Wikipedia / List of eponymous diseases
Wikipedia / List of eponymous diseases
An eponymous disease is a disease, disorder, condition, or syndrome named after a person, usually the physician or other health care professional who first identified the disease; less commonly, a patient who had the disease; rarely, a literary or theatrical character who exhibited signs of the disease or the subject of an allusion, as its characteristics were suggestive of symptoms observed in the disorder.
Naming systems
Eponyms are a longstanding tradition in Western science and medicine. Being awarded an eponym is regarded as an honor: "Eponymity, not anonymity, is the standard." The scientific and medical communities regard it as bad form to attempt to form eponyms after oneself.
Ideally, to discuss something, it should have a name. When medicine lacked diagnostic tools to investigate and definitively pinpoint the underlying causes of most diseases, assigning an eponym afforded physicians a concise label for a symptom cluster versus cataloguing the multiple systemic features that characterized a patient’s illness.
Most commonly, diseases are named for the person, usually a physician, but occasionally another health care professional, who first described the condition—typically by publishing an article in a respected medical journal. Less frequently, an eponymous disease is named after a patient, examples being Lou Gehrig disease, Christmas disease, and Hartnup disease. In the instance of Machado–Joseph disease, the eponym is derived from the surnames of two families in which the condition was initially described. Examples of eponyms named for persons who displayed characteristics attributed to a syndrome include: Lazarus syndrome, named for a biblical character; and Miss Havisham syndrome, named for a Dickens character, and Plyushkin syndrome, named for a Gogol character, both fictional persons (the latter two also happen to be alternative names for the same symptom complex). Two eponymous disorders that follow none of the foregoing conventions are: Fregoli delusion, which derives its name from an actor whose character shifts mimicked the delusion it describes; and, Munchausen syndrome which derives from a literary allusion to Baron von Munchausen, whose personal habits were suggestive of the symptom cluster associated with it.
Disease naming conventions which reference place names (such as Bornholm disease, Lyme disease, and Ebola virus disease) are properly termed toponymic, although an NLM/NIH online publication described them as eponymic. Diseases named for animals with which they are associated, usually as a vector, are properly styled as zoonymic; cat scratch fever and monkeypox are examples. Those named for association with a particular occupation or trade, such as nun's knee, tennis elbow, and mad hatter's disease, are properly described as occupational diseases.
In May 2015, the World Health Organization, in collaboration with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), released a statement on the Best Practices for the Naming of New Human Infectious Diseases "with the aim to minimize unnecessary negative impact of disease names on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare, and avoid causing offence to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups." These guidelines emerged in response to backlash against people and places, based on the vernacular names of infectious diseases such as Middle East respiratory syndrome, and the 2009 swine flu pandemic. These naming conventions are not intended to replace the International Classification of Diseases, but rather, are guidelines for scientists, national authorities, the national and international media and other stakeholders who may be the first to discuss a disease publicly.
Punctuation
In 1975, the Canadian National Institutes of Health held a conference that discussed the naming of diseases and conditions. This was reported in The Lancet where the conclusion was summarized as: "The possessive use of an eponym should be discontinued, since the author neither had nor owned the disorder." Medical journals, dictionaries and style guides remain divided on this issue. European journals tend towards continued possessive use, while US journals are largely discontinuing to do so. Trends in possessive usage vary among countries, journals, diseases.
The problem is that the possessive case received its misleading name for historical reasons and now even educated people, if they are not linguists, often make incorrect assumptions and decisions based on the name. Nevertheless, native speakers would neither accept the awkward construction "men department" as an alternative to "men's department" nor claim that the obligatory apostrophe in any way implies that men possess the department.
