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Department of Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 330 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215
I thoroughly enjoyed the recent article by Kanne et al (1) on eponyms in radiology and volunteer a few additional comments.
Kanne et al (1) state that "eponyms serve as a means of honoring individuals who have made important discoveries and observations." Occasionally, attempts are made to rescind such honors, as in the case of Dr Hans Reiter, who described urethritis, conjunctivitis, arthralgia, and fever in a German military officer following a sexual affair in 1916 (2). Reiter’s medical reputation was subsequently dishonored when, as president of Hitler’s Third Reich Health Office, he became an advocate of eugenics and was apparently responsible for many of the medical experiments and atrocities at the Buchenwald concentration camp during World War II. Suggested alternative designations to Reiter syndrome include reactive cutaneo-arthropathy and reactive arthritis syndrome.
Eponyms also arise because they are a simpler way of describing complicated syndromes or diseases, whose causes are, or were, poorly understood. In the past half century, the number of syndromes and diseases has relatively increased, but there have been fewer new eponyms, most likely because of our better understanding of these entities.
Modern medicine also puts use of traditional eponyms at risk. Few radiology residents have seen, or would even recognize, a Carman meniscus sign because of the diminution of peptic ulcer disease, particularly in an advanced stage, and because endoscopy is replacing barium studies in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal disease. Similarly, in the past several decades, fewer medical students recognize von Recklinghausen disease, although they are all familiar with neurofibromatosis, its subtypes, their individual chromosomal abnormalities, etc. Paget disease of the breast is now commonly, and correctly, referred to as ductal carcinoma in situ involving the nipple. With the discovery of a paramyxovirus in osteoclastic cells, even Paget disease of bone could be at risk of losing its eponym, despite the more cumbersome alternative designation, osteitis deformans. One take-home message is that if you discover a new disease and want to "eponymize" your name, it would be helpful if the cause and basic understanding of the entity could remain obscure. And, of course, your personal moral values should remain above reproach.
There are also interesting trends in the spelling of eponyms. Traditionally, these terms were recorded as possessives, as if the disease belonged to the honored individual (eg, Crohn’s disease). There has been a gradual transition over the past few decades by both authors and editors to omit the apostrophe (Crohns disease) and, more recently, to eliminate the possessive altogether (Crohn disease). The latter spelling is probably more appropriate, and I was happy to see that it was used by Kanne et al (1) and RadioGraphics. Linguistically oriented readers might choose to address this issue in their dictated reports, and many editors might do the same.
References
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