Emergency Clinical Guide Presents Clinical Eponyms A-B

Clinical Eponyms
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This list is available for the Palm Pilot at Andrew Yee's website.

Adamkiewicz, artery of

Artery responsible for anterior spinal syndrome; could be bagged in AAA repair

Adie’s pupil

Tonic pupil, larger than contralateral unaffected pupil, reacts sluggishly to changes in illumination, q.v. Holmes-Adie syndrome; seen in young women; no neurologic significance

Alagille syndrome

Inherited cholestatic syndrome, associated with biliary hypoplasia (ductopenia), vertebral anomalies, prominent forehead, deep-set eyes, peripheral pulmonic stenosis

Albers-Schönberg disease

Osteopetrosis or marble bone disease

Albright’s hereditary osteodystrophy

Polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, short stature, round face, skeletal anomalies (brachydactyly), and heterotopic calcification, precocious puberty, café-au-lait spots on skin, low calcium, high phosphate, resistance to elevated PTH levels from mutation in Gs alpha coupling PTH receptor to adenylyl cyclase; also see Archibald’s sign

Alder-Reilly anomaly

Large, dark, pink-purple granules in cytoplasm of neutrophils; AR trait resulting in abnormal granule development in neutrophils resembling severe toxic granulation

Alexander’s disease

Leukodystrophy-like neurodegenerative disease presenting in infancy or childhood; characterized by Rosenthal fibers

Alexander’s law

Peripheral vestibular nystagmus increases in intensity when the gaze is in the direction of the fast phase, and decreases in intensity when the gaze is away from the fast phase

Alport’s syndrome

Hereditary nephritis accompanied by nerve deafness and various eye disorders, including lens dislocation, posterior cataracts, and corneal dystrophy

Alström’s syndrome

Obesity, autosomal recessive, childhood blindness due to retinal degeneration, nerve deafness, vasopressin-resistant diabetes insipidus, and in males hypogonadism with high plasma gonadotropin levels (end organ resistance to hormones), also baldness, hyperuricemia, hypertriglyceridemia, aminoaciduria

Alzheimer’s disease

Most frequent cause of dementia, pathologically characterized by neurofibrillary tangles, neuritic plaques, and granulovacuolar degeneration, degeneration of nucleus basalis of Meynert (principal origin of cholinergic innervation); described in 1906

Anitschkow myocytes

In rheumatic fever, large mesenchymal cells in myocardial lesion

Anton’s syndrome

Denial of cortical blindness; a form of anosognosia

aortic regurgitation eponyms

Becker’s sign, Corrigan’s pulse, de Musset’s sign, Durozeiz’s sign, Gerhard’s sign, Hill’s sign, Landolfi’s sign, Mayne’s sign, Müller’s sign, Quincke’s sign, Rosenbach’s sign, Traube’s sign, Watson’s water hammer pulse

Apert syndrome

Autosomal dominant disorder from mutation in FGFR2 characterized by craniosynostosis, mid-facial malformations, symmetric bony syndactyly of hands and feet, and varying degrees of mental retardation, from missense mutations in the fibroblast growth-factor-receptor 2 (FGFR2) genes

Archibald’s sign

In pseudohypoparathyroidism of Albert’s hereditary osteodystrophy, characteristic shortening of the fourth and fifth digits as dimpling over the knuckles of a clenched fist

Argyll Robertson pupils

Small irregular pupils; accommodate, but don’t react; absence of miotic reaction to light, both direct and consensual, with preservation of a miotic reaction to near stimulus); usually but not always caused by *CNS syphillis*

Arnold-Chiari malformation

Downward displacement of the cerebellar tonsils and medulla through the foramen magnum, results in pressure atrophy of displaced brain tissue, hydrocephalus from obstruction of the CSF outflow tract, is almost always characterized by the presence of a thoracolumbar meningomyelocele

Arthus reaction

Localized area of tissue necrosis resulting from acute immune complex vasculitis; type III hypersensitivity

Aschoff body

Pathognomonic finding in rheumatic carditis, an area of local fibrinoid necrosis surrounded by inflammatory cells including lymphocytes, plasma cells, and macrophages that later resolve to fibrous scar tissue

Asherman’s syndrome

Intrauterine synechiae, typically occurs after curettage of the uterus, presenting as amenorrhea

Asperger’s disorder

Severe and sustained impairment in social interactions and the development of restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, but intellectually normal and no language delays, but with abnormalities of spoken language

atrial conduction system

Anterior internodal tract, Bachmann’s bundle middle i.t., Wenckebach’s bundle posterior i.t., Thorel’s pathway

