Hilum

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A Moment in History

Georg Eduard Von Rindfleisch
(1836 – 1908)

German pathologist and histologist of Bavarian nobility ancestry. Rindfleisch studied medicine in Würzburg, Berlin, and Heidelberg, earning his MD in 1859 with the thesis “De Vasorum Genesi” (on the generation of vessels) under the tutelage of Rudolf Virchow (1821 - 1902). He then continued as a assistant to Virchow in a newly founded institute in Berlin. He then moved to Breslau in 1861 as an assistant to Rudolf Heidenhain (1834–1897), becoming a professor of pathological anatomy. In 1865 he became full professor in Bonn and in 1874 in Würzburg, where a new pathological institute was built according to his design (completed in 1878), where he worked until his retirement in 1906.

He was the first to describe the inflammatory background of multiple sclerosis in 1863, when he noted that demyelinated lesions have in their center small vessels that are surrounded by a leukocyte inflammatory infiltrate.

After extensive investigations, he suspected an infectious origin of tuberculosis - even before Robert Koch's detection of the tuberculosis bacillus in 1892. Rindfleisch 's special achievement is the description of the morphologically conspicuous macrophages in typhoid inflammation. His distinction between myocardial infarction and myocarditis in 1890 is also of lasting importance.

Associated eponyms

"Rindfleisch's folds": Usually a single semilunar fold of the serous surface of the pericardium around the origin of the aorta. Also known as the plica semilunaris aortæ.

"Rindfleisch's cells": Historical (and obsolete) name for eosinophilic leukocytes.

Personal note: G. Rindfleisch’s book “Traité D' Histologie Pathologique” 2nd edition (1873) is now part of my library. This book was translated from German to French by Dr. Frédéric Gross (1844-1927) , Associate Professor of the Medicine Faculty in Nancy, France. The book is dedicated to Dr. Theodore Billroth (1829-1894), an important surgeon whose pioneering work on subtotal gastrectomies paved the way for today’s robotic bariatric surgery. Dr. Miranda.

Sources:
1. "Stedmans Medical Eponyms" Forbis, P.; Bartolucci, SL; 1998 Williams and Wilkins
2. "Rindfleisch, Georg Eduard von (bayerischer Adel?)" Deutsche Biographie
3. "The pathology of multiple sclerosis and its evolution" Lassmann H. (1999) Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 354 (1390): 1635–40.
4. “Traité D' Histologie Pathologique” G.E.
Rindfleisch 2nd Ed (1873) Ballieres et Fils. Paris, Translated by F Gross

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Details: Written by: Efrain A. Miranda, Ph.D.; Published: July 08, 2015; Hits: 5846

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UPDATED: Definition: "A hilum" is the area of an organ where all the structures that enter or leave the organ are found". The term is based on a Latin word meaning something small, or trivial. Also used to describe the small spot on a seed where the seed is attached. The Latin phrase [ne hilum] was used to denote something of no worth or "not at all". In English it would have been similar to "not worth a bean". The plural form for [hilum] is [hila].

In human anatomy the term is used more on the seed attachment meaning. Since a hilum is the area of an organ where all the structures that enter or leave the organ are found, severing the root structures at the level of the hilum detaches the organ from the body. There are several hila in the body:

• Renal hilum: The hilum of the kidney (see item 5 in the accompanying image)
• Lienal hilum: The hilum of the spleen
• Splenic hilum: The hilum of the spleen
• Pulmonary hilum: The hilum of the spleen
• Hepatic hilum: The hilum of the liver. This name is not commonly used and the hepatic hilum is known as the "porta hepatis" meaning the "door to the liver".

There is a wrong version of the term. The word [hilus] is sometimes used and is incorrect. This word was a mistake by the anatomist Bartolomeo Eustachius (c.1520 - 1574) that has continued until today.

Here is the key to the image: Longitudinal section of a kidney. 1-Renal pyramid, 3-Renal artery, 4-Renal vein, 5-Renal hilum, 6-Renal pelvis, 7- Ureter, 8-Minor calyx, 9-Renal capsule, 14-Minor calyx, 15- Major calyx, 16-Renal papilla, 17-Renal column .

Original Image by Piotr Micha? Jaworski; PioM EN DE PL (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Hilum

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