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Jean George Bachmann
(1877 – 1959)
French physician–physiologist whose experimental work in the early twentieth century provided the first clear functional description of a preferential interatrial conduction pathway. This structure, eponymically named “Bachmann’s bundle”, plays a central role in normal atrial activation and in the pathophysiology of interatrial block and atrial arrhythmias.
As a young man, Bachmann served as a merchant sailor, crossing the Atlantic multiple times. He emigrated to the United States in 1902 and earned his medical degree at the top of his class from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1907. He stayed at this Medical College as a demonstrator and physiologist. In 1910, he joined Emory University in Atlanta. Between 1917 -1918 he served as a medical officer in the US Army. He retired from Emory in 1947 and continued his private medical practice until his death in 1959.
On the personal side, Bachmann was a man of many talents: a polyglot, he was fluent in German, French, Spanish and English. He was a chef in his own right and occasionally worked as a chef in international hotels. In fact, he paid his tuition at Jefferson Medical College, working both as a chef and as a language tutor.
The intrinsic cardiac conduction system was a major focus of cardiovascular research in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The atrioventricular (AV) node was discovered and described by Sunao Tawara and Karl Albert Aschoff in 1906, and the sinoatrial node by Arthur Keith and Martin Flack in 1907.
While the connections that distribute the electrical impulse from the AV node to the ventricles were known through the works of Wilhelm His Jr, in 1893 and Jan Evangelista Purkinje in 1839, the mechanism by which electrical impulses spread between the atria remained uncertain.
In 1916 Bachmann published a paper titled “The Inter-Auricular Time Interval” in the American Journal of Physiology. Bachmann measured activation times between the right and left atria and demonstrated that interruption of a distinct anterior interatrial muscular band resulted in delayed left atrial activation. He concluded that this band constituted the principal route for rapid interatrial conduction.
Subsequent anatomical and electrophysiological studies confirmed the importance of the structure described by Bachmann, which came to bear his name. Bachmann’s bundle is now recognized as a key determinant of atrial activation patterns, and its dysfunction is associated with interatrial block, atrial fibrillation, and abnormal P-wave morphology. His work remains foundational in both basic cardiac anatomy and clinical electrophysiology.
Sources and references
1. Bachmann G. “The inter-auricular time interval”. Am J Physiol. 1916;41:309–320.
2. Hurst JW. “Profiles in Cardiology: Jean George Bachmann (1877–1959)”. Clin Cardiol. 1987;10:185–187.
3. Lemery R, Guiraudon G, Veinot JP. “Anatomic description of Bachmann’s bundle and its relation to the atrial septum”. Am J Cardiol. 2003;91:148–152.
4. "Remembering the canonical discoverers of the core components of the mammalian cardiac conduction system: Keith and Flack, Aschoff and Tawara, His, and Purkinje" Icilio Cavero and Henry Holzgrefe Advances in Physiology Education 2022 46:4, 549-579.
5. Knol WG, de Vos CB, Crijns HJGM, et al. “The Bachmann bundle and interatrial conduction” Heart Rhythm. 2019;16:127–133.
6. “Iatrogenic biatrial flutter. The role of the Bachmann’s bundle” Constán E.; García F., Linde, A.. Complejo Hospitalario de Jaén, Jaén. Spain
7. Keith A, Flack M. The form and nature of the muscular connections between the primary divisions of the vertebrate heart. J Anat Physiol 41: 172–189, 1907.
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The suffix [-(o)lithiasis] is a compound suffix with the Greek root [-lith-] meaning "stone" and the suffix [-iasis] meaning "condition, pathology, or disease". [-(o)lithiasis] then means the "condition or presence of stones".
This suffix can be found in many medical terms such as:
- Choledocolithiasis: a condition of stones in the bile duct
- Nephrolithiasis: Kidney stones
- Cholelithiasis: Gall or bile stones. This term does not indicate specific stone location
- Cholecystolithiasis: Stones in the gallbladder
- Cystolithiasis: Bladder stones
- Choledocholithiasis: Stones in the common bile duct
Can you find the meaning of the word dacryocystolithiasis?
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The sternum is a median bone that, with the anterior portion of the ribs, forms the anterior boundary of the bony thorax.