Auenbrugger’s sign

Epigastric bulge due to a massive pericardial effusion

Auer rods

Present in acute myelogenous leukemia or refractory anemia with excess blasts; granules form elongated needles, granules are all azurophilic, contain peroxidase; fused lysosomes

Auerbach’s plexus

Myenteric plexus, between the longitudinal and circular layers of muscle; provides motor innervation to the two muscle layers and secretomotor innervation to the mucosa

Auspitz’s sign

For psoriasis; sign is positive when slight scratching or curetting of a scaly lesion reveals punctate bleeding points within the lesion; suggests psoriasis, but is not specific

Austin Flint murmur

Diastoic rumble in aortic insufficiency heard in cardiac apex, thought to be due to aortic jet impinging on the mitral valve, causing it to vibrate and also from simultaneous diastolic filling of the left ventricle from the left atrium and aorta tends to close the mitral valve in diastole, producing physiologic stenosis

Australia antigen

HBsAg, found in the serum of an Australian aborigine

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Babinski sign

Upper motor sign that indicates dysfunction of fibers within the pyramidal system; described in 1896 by Babinski, student of Charcot

Balint’s syndrome

Optic ataxia (inability to visually guide limb movements), ocular ataxia (inability to direct eyes to a precise point in the visual field), inability to enumerate objects in a picture or extract meaning from a picture, and inability to avoid objects in one’s path, simultanagnosia, from infarction in unilateral or bilateral visual association due to watershed stroke between distal PCA and MCA

Ball’s disease

Intracerebral leukocytostasis, potentially fatal complication of acute leukemia (especially AML) when peripheral blast cell cound >100,000/uL; leukemic cells capable of invading through endothelium and casuing hemorrhage into brain; not seen generally with CLL or CML

Ballance’s sign

Tender mass in the LUQ due to a spleen hematoma

bamboo spine

Seen in ankylosing spondylitis

Banti’s syndrome

Splenomegaly, hypersplenism, and portal hypertension, noncirrhotic, arises after subclinical occlusion of the portal vein, usually years after occlusive event

Bantu siderosis

Unusual form of iron overloading resembling hereditary hemochromatosis in South African blacks ingesting large quantities of alcoholic beverages fermented in iron utensils

Barlow’s maneuver

For congenital hip dislocation, patient placed in supine position and attempt made to push femurs posteriorly with knees at 90 degrees/hip flexed and hip will dislocate

Barrett’s esophagus

Esophageal strictures and epithelial metaplasia from squamous epithelium to a specialized columnar epithelium with intestinal metaplasia in 10% of severe GERD

Bart’s, hemoglobin

Four gamma-globin chains, seen in hydrops fetalis (alpha thalassemia), very high oxygen affinity

Barth syndrome

Infantile X-linked cardioskeletal myopathy

Bartter’s syndrome

Primary elevation in renin due to idiopathic hyperfunction of the juxtaglomerular apparatus but with normal blood pressure

Bassen-Kornzweig syndrome

Congential abetalipoproteinemia

Batson's plexus

Portal vertebral venous communications, may be responsible for isolated bone mets in sacrum or vertebral bodies from colorectal cancer

Battle’s sign

Ecchymoses over the mastoid process in basilar skull fractures

BCG

Bacille bilié de Calmette-Guérin; Leon A. Calmette, French bacteriologist, 1863-1933; Camille Guérin, French bacteriologist, 1872-1961; attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin

Beau’s lines

Horizontal depressions across nail plate, caused by a transient arrest in nail growth, can occur during acute stress (e.g., high fever, circulatory shock, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism); will manifest as Beau’s lines as nail grows out

Bechterew’s disease

Ankylosing spondylitis

Beck’s triad

In pericardial tamponade, distended neck veins, distant heart sounds, hypotension, i.e. rising venous pressure, falling arterial pressure, and decreased heart sounds

Becker’s muscular dystrophy

X-linked, normal levels of dystrophin but function altered, average onset 11 y.o., age at death 42 y.o., CK elevated

Becker’s sign

In aortic regurgitation, visible pulsations of the retinal arterioles

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome

Exomphalos, macroglossia, gigantism

Behcet’s diease

Aphthous ulcers, genital ulcerations, ocular inflammation (posterior uveitis), erythema nodosum, cutaneous pustular vasculitis, also synoviits, neurologic issues, and thrombophlebitis

Bell’s palsy

Seventh nerve palsy; seen as a complication in diabetes, tumors, sarcoidosis, AIDS, and Lyme disease

Bell’s phenomenon

When an attempt is made to close the eyelid, the eyeball on the affected side may turn upward