This case was termed the genitive until the 18th century and (like the genitive case in other languages) expresses much more than possession. For example, in the expressions "the school's headmaster" and "tomorrow's weather", the school does not own/possess the headmaster and tomorrow does not/will not own the weather. Disagreements about the use of possessive forms of nouns and of the apostrophe are due to the opinion that no apostrophe should be used, unless it is intended to express possession.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage says:
The dictionary also cites a study which found only 40% of possessive forms used to indicate actual possession.== Autoeponym == Associating an individual's name with a disease merely based on describing it confers only an eponymic; the individual must have been either affected by the disease or have died from it for the name to be termed auto-eponymic. Thus, an 'auto-eponym' is a medical condition named in honor of: a physician or other health care professional who was affected by or died as a result of the disease which he had described or identified; or, a patient, who was not a health care professional, but suffered from or died as a result of the disease. Auto-eponyms may use either the possessive or non-possessive form, with the preference to use the non-possessive form for a disease named for a physician or health care professional who first described it and the possessive form in cases of a disease named for a patient (commonly, but not always, the first patient) in whom the particular disease was identified. Autoeponyms listed in this entry conform to those conventions with regard to possessive and non-possessive forms.
Examples of autoeponyms include:
Rickettsiosis: in 1906, Howard Taylor Ricketts discovered that the bacteria that causes Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is carried by a tick. He injected himself with the pathogen.
Thomsen's disease: an autosomal dominant myotonia of voluntary muscles described by Asmus Julius Thomas Thomsen about himself and his family members.
Carrion disease: Peruvian medical student Daniel Alcides Carrión inoculated himself with Bartonella bacilliformis in 1885 to prove the link to this disease, characterized by "Oroya fever".
Lou Gehrig's disease: although Gehrig, a New York Yankees player of the early twentieth century, was not the first patient described as having amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the association of such a prominent individual with the then little-known disease resulted in his name becoming eponymous with it.
Continued use of eponyms
A current trend seeks to step away from use of eponymous disease names in favor of medical naming that focuses on causation or primary signs.
Arguments for this movement include that:
a national or ethnic bias may attach to the eponym chosen;
credit should have gone to a different person;
the same eponym may be applied to different diseases, causing confusion;
several eponyms refer to the same disease (e.g., amyloid degeneration is variously called Abercrombie disease, Abercrombie syndrome, and Virchow syndrome);
an eponym may prove to be invalid (e.g., Laurence–Moon–Bardet–Biedl syndrome, in which findings in the patients of Laurence and Moon were later found to differ from those of Bardet and Biedl).
an eponym would honor an individual who has been otherwise discredited. An example is Wegener's Granulomatosis; it was renamed granulomatosis with polyangiitis due to Dr. Wegener's Nazi ties.
its referent varies by country (e.g., sideropenic dysphagia is Plummer–Vinson syndrome in the US and Australia, both Paterson–Kelly syndrome and Paterson–Brown-Kelly syndrome in the UK, and Waldenstrom–Kjellberg syndrome in Scandinavia).
Arguments for maintaining eponyms include that:
an eponym may be shorter and more memorable than the medical name;
a medical name may prove to be incorrect;
a syndrome may have more than one cause, yet it remains useful to consider the totality of its features;
it continues to respect a person who may otherwise be forgotten.
Alphabetical list
Explanation of listing sequence
As described above, multiple eponyms can exist for the same disease. In these instances, each is listed individually (except as described in item 1 below), followed by an in-line parenthetical entry beginning 'aka' ('also known as') that lists all alternative eponyms. This facilitates the use of the list for a reader who knows a particular disease only by one of its eponyms, without the necessity of cross-linking entries.
It sometimes happens that an alternative eponym, if listed separately, would immediately alphabetically precede or succeed another eponymous entry for the same disease. One of three conventions have been applied to such cases:
1. No separate entry appears for the alternative eponym. It is listed only in the parenthetical 'aka' entry (e.g., Aarskog syndrome appears only as a parenthetical 'aka' entry to Aarskog–Scott syndrome).
2. If eponymous names subsequent to the first are sequenced differently or the eponym is differentiated by another term (e.g., disease versus syndrome), alphabetical sequence dictates which is the linked version versus which is listed as the alternative (e.g., Abderhalden–Kaufmann–Lignac is the linked entry and Abderhalden–Lignac–Kaufmann is the parenthetical 'aka' alternative entry).
3. If the number of names included in two or more eponyms varies, the linked entry is the one which includes the most individual surnames (e.g., Alpers–Huttenlocher syndrome is the linked entry for the disease also known as Alpers disease or Alpers syndrome).
