listen to an amazing review of “Congenital Cyanotic Heart Diseases” here.

History – The classic description of the tetrad was actually first described in 1672 by the Danish physician and anatomist, Neils Stenson (1638-1686).  The namesake of this condition is Etienne-Louis Arthur Fallot (1850-1911), who was a French physician.  He described the tetrad in 1888 using previous observations and building from the work of Stenson, but garned little contemporary appraise.  It wasn’t until 1931 when Fallot’s work was rekindled and translated by Dr. Paul Dudley White.

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/. Accessed March 7, 2017.
  5. E. L. A. Fallot. Contribution à l’anatomie pathologique de la maladie bleue (cyanose cardiaque). Marseille médical, 1888;25: 77-93.

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Reye’s Syndrome

 

Other Known Aliases – Reye’s sequence, Reye-Morgan-Baral syndrome, Reye-Johnson syndrome

Definition – Rare disease of acquired encephalopathy and fatty liver filtration in children under 15 years of age

Clinical Significance – Classically, this condition follows a viral upper respiratory illness (influenza B, varicella) in children who were given aspirin for fever therapy.  Symptoms include vomiting, confusion, AMS, seizures, and LOC. Children under 5 years of age frequently have hyperglycemia as well.  Mortality is as high as 40% and many that survive are left with significant brain damage.

History – First described in 1929 by Dr. W.R. Brain, D. Hunter, and H.M. Turnbull, but not established as clinical diagnosis until published in The Lancet in 1963 by Dr. Ralph Douglass K. Reye, Dr. Graeme Morgan, and Dr. James Baral,.  Later that same year (1963), an outbreak of this condition occurred in North Carolina and was published by Dr. George Johnson.

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/. Accessed March 7, 2017.
  5. Brain, WR, Hunter, D, Turnbull, HM. Acute meningoencephalomyelitis of childhood: report of six cases. Lancet. 1929;1:221–227 [article]
  6. Reye RDK, Morgan G, Baral J. Encephalopathy and fatty degeneration of the viscera: A disease entity of childhood. Lancet. 1963; 2(7311):749-52. [pubmed]
  7. Johnson GM, Scurletis TD, Carroll NB. A study of sixteen fatal cases of encephalitis-like disease in North Carolina children. North Carolina medical journal. 1963; 24:464-73. [pubmed]

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Hatchcock’s Sign

 

Definition – Upward pressure applied to the angle of mandible produces pain with parotitis, but not with adenitis

Clinical Significance – This particular sign could be positive before any significant parotid gland swelling occurred and would aid in the early detection and diagnosis of mumps. 

History – First described by a Lieutenant Hatchcock in 1918.  Honestly, I can’t find much on this Lieutenant Hatchcock……

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. Lincoln Evening Journal.  Lincoln, NE. 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/40559204/
  5. Practical Medicine Series.  General Medicine. Volume I.  1919. http://tinyurl.com/n3c4yqa

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Aicardi Syndrome

Definition – Congenital syndrome with three main features:

  1. Agenesis or dysgenesis of the corpus callosum
  2. Infantile spasms and/or epilepsy
  3. Chorioretinal lacunae

Clinical Significance – Occurs almost exclusively in females and clinical findings can include:

  • Asymmetry of cerebrum
  • Ventricular cysts
  • Microcephaly
  • Severe developmental delay and disability
  • Ocular abnormalities (microphthalmia, colobomo)
  • Short philtrum with flat nose and upturned ears
  • Sparse eyebrows
  • Small hands
  • Spinal abnormalities

History – Named after Dr. Jean Fraçois Marie Aicardi, who is a French pediatrician, and first published and described this disorder in two girls in 1965.

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. J. Aicardi, J. Lefebvre, A. Lerique-Koechlin. A new syndrome: Spasm in flexion, callosal agenesis, ocular abnormalities. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology. 1965;19:609-610.