Bence Jones proteins

Free L chains of immunoglobulin seen ins plasma cell dyscrasias (e.g. multiple myelomas), filtered by glomerulus and then reabsorbed tubular cells; proteins are toxic to tubule cells

Benedikt syndrome

Clinical picture from paramedian midbrain infarction from occlusion of the paramedian penetrating branches of the basilar artery affecting the third nerve root fiber, red nucleus, cerebral peduncle resulting in ipsilateral medial rectus palsy with a fixed dilated pupil and contralateral tremor, chorea, and athetosis

Bennett’s fracture

Fracture of the base of the first metacarpal with involvement of carpometacarpal joint

Bergman minimal model

Determinants of glucose disposal: phi-1 (acute insulin secretion), phi-2 (sustained insulin secretion), Si (insulin sensitivity), Sg (glucose sensitivity)

Bergman’s triad

Seen with fat emboli syndrome: 1) mental status changes 2) petechiae (often in the axilla/thorax) 3) dyspnea

Bergmann gliosis

In ethanol abuse, proliferation of astrocytes adjacent to lost Purkinje cells between depleted granular cell and molecular layer of cerebellum

Bernard-Soulier disease

Absence of Gp Ib/IX, the von Willebrand receptor

Bernheim effect

In aortic stenosis, right ventricular failure preceding left ventricular failure from hypertrophied ventricular septum bulging into and encroaching on right ventricular filling

Bernheim effect, reverse

In pulmonary embolism, right ventricular failure causing septum to bulge into and compromise left ventricular filling

Bernstein test

To test for GERD, acid perfusion test of esophagus with 0.1 N HCl and see if reproduces chest pain; limited sensitivity and specificity though

Berry’s sign

In malignant thyromegaly, absence of carotid pulsation since the tumor tends to encase the carotid and muffles the pulsation

Bertin, renal columns of

The spaces between adjacent pyramids where cortical tissue extends into

Betz cells

Large pyramidal cells in layer 5 of primary motor cortex largest neurons in mammalian CNS; 30-40,000 Betz cells in precentral gyrus in one side of the brain

Bezold-Jarisch reflex

Activation of receptors in the atria, great veins, and left ventricle causing increased parasympathetic tone and decreased sympathetic activity leading to a combination of hypotension and bradycardia with a sudden increase in coronary flow

Bickerstaff’s encephalitis

Brain stem encephalitis

Bielschowsky’s tilt test

In trochlear nerve palsy (which paralyzes the superior oblique muscle), elevation in the affected eye is greatest when the head is tilted toward the side of the involved eye and abolished by tilt in the opposite direction

Bier block

Regional anesthesia of an extremity by placing a tourniquet and then infusing local anesthetic into a vein

Billroth I

Antrectomy with gastroduodenostomy

Billroth II

Antrectomy with gastrojejunostomy

Billroth’s cords

The splenic cords found in the red pulp between the sinusoids

Bing-Horton syndrome

Erythroprosopalgia, attacks of facial pain associated with marked reddening of the ipsilateral half of the face associated with tearing and watery discharge from the nose, occurs during sleep and is of brief duration, believed to be due to irritaiton in greater petrosal nerve

Binswanger’s disease

Subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy, associated with hypertension; characterized by multiple lacunar infarcts and progressive demyelination limited to the subcortical area with characteristic sparing of cortex

Biot’s breathing

Succession of hyperpnea/hyperventilations and apneas (seen in increased ICP, drug-induced respiratory depression, brain damage, usually medullary level), but lacks typical crescendo-decrescendo pattern, abrupt beginning, and regularity of Cheyne-Stokes breathing (c.f. Cheyne-Stokes, cerebral level)

Birbeck’s granules

Aka Langerhans’s granules; a small tennis racket-shaped membrane-bound granule with characteristic cross-striated internal ultrastructure; first reported in Langerhans’s cells of the epidermis

Bitot’s spots

In vitamin A deficiency, small, circumscribed, lusterless, grayish white, foamy, greasy, triangular deposits on the bulbar conjunctiva adjacent to the cornea in the area of the palpebral fissure of both eyes

Blomstrand dysplasia

Rare lethal disorder characterized by an increase in bone density and advanced skeletal maturationfrom inactivating mutation in PTHR-1 gene (c.f. Jansen metaphyseal chondrodysplasia where there is an activating mutatino)

Bloom’s syndrome

Severe immunodeficiency, growth retardation, and predisposition to several types of cancers associated with hypersensitivity to a variety of DNA-damaging agents