The term [sternum] comes from the Greek, meaning "flat chest or flat surface". In early anatomy, the sternum was known by a Latin term [gladius] referring to the similarity of the sternum to the short sword of the gladiators.
The sternum is composed by three segments, from superior to inferior they are the:
- Manubrium: This is Latin for "handle" (of the sword)
- Body: This segment is formed by four separate bones that fuse together later in life. Each separate bony component of the sternal body is known as a "sternabra" (plural: sternabrae)
- Xiphoid appendix: The term [xiphoid] is Greek and means "similar to a straight sword", but it refers only to the lowest portion of the sternum. Sometimes called the [xiphisternum], the xiphoid appendage or process is cartilaginous and is the last cartilage to ossify in the human.
The boundary between the manubrium and sternal body is known as the "sternal angle" or the "angle of Louis" named after Antoine Louis, a French physician. Click on the image of the thorax to see a detailed image of the sternum.
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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.
Henri Fruchaud
Dr. Henri Rene Fruchaud (1894-1960) was born in 1894 in Angers, the capital of the French province of Anjou. He started his medical studies in Anjou and continued them later in Paris. He was active in both WWI and WWII, earning several medals for bravery. He published a large number of articles in diverse surgical fields.
An anatomist and a surgeon, Fruchaud is best known for his work in the field of Hernia Surgery by two of his books published in 1956: "L'Anatomie chirurgicale de la r?gion de l'aine" (Surgical anatomy of the groin region), and "Le traitement chirurgical des hernies de l'aine" (Surgical Treatment of Groin Hernias). He described the presence of a weak area in the pelvic region that he calls the "Myopectineal Orifice" or MPO. He states in his book: "It may be said that a healthy man is, unknown to himself, a hernia bearer". The MPO concept has become of importance after the advent of the laparoscopic repair of inguinofemoral hernias.
He is one of the members of the French Order of the Liberation, where you can read his biography in French.
Original imageof Dr. Henri Fruchaud courtesy of theFrench Order of the Liberation Museum.
Source: "Henri Fruchaud (1894–1960): A man of bravery, an anatomist a surgeon" Stoppa,R and Wantz,G. Hernia 1998,Vol 2,(1) 45 - 47
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The word [interstice] is a derivation of the Latin term [interstitium] meaning "interval" or "spaces between". The plural form is [interstices]. The terms is used in anatomy to denote small spaces within a structure. As an example, bone marrow and venous sinuses are found in the [interstices] of the cancellous bone in the body of a vertebra.
The term is also used to describe different pathologies such as insterstitial cystitis and instertitial lung disease.
Word suggested by:Sara Mueller
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The word [parietal] has its origin in the Greek term [paries] meaning "wall". [Parietal] then means "pertaining to a wall", wall-related", or simply stated, "wall". Following are some examples of the use of this term.
The parietal bones of the cranium (os parietale), create the lateral "wall" of the cranium. These quadrangular bones join in the midline forming the sagittal suture. (see image). Click here for a detailed description of the parietal bone.
The term [parietal] is also used to denote membranes that are related to the body wall. The parietal peritoneum is the portion of the peritoneal membrane that is found away from the viscera and in relation to the abdominal wall.
The pleura is a membrane that lines the lungs, and it has a component that is related to the wall of the thorax. This is the [parietal] pleura.
There is a couple of cases where the use of term [parietal] is not related to a wall, but rather as "away from a viscus". An example of this would be the parietal pericardium, where the parietal component is the membrane that is away from the visceralpericardium.
An interesting use of the term is legal, where a [parietal] law, is used to denote a law that establishes boundaries or "walls" between legal parties.
Original image and links courtesy of bartleby.com
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These two terms are related by the Greek root term [-gnos-] which means "knowledge".
The first word [diagnosis] has the prefix [dia-] meaning "apart" or "to take apart". [Diagnosis] then means "to discern", or in a more detailed explanation, it is "knowledge by taking apart", identifying a pathology by looking at all its components.
The second word [prognosis] has the prefix [pro-] meaning "forward". Prognosis is then "forward knowledge", an statement of outcome of the course of a pathology.
Words suggested by:Sara Mueller