Ignaz Semmelweis

Medical Terminology Daily (MTD) is a blog sponsored by Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. as a service to the medical community. We post anatomical, medical or surgical terms, their meaning and usage, as well as biographical notes on anatomists, surgeons, and researchers through the ages. Be warned that some of the images used depict human anatomical specimens.

You are welcome to submit questions and suggestions using our "Contact Us" form. The information on this blog follows the terms on our "Privacy and Security Statement" and cannot be construed as medical guidance or instructions for treatment.

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

"Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc., and the contributors of "Medical Terminology Daily" wish to thank all individuals who donate their bodies and tissues for the advancement of education and research”.

Click here for more information

Details: Written by: Efrain A. Miranda, Ph.D.; Published: April 29, 2013; Hits: 6119

This article is part of the series "A Moment in History" where we honor those who have contributed to the growth of medical knowledge in the areas of anatomy, medicine, surgery, and medical research.

Ignaz Semmelweis

Ignaz Semmelweis, MD (1818- 1865). Born in Budapest as Ign?c F?l?p Semmelweis, he started his university studies as a lawyer, but changed to Medicine and in 1844, at the age of 26, attained his MD degree. in 1847 he was appointed as an assistant in Obstetrics, almost at the same time of the death of a friend (Kolletschka, a pathologist) who died of what appeared to be "puerperal fever", also known as "childbed fever" after being accidentally stabbed by a knife during the autopsy of a female who had died of that disease. Semmelweis reasoned that the disease somehow was transmitted via the wound and started a crusade to have surgeons and students clean their hands with a carbolized solution before examining a healthy pregnant woman.

Although the obstetric wards under his care reduced the rate of this disease to almost nothing, Semmelweis endured criticism from his teachers, colleagues, and peers, and he did not make any friends by calling "murderers" those who did not follow his ideas. murderers". An excerpt of a letter to one of this detractors reads: "I denounce you before God and the world as a murderer and the history of puerperal fever will not do you an injustice when for the service of having been the first to oppose my life-saving technique it perpetuates your name as a medical Nero". He did not publish his findings until later in life, and then received even more criticism.

In 1865 was committed to an mental asylum only to die a few days later. He was only 47 years old. The same year he died Joseph Lister performed the first operations using antiseptic technique.

Sources:
1. Newsom S." Pioneers in Infection Control - Semmelweis, Ignaz Philipp". The Journal of hospital infection. 1993-03-01;23:175-187.
2. Ellis, H. (2008). Ignaz Semmelweis: tragic pioneer in the prevention of puerperal sepsis. British Journal Of Hospital Medicine (London, England: 2005), 69(6), 358
3. " A Corner of History: Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis" Wynder, EL Prev Med 3" (4) Dec 1974, 574-580
4. "Ignaz Semmelweis; a hand-washing pioneer" P. Rangapa JAPI May 2010 58:328
Original image courtesy of Images from the History of Medicine

Ignaz Semmelweis

Recent