Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia

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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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BRRRRRRRR!!

A reminder of one of the joys of summer! The term [sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia] is a fancy medical term for "brain freeze". which happens when we eat or drink very cold food.

The etymology of the term is complex. [Sphen-] is a term meaning "wedge" and refers to the sphenoid bone. [-palatine-] means "pertaining to the palate" (and to the bones related to the hard palate].

The root term [-gangli-] refer to a ganglion, which is a concentration of neuronal bodies, neurons being the main cells of the nervous system. [-neur-] means "nerve", and the suffix [-algia] means "pain". Simply said, the term [sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia] means "nerve pain of the sphenopalatine ganglion".

The sphenopalatine ganglion (Meckel's ganglion, nasal ganglion or pterygopalatine ganglion) is a parasympathetic ganglion found in the pterygopalatine fossa. It is largely innervated by the greater petrosal nerve (a branch of the facial nerve); and its neuronal axons innervate the lacrimal glands and nasal mucosa.

Not everybody accepts this theory. Some state that "brain freeze" occurs because of rapid cooling of the blood in the pharynx, causing a drop of temperature of the internal carotid artery, which in turn causes cooling and pain in the meninges related to the base of the cranium.

My thanks to Gina Burg, for bringing this term to my attention. Dr. Miranda

Thanks to Forrest J. Bonjo for the image and additional information. The article was originally stored at pdu.edu, but the server was closed. If you click on the image, this will take you to the article stored at web.archive.org.

Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia

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