Historical perspective: eponyms of vascular radiology.

Publication/Presentation Date

1-1-2014

Abstract

Eponyms are ubiquitous throughout the medical literature, especially the radiology lexicon. In particular, vascular radiology is replete with dozens of eponyms named after pathologic and anatomic features and various medical devices. Several disease processes are known exclusively by their eponyms or by both their eponyms and their descriptive names. Although some authors advocate abandoning eponyms in favor of more descriptive terms, the established history and common use of eponyms make it unlikely that they will disappear from the vocabulary. Radiologists should be familiar with both the eponymous and descriptive names of disease processes to ensure effective communication and prevent erroneous identification. Study of these eponyms provides information about these disease processes and other medical knowledge for use in daily practice. In addition, biographic information about the pertinent physicians can yield insights into the sometimes surprising origins of these eponyms. The authors provide biographic sketches of these physicians and discuss the clinical relevance of the anatomic features, malformations, and syndromes that bear their names.

Volume

34

Issue

4

First Page

1120

Last Page

1140

ISSN

1527-1323

Disciplines

Diagnosis | Medicine and Health Sciences | Other Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment | Radiology

PubMedID

25019445

Department(s)

Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Medical Imaging

Document Type

Article

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