Adolph Kussmaul
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Adolph Kussmaul (1822 - 1902) was a German physician.
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Eponymous terms
He described two medical signs and one disease which bear his name:
- Kussmaul breathing - Rapid deep breathing seen in Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).
- Kussmaul sign- Paradoxical rise in the Jugular venous pressure (JVP) on inhalation in Constrictive pericarditis or Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Kussmaul disease (Also called Kussmaul-Maier disease) - Polyarteritis nodosa.
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Firsts
- First to describe Polyarteritis nodosa.
- First to describe Progressive bulbar paralysis.
- First to diagnose mesenteric embolism.
- First to attempt oesophagoscopy and gastroscopy.
- He introduced pleural tapping and gastric lavage
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Career
Kussmaul was born near Graben, Karlsruhe and studied at Heidelberg. He entered the army after graduation and spent two years as an Army surgeon. This was followed by a period as a general practitioner before he went to Würzburg to study for his doctorate under Virchow.
He was subsequently Professor of Medicine at Heidelberg (1857), Erlangen (1859), Freiberg (1859) and Strasburg (1876)
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References
- B.G. Firkin & J.A.Whitworth (1987). Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. Parthenon Publishing. ISBN 1-85070-333-7