Blount’s disease

Idiopathic varus bowing of tibia

Blumberg sign

Rebound tenderness

Blumer shelf

Carcinomatous metastasis from a primary site high up in the peritoneal cavity, may accumulate in the stomach, felt through the anterior rectal wall as a hard shelf in the rectovesical or rectouterine pouch (pouch of Douglas)

Boas’s sign

Right subscapular pain due to cholelithiasis, <7% sensitive

bobble-head syndrome

In children with progressive hydrocephalus, rapid, rhythmic bobbing of the head

Bochdalek's hernia

Hernia through the posterior diaphragm, usually on the left, presents in infancy

Boerhaave’s syndrome

Pressure rupture of the esophagus; can give rise to Hamman’s sign

Bohr effect

Fall in pH leading to decrease in oxygen affinity of hemoglobin

Bohr equation

Vd/Vt, for determining ratio of physiologic dead space

Bonnet’s sign

Banking of veins distal to AV crossings (grade 3) in hypertensive retinopathy; c.f. with Salus’s sign and Gunn’s sign

Bordet-Gengou medium

For identifying Bordetella pertussis, medium contains high percentage of blood (20-30%) to inactivate inhibitors in blood; also has potato and glycerol

Bornholm disease

Coxsackie group B virus producing pleurodynia, fever

Boston sign

In thyrotoxicosis, jerking of the lagging lid

Bouchard’s nodes

Bony spurs at PIP in OA

Bowditch staircase

Increased heart rate increases the strength of contraction in a stepwise fashion as the intracellular calcium increases over several beats

Bowen’s disease

Carcinoma in situ of penis or scrotum, usually presents as a single erythematous plaque, most often on the shaft of the penis or on the scrotum, peak incidence after 50s; or more generally, squamous carcinoma in situ

Boxer’s fracture

Fracture of the metacarpal neck, classically of small finger

Bradbury-Eggleston syndrome

Pure autonomic dysfunction characterized by low circulating catecholamines

Brill-Zinser disease

Recurrent form of epidemic typhus (Rickettsiae prowazekii); persistently infected as a source

Briquet’s syndrome

Somatization disorder

Broca’s area

Left frontal speech area, important for articulating speech; in Broca’s aphasia, because Broca’s area near motor cortex and underlying internal capsule, a right hemiparesis and homonymous hemianopsia is almost always present in this type of aphasia

Brodie’s abscess

Small, intraosseus abscess that frequently involves the cortex and is walled off by reactive bone

Brown’s syndrome

In rheumatoid arthritis, vertical diplopia, clicking sensation when looking up and medially, and an apparent inferior oblique palsy, apparently from stenosing tenosynovitis of the superior oblique tendon and sheath

Brown-Séquard syndrome

Loss of tactile sense, vibration sense, and limb position sense on the ipsilateral side and loss of pain and temperature sense on the contralateral side

Brudzinski sign

Flex the neck, watch the hips and knees in reaction to maneuver positive sign, flexion of hips and knees, suggests meningeal inflammation

Brueghel syndrome

Dystonia of the motor trigeminal nerve producing a widely opened mouth, named after painting by Flemish painter Brueghel (Neurol 1996;46:1768)

Brugada syndrome

Defect in an ion channel gene resulting in abnormal electrophysiologic activity in the right ventricle and characterized by (1) ST segment elevation in V1-V3, (2) right bundle branch block, (3) sudden cardiac death, (4) grossly normal heart

Brunner’s glands

In duodenum, submucosal mucous glands that secrete bicarbonate, glycoproteins, and pepsinogen II, virtually indistinguishable from pyloric mucous glands

Brushfield’s spots

In Down’s syndrome, small white spots on the periphery of the iris

Bruton’s tyrosine kinase

Mutation causes X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA also associated with defect in intact membrane-bound M chain (it’s essential for B-cell development) Btk found only in B cells

Budd-Chiari syndrome

Occlusion of the hepatic vein, associated with polycythemia vera, pregnancy, postpartum state, oral contraceptives, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, and intra-abdominal cancers, particularly hepatocellular carcinoma

Burkitt lymphoma

Tumor manifesting at extranodal sites; associated with translocation of c-myc gene on chr 8 with IgH locus (chr 14), kappa (chr 2), or lambda light-chain (chr 22) locus; associated with EBV infection in African variety

Burnett’s syndrome

Far-advanced milk-alkali syndrome, due to long-standing calcium and alkali ingestion; severe hypercalcemia, irreversible renal failure, and phosphate retention, may be accompanied by ectopic calcification

Buschke-Löwenstein tumor

Verrucous carcinoma involving penile glans and prepuce, associated with HPV

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From Andrew Yee, Harvard Med '00