Papal Benediction Sign

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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: Prof. Claudio R. Molina, MSc; Published: January 25, 2017

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Also referred to as “benediction hand”, “Preacher`s hand”, “Papal Hand”, “Pope Blessing hand”, etc. This sign is linked to an ulnar nerve neuropathy, and there is a long time controversy about the name of this sign as well as its etiology, where some authors contend that there may be involvement of the median nerve.

Scholars, books and Internet sites are not clear about it. If there is an ulnar nerve neuropathy the person attempting to open his hand would be left with the second and third digits in extension, while the fourth and fifth digits would be flexed at the interphalangeal joints but extended at the metacarpophalangeal joints due the loss of the function of the interossei muscles and lumbrical muscles of the fourth and fifth digits.

The key for this sign is based in on the blessing act which is performed with an open hand and not with a fist. This is the reason why an ulnar neuropathy and not a median nerve neuropathy is the undelaying cause of the Papal Benediction Sign.

Presumably this term was the result of an injury of Saint Peter’s (the first Pope) ulnar nerve which caused him to bless using the “Preacher’s hand”. It stands to reason that everyone copied him as we can see in the lustrations and the art of the Catholic Church.

Article written by: Prof. Claudio R. Molina, MsC.

Sources:
1. Futterman, B. (2015). Analysis of the Papal Benediction Sign: The ulnar neuropathy of St. Peter. Clinical Anatomy (New York, N.Y.), 28(6), 696–701. Click here for the article
2. "From Vulcan Salute To Papal Blessing, Ulnar Nerve Damage Caused Original Benediction Sign | Box | NYIT". Nyit.edu. N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Jan. 2017
Image by By Mattana [Public domain], via Wikimedia Common: Click here for the link to the original image

Papal Benediction Sign

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