Some eponyms have an alternative entry that includes the name(s) of additional individuals. An example is Adams-Stokes syndrome; one of its alternative eponyms is Gerbec–Morgagni–Adams–Stokes syndrome. The entry for Adams-Stokes syndrome only names the two individuals (Adams and Stokes) whose names are associated with the entry as listed; a later, separate, entry for the alternative Gerbec–Morgagni–Adams–Stokes syndrome names all four of the individuals (Gerbec, Morgani, Adams, and Stokes) who are associated with the longer-named entry.
A
Aarskog–Scott syndrome (aka Aarskog disease, Aarskog syndrome, Scott–Aarskog syndrome) – Dagfinn Aarskog, Charles I. Scott Jr.
Aase–Smith syndrome (aka Aase syndrome) – Jon Morton Aase, David Weyhe Smith
Abdallat–Davis–Farrage syndrome – Adnan Al Abdallat, S.M. Davis, James Robert Farrage
Abderhalden–Kaufmann–Lignac syndrome (aka Abderhalden–Lignac–Kaufmann disease) – Emil Abderhalden, Eduard Kauffman, George Lignac
Abercrombie disease (aka Abercrombie syndrome) – John Abercrombie
Adams–Oliver syndrome – Forrest H. Adams, Clarence Paul Oliver
Adams–Stokes syndrome (aka Gerbec–Morgagni–Adams–Stokes syndrome, Gerbezius–Morgagni–Adams–Stokes syndrome, Stokes–Adams syndrome) – Robert Adams, William Stokes
Adson–Coffey syndrome – Alfred Washington Adson, Jay R. Coffey
Aguecheek's disease – Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Shakespearean literary character
Ahumada–Del Castillo syndrome – Juan Carlos Ahumada Sotomayor, Enrique Benjamin Del Castillo
Aicardi–Goutières syndrome – Jean Aicardi, Francoise Goutieres
Albright disease (aka Albright hereditary osteodystrophy, Albright syndrome, McCune–Albright syndrome) – Fuller Albright
Albright–Butler–Bloomberg disease – Fuller Albright, Allan Macy Butler, Esther Bloomberg
Albright IV syndrome (aka Martin–Albright syndrome) – Fuller Albright
Alibert–Bazin syndrome – Jean-Louis-Marc Alibert, Pierre-Antoine-Ernest Bazin
Alice in Wonderland syndrome (aka Todd syndrome) – Alice, literary character in works of Lewis Carroll
Alpers–Huttenlocher syndrome (aka Alpers disease, Alpers syndrome) – Bernard Jacob Alpers, Peter Huttenlocher
Andersen–Tawil syndrome (aka Andersen syndrome) – Ellen Andersen, Al-Rabi Tawil
Anton–Babinski syndrome (aka Anton syndrome) – Gabriel Anton, Joseph Babinski
Aran–Duchenne disease (aka Aran–Duchenne spinal muscular atrophy) – François-Amilcar Aran, Guillaume Duchenne
Asperger syndrome (aka Asperger disorder) – Hans Asperger
Ayerza–Arrillaga syndrome (aka Ayerza–Arrillaga disease, Ayerza disease, Ayerza syndrome) – Abel Ayerza, Francisco Arrillaga
B
Babinski–Fröhlich syndrome – Joseph Babinski, Alfred Fröhlich
Balo concentric sclerosis (aka Balo disease) – József Mátyás Baló
Bannayan–Riley–Ruvalcaba syndrome – George A. Bannayan, Harris D. Riley Jr., Rogelio H. A. Ruvalcaba
Bannayan–Zonana syndrome – George A. Bannayan, Jonathan X. Zonana
Bardet–Biedl syndrome (formerly, aka Laurence–Moon–Bardet–Biedl syndrome, a construct now deemed invalid. For fuller explanation, see Laurence–Moon–Bardet–Biedl syndrome) – Georges Bardet, Arthur Biedl
Barraquer–Simons syndrome – Luis Barraquer Roviralta, Arthur Simons
Barré–Liéou syndrome – Jean Alexandre Barré, Yang-Choen Liéou
Basedow disease (aka Basedow syndrome, Begbie disease, Flajan disease, Flajani–Basedow syndrome, Graves disease, Graves–Basedow disease, Marsh disease, Morbus Basedow) – Karl Adolph von Basedow
Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome – John Bruce Beckwith, Hans-Rudolf Wiedemann
Berardinelli–Seip congenital lipodystrophy – Waldemar Berardinelli, Martin Seip
Bernard–Horner syndrome (aka Horner syndrome) – Claude Bernard, Johann Friedrich Horner
Bernard–Soulier syndrome – Jean Bernard, Jean Pierre Soulier
Bernhardt–Roth paraesthesia – Martin Bernhardt, Vladimir Karlovich Roth
Besnier–Boeck–Schaumann disease – Ernest Henri Besnier, Cæsar Peter Møller Boeck, Jörgen Nilsen Schaumann
Bing–Horton syndrome – Paul Robert Bing, Bayard Taylor Horton
Birt–Hogg–Dubé syndrome – Arthur Birt, Georgina Hogg, William Dubé
Bland–White–Garland syndrome – Edward Franklin Bland, Paul Dudley White, Joseph Garland
Bloch–Sulzberger syndrome – Bruno Bloch, Marion Baldur Sulzberger
Blocq disease (aka Blocq syndrome) – Paul Blocq
Bourneville–Pringle disease – Désiré-Magloire Bourneville, John James Pringle
Brachman de Lange syndrome – Winfried Robert Clemens Brachmann, Cornelia Catharina de Lange
Brailsford–Morquio syndrome – James Frederick Brailsford, Luís Morquio
Brissaud–Sicard syndrome – Édouard Brissaud, Jean-Athanase Sicard
Bruck–de Lange disease – Franz Bruck, Cornelia Catharina de Lange
C
Caffey–Silverman syndrome – John Patrick Caffey, William Silverman
Camurati–Engelmann disease (aka Camurati–Engelmann syndrome) – M. Camurati, G. Engelmann
Capgras delusion (aka Capgras syndrome) – Jean Marie Joseph Capgras
Carney–Stratakis syndrome – J. Aidan Carney, C. A. Stratakis
Céstan–Chenais syndrome – Étienne Jacques Marie Raymond Céstan, Louis Jean Chennais
Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease – Jean-Martin Charcot, Pierre Marie, Howard Henry Tooth
Chédiak–Higashi syndrome – Alexander Chédiak, Otokata Higashi
Chiari–Frommel syndrome – Johann Baptist Chiari, Richard Frommel
Christ–Siemens–Touraine syndrome – Josef Christ, Hermann Werner Siemens, Albert Touraine
Clerambault–Kandinsky syndrome – Gaëtan Gatian de Clerambault, Victor Khrisanfovich Kandinsky
Collet–Sicard syndrome – Frédéric Justin Collet, Jean-Athanase Sicard
Cotard delusion (aka Cotard syndrome) – Jules Cotard
Cowden syndrome (aka Cowden disease) – Rachel Cowden
Crigler–Najjar syndrome – John Fielding Crigler, Victor Assad Najjar
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease – Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt, Alfons Maria Jakob
Cruveilhier–Baumgarten disease – Jean Cruveilhier, Paul Clemens von Baumgarten
Curschmann–Batten–Steinert syndrome – Hans Curschmann, Frederick Batten, Hans Gustav Steinert
D
Danbolt–Closs syndrome – Niels Christian Gauslaa Danbolt, Karl Philipp Closs
Dejerine–Sottas disease – Joseph Jules Dejerine, Jules Sottas
Dennie–Marfan syndrome – Charles Clayton Dennie, Antoine Marfan
Devic disease (aka Devic syndrome) – Eugène Devic
Diogenes syndrome (aka Havisham syndrome, Miss Havisham syndrome, Plyushkin syndrome)– the Greek philosopher Diogenes of Sinope (usage is deemed a misnomer, as Diogenes did not exhibit these symptoms)
Dubin–Johnson syndrome – Isadore Dubin, Frank Bacchus Johnson
Duchenne–Aran disease – Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne, François-Amilcar Aran
Duchenne muscular dystrophy – Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne
Duncan disease (aka Duncan syndrome, Purtilo syndrome) – Duncan family (6 of 18 males had the condition)
