Wednesday, March 5, 2008

eponyms in medicine - part 49

481 - Willis - circle of is cerebral arterial circle - an anastomosis between the two vertebral and two internal carotid arteries.

482 - Leriche’s syndrome is aortoiliac occlusive disease producing distal ischemic symptoms and signs - e.g. pulseless femoral artery: 1. claudication of buttocks - 2. impotence - 3. atrophy of buttocks (seen with iliac occlusive disease).

483 - Riddoch’s sign is in cerebellar disease - with outstretched hands - the hand on the affected side begins to hyperpronate - so that the palm faces outward - and rises above the level of the other hand.

484 - Jumping Frenchmen of Maine syndrome is unusually extreme startle reaction that occurs in selected populations with reactions including echolalia - echopraxia; first described in French Canadian lumberjacks in the Moosehead Lake Region of Maine in the late 19th century; also described as latah in Malaysia.

485 - Quincke's sign - pulsation of the capillary bed in the nail - seen in aortic regurgitation .

486 - Reynolds' pentad is a collection of signs and symptoms suggesting the diagnosis of septic (ascending) cholangitis, a serious infection of the biliary system. It is a combination of Charcot's triad (jaundice, fever, abdominal pain) with hypotension (shock - low blood pressure) and an altered mental state. It was named after the surgeon, B.M. Reynolds, who described it.

487 - Pfeiffer syndrome is craniosynostoses as well as limb defects - mutations in FGFR1 - broad thumbs - broad great toes.

488 - Monro-Kellie doctrine is cranial cavity is a closed rigid box - change in the amount of intracranial blood can occur only through changes in CSF quanitity.

489 - Edinger-Westphal nucleus is part of the cranial nerve III complex involved in direct and consensual light reflex involved in efferent limb of reflex arc.

490 - Rovsing's sign is a sign of appendicitis. If palpation of the lower left quadrant of a person's abdomen results in more pain in the right lower quadrant, the patient is said to have a positive Rovsing's sign and may have appendicitis.

This anomaly occurs because the pain nerves deep in the intestines do not localize well to an exact spot on the abdominal wall, unlike pain nerves in muscles. Pain from a stomach ulcer or gallstone can be interpreted by the brain as pain from the stomach, liver, gall bladder, duodenum, or first part of the small intestine. It will "refer" pain often to the mid upper abdomen.

Because the appendix is a piece of intestine, it follows a similar referral pattern.

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