Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1690

GUILLAUME BENJAMIN AMAND DUCHENNE (1806-1875) De l'électrisation localisée et de son application à la physiologie, à la pathologie et à la thérapeutique. J.-B. Baillière 1855 xii, 926 pp., 108 illus. 22.1 cm.

Ignored by his contemporaries, and often the subject of ridicule, Duchenne nonetheless must be regarded as one of the greatest of the early French neurologists and the founder of electrotherapy. Although he never occupied a professorial chair or even held a hospital appointment, his personal diligence and perseverance in meticulously following the course of treatment of his patients allowed him to amass a wealth of observational data that resulted in a number of fundamental neuropathological discoveries. Among his many contributions are descriptions of progressive bulbar paralysis (Duchenne's paralysis) and spinal muscular atrophy (Aran-Duchenne's disease). Duchenne was the first to employ electrical stimulation of nerves and muscles in exploring the muscular system and in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases. The results of these early experiments are contained in this, his first major work.

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 614; Osler 2511; Waller 2604

Gift of John Martin, M.D.