Dupuytren contracture (aka Dupuytren disease) – Baron Guillaume Dupuytren
E
Ehlers–Danlos syndromes – Edvard Ehlers, Henri-Alexandre Danlos
Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy – Alan Eglin Heathecote Emery, Fritz E. Dreifuss
Erb–Duchenne palsy (aka Erb palsy) – Wilhelm Heinrich Erb, Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne
Erdheim–Chester disease (aka Erdheim–Chester syndrome) – Jakob Erdheim, William Chester
F
Fitz-Hugh–Curtis syndrome – Thomas Fitz-Hugh Jr., Arthur Hale Curtis
Foix–Alajouanine syndrome – Charles Foix, Théophile Alajouanine
Foix–Chavany–Marie syndrome – Charles Foix, Jean Alfred Émile Chavany, Julien Marie
Forbes–Albright syndrome – Anne Pappenheimer Forbes, Fuller Albright
Fregoli delusion – (aka Fregoli syndrome) Leopoldo Fregoli, an Italian actor
Fritsch–Asherman syndrome (aka Fritsch syndrome) – Heinrich Fritsch, Joseph Asherman
G
Gerbezius–Morgagni–Adams–Stokes syndrome (aka Adams–Stokes syndrome, Gerbec–Morgagni–Adams–Stokes syndrome, Stokes–Adams syndrome) – Marko Gerbec (latinized as Gerbezius), Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Robert Adams, William Stokes
Gianotti-Crosti syndrome - Ferdinando Gianotti, Agostino Crosti
Goldberg-Shprintzen syndrome - R. B. Goldberg, R. J. Shprintzen
Graves–Basedow disease – Robert James Graves, Karl Adolph von Basedow
Guillain–Barré syndrome – Georges Guillain, Jean Alexandre Barré
Guillain–Barré–Strohl syndrome – Georges Guillain, Jean Alexandre Barré, André Strohl
H
Hailey–Hailey disease – Hugh Edward Hailey, William Howard Hailey
Hallervorden–Spatz disease – Julius Hallervorden, Hugo Spatz - in disuse, due to Nazi association
Hand–Schüller–Christian disease – Alfred Hand, Artur Schüller, Henry Asbury Christian
Hartnup disease (aka Hartnup disorder) – the Hartnup family, in which causative gene was identified
Havisham syndrome (aka Diogenes syndrome, Miss Havisham syndrome, Plyushkin syndrome) – Miss Havisham, a literary character in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations
Hecht–Scott syndrome – Jacqueline T. Hecht, Charles I. Scott, Jr
Henoch–Schönlein purpura – Eduard Heinrich Henoch, Johann Lukas Schönlein
Hurler–Scheie syndrome – Gertrud Hurler, Harold Glendon Scheie
Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome – Jonathan Hutchinson, Hastings Gilford
I
J
Jakob–Creutzfeldt disease – Alfons Maria Jakob, Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt
Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome - Anton Jervell, Fred Lange-Nielsen
Johanson–Blizzard syndrome – Ann Johanson, Robert M. Blizzard
Jones–Smith Syndrome – Kenneth Lyons Jones, David Weyhe Smith
K
Kasabach–Merritt syndrome – Haig Haigouni Kasabach, Katharine Krom Merritt
Kashin–Beck disease – Nicolai Ivanowich Kashin, Evgeny Vladimirovich Bek
Kearns–Sayre syndrome – Thomas P. Kearns, George Pomeroy Sayre
Kenny-Caffey syndrome – Frederic Marshal Kenny, John Patrick Caffey
Kimmelstiel–Wilson disease – Paul Kimmelstiel, Clifford Wilson
Kugelberg–Welander disease – Erik Klas Henrik Kugelberg, Lisa Welander
Kuttner tumor – Hermann Küttner
L
Lady Windermere syndrome – Lady Windermere, character in an Oscar Wilde play
Lafora disease (aka Lafora progressive myoclonic epilepsy) – Gonzalo Rodriguez Lafora
Laron syndrome (aka Laron dwarfism and Laron-type dwarfism) – Zvi Laron
Laurence–Moon syndrome – John Zachariah Laurence, Robert Charles Moon
