Eponyms in esophageal surgery, part 2

Abstract

Eponyms in medicine are frequently criticized because they may not represent the person who first described a syndrome or disease. Although eponyms are very commonly used, most readers are probably unaware of who it was that named the diseases and whether the original description of the disease still corresponds to the modern definition. The 10 most common eponyms in esophageal diseases were revisited. The men and the disease behind Barrett's esophagus, Boerhaave's syndrome, Mallory-Weiss syndrome, Cameron ulcer, Schatzki ring, Paterson-Kelly syndrome, Plummer-Vinson, Chagas's disease, Zenker diverticulum and Killian diverticulum are reviewed here.

Esophageal diverticula and cancer

“…Friedrich A. von Zenker did not first describe the ‘Zenker's diverticulum.’ Actually, it was defined as a ‘preternatural dilatation of (and bag formed in), the pharynx’ by Ludlow more than one century earlier 17 . In 1908, Killian described the presence of a lateral slit close to the outer lateral border of the cricoid cartilage at the insertion of the cricopharyngeal muscle, corresponding to the passage of the inferior laryngeal nerve 17 …”

“…Actually, it was defined as a 'preternatural dilatation of (and bag formed in), the pharynx' by Ludlow more than one century earlier. 17 In 1908, Killian described the presence of a lateral slit close to the outer lateral border of the cricoid cartilage at the insertion of the cricopharyngeal muscle, corresponding to the passage of the inferior laryngeal nerve. 17 The first description of the association of a carcinoma in a Zenker's diverticulum is often quoted as Vinson in 1933; 18 however, Pitt in 1896.…”

From sponges to capsules. The history of esophageal pH monitoring

“…The first suggestion that acid was associated with diseases of the esophagus was made by Rokitansky, an idea confirmed and propagated by Winkelstein in 1934 7 . However, GERD was only recognized as a clinical entity and widely accepted after the work of Barrett and Allison 8 …”

When did the esophagus start shrinking? The history of the short esophagus

“…In 1950, 26 Barrett from London brought more controversies to the topic. He identified (although not for the first time 27 ) cases of columnar‐lined epithelium in the distal esophagus. Barrett argued that the esophagus for the surgeon, the physiologist, and the physician is the part of the foregut lined by squamous epithelium.…”