The man behind the eponym. John James Pringle (1855-1922).
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One gauge of creativity in medical genetics and dysmorphology is the eponym. Conditions named for people reflect their powers of observation and analysis. We examined the fields and ages of 210 eponymous physicians and scientists whose biographies were published by Peter and Greta Beighton [1986] in The Man Behind the Syndrome. Twenty fields were represented with the dominant fields being, in order, pediatrics, neurology, general and internal medicine, pathology, radiology, and orthopedics. The ages of the eponymous workers averaged 43 years at the time of their relevant publications. Fully a fifth of the contributions were made by persons aged 30 years or less, or 60 years or more, suggesting that eponymous fame may come to workers of talent independent of age.
Nearly eighty years after his death, Albert Adamkiewicz (1850-1921) has still been persisting in both the history of medicine owing to his work and in the medical terminology owing to eponymy: since his flourishing period toward the end of the XIXth century, the surname Adamkiewicz has entered the language of science as a proper-name constituent of anatomical, pathological, neurological, surgical as well as orthopaedic terms, combing with the appellatives stain, corpuscle or demilune, reaction or test, serum, syndrome as well as artery. Estimation of the actual vitality of particular eponymous terms compared with non-eponymous synonyms had to be the aim of the presented search in the scientific literature a century after. In contrast with the inert non-periodical (encyclopaedic) literature, periodicals have revealed all the eponymous terms fallen in oblivion except the 'Adamkiewicz artery' that has only recently been introduced in encyclopaedias although constantly preferred in periodicals of the period under investigation (appearing in 75% articles) over the most frequent non-eponymous synonym 'arteria radicularis magna / great(er) radicular artery' (scarcely 11% articles). Thanks to the 'artery' - joining furthermore several synonyms to appear nearly in 86% articles altogether - the surname Adamkiewicz persists in the living language of science; that is why its bearer ought to be remembered and mentioned even on the threshold of the XXIst century.
The language spoken by orthopaedic surgeons is filled with eponyms. In orthopaedics, perhaps more than any other medical specialty, we speak cryptically to one another using code words and other secret language. Certain hyphenated eponyms are of particular interest because they pique one's curiosity as to how these people came to be partners in orthopaedic history. In this paper, we offer some bits of orthopaedic hyphenated-history, outlining the pertinent work of Theodor Kocher and Bernhard von Langenbeck, as well as associated background information. These two surgeons are linked through a common hyphenated eponym in orthopaedic surgery: the Kocher-Langenbeck surgical approach, a well-known posterior approach to the proximal femur and acetabulum.
OBJECTIVE. A computerized reporting system based on keyed entry of acronyms and eponyms was developed to reduce transcription delays and speed report output for a solo radiology practice that covers several community hospitals in a large region. The purpose was to improve practice outcomes, quality assessments, continuing medical education, and billing efficiency. SYSTEM AND APPLICATIONS. Over a 10-year period, problems in accurate reporting, transcription delays, slowed report deliveries, and incomplete or lost billings were described to computer programmers. These programmers composed 31,000 lines of computer code designed to address the problems. The resultant program was applied to 100,000 imaging procedures. Entry of commonly used clinical acronyms, eponyms, and other symbol strings chosen by the interpreting radiologist triggered the immediate printing of a report's text at the radiologist's desk. After the reports were proofread, electronically authenticated, and/or hand signed, they were sent to distant locales by facsimile transmission. During new case interpretations, potentially erroneous statements of fact or judgement were prevented by enabling the interpreter to instantly review old reports, informative elements of a patient's history, and pertinent medical literature, all of which was placed in various caches of the computer's memory. Billing labor was reduced by automatically providing the number identifying each procedure and the diagnoses made during image interpretation. OPERATION. The acronym/eponym-based reporting system was time- and cost-effective. The new system reduced typing strokes by 84%, and reports were generated in 1 min, while the studies were being interpreted. With the retrieval and monitoring techniques operating on old, stored information, new reporting errors, as well as some diagnostic oversights, were reduced by 50%. Counting the acronyms and symbols representing imaging quality and technical problems showed an 11% mistake rate. Modem transmission of automatically included current procedural terms and disease classification numbers reduced billing labor by 50% and reduced lost charges to zero. The same messaging mechanism of the program sent the text of interpretations to remote clinics and hospitals a few minutes after the radiologist's interpretation was made. CONCLUSION. My experience suggests that a computerized reporting and messaging system based on acronyms and eponyms is a time- and cost-effective technique for managing a solo radiology practice. By using a programmable relational data base, one can modify the system to include educational, quality improvement, and billing functions.
The language spoken by orthopedic surgeons is filled with eponyms. In orthopedics, perhaps more than in any other medical specialty, we speak cryptically to one another using these code words and other secret language. Certain hyphenated eponyms are of particular interest because they simulate one's curiosity as to how these people came to be linked in orthopedic history. In this article, we offer some bits of orthopedic "hyphenated history," outlining the pertinent work of Henry Albert Harris and Edwards Albert Park, as well as other associated background information. These physicians are linked through a common hyphenated eponym in orthopedics--Park-Harris growth arrest lines.