Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 2171

FRANCIS XAVIER DERCUM (1856-1931) A subcutaneous connective tissue dystrophy of the arms and back, associated with symptoms resembling myxoedema. (In University medical magazine. Vol. 1, (1888), no. 3, pp. 140-150.) 24.1 cm.

Dercum graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1877 and later earned a Ph.D. from the University. He began his medical career in private practice but in 1883 was appointed instructor in neurology and chief of the nervous diseases clinic at the Philadelphia General Hospital. In 1892 he was appointed clinical professor of nervous and mental diseases at Jefferson Medical College where he remained for the rest of his career. The present paper was prepared while Dercum was at the Philadelphia General Hospital. It is the first description of adiposis dolorosa and is often called Dercum's disease. It is a disease of the adipose tissue which is characterized by painful localized fatty swellings and nerve lesions. It is most common in women and may result in death from pulmonary complications.

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 3917

Gift of John Martin, M.D.