Laurence–Moon–Bardet–Biedl syndrome (aka Laurence–Moon–Biedl–Bardet syndrome and Laurence–Moon–Biedl syndrome - all now deemed invalid constructs, as the symptom complex of Laurence and Moon patients differed from that of Bardet and Beidl patients) – John Zachariah Laurence, Robert Charles Moon, Georges Bardet, Arthur Biedl
Lazarus syndrome – Lazarus of Bethany, an individual in New Testament
Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease (aka Legg-Calvé–Perthes syndrome, aka Legg-Perthes disease, aka Perthes disease) – Arthur Legg, Jacques Calvé, Georg Perthes
Leigh disease (aka Leigh syndrome) – Denis Archibald Leigh
Leiner disease (aka Leiner syndrome) – Karl Leiner
Leishmaniasis (aka Leishmaniosis) – Sir William Boog Leishman
Lennox–Gastaut syndrome (aka Lennox syndrome) – William Gordon Lennox, Henri Jean Pascal Gastaut
Lenz-Majewski syndrome (aka Lenz-Majewski hyperostotic dwarfism) - Widukind Lenz, Frank Majewski
Lewandowsky–Lutz dysplasia – Felix Lewandowsky, Wilhelm Lutz
Li–Fraumeni syndrome – Frederick Pei Li, Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr.
Lisfranc injury (aka Lisfranc dislocation, aka Lisfranc fracture) – Jacques Lisfranc de St. Martin
Lobomycosis (aka Lobo disease, aka Jorge Lobo disease) – Jorge Lobo
Lou Gehrig's disease – Lou Gehrig, New York Yankee baseball player
Lown–Ganong–Levine syndrome - Bernard Lown, William Francis Ganong, Jr., and Samuel Levine
M
Machado–Joseph Azorean disease (aka Machado–Joseph disease, aka Machado disease, aka Joseph disease) – William Machado & Antone Joseph, patriarchs of the 2 Azorean families in which disease was first identified
Marie Antoinette syndrome (aka Thomas More syndrome) – Queen Marie Antoinette, said to have experienced it
Marie–Foix–Alajouanine syndrome - Pierre Marie, Charles Foix, Théophile Alajouanine
Marshall–Smith- Weaver syndrome (aka Marshall-Smith syndrome, aka Marshall-Smith type accelerated skeletal maturation syndrome) – Richard E. Marshall, David Weyhe Smith, David Weaver
NB: To differentiate 2 identically named syndromes, we've added parenthetical clinical descriptors to each:
Marshall syndrome – {ectodermal dysplasia syndrome with auditory defect} – D. Marshall
Marshall syndrome – {post-inflammatory elastolysis and acquired acute cutis laxa Type II} – J. Marshall
Martin–Albright syndrome (aka Albright IV syndrome) – August E. Martin, Fuller Albright
Mayer–Rokitansky–Küster–Hauser syndrome – (aka Müllerian agenesis, aka Müllerian aplasia) – August Franz Josef Karl Mayer, Carl von Rokitansky, Hermann Küster, Georges Andre Hauser
McCune–Albright syndrome – (aka Albright disease, aka Albright hereditary osteodystrophy, aka Albright syndrome) – Donovan James McCune, Fuller Albright
Meckel–Gruber syndrome (aka Meckel syndrome) – Johann Meckel, Georg Gruber
Miss Havisham syndrome (aka Diogenes syndrome, Havisham syndrome, and Plyushkin syndrome) – Miss Havisham, a literary character in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations
Mortimer's disease – Mrs. Mortimer, a patient who experienced it
Mulvihill–Smith syndrome – John J. Mulvihill, David Weyhe Smith
N
O
Opitz–Kaveggia syndrome – John M. Opitz, Elisabeth G. Kaveggia
Osgood–Schlatter disease – Robert Bayley Osgood, Carl B. Schlatter
Osler–Weber–Rendu syndrome – William Osler, Frederick Parkes Weber, Henri Jules Louis Marie Rendu
P
Paget's disease of bone (aka Paget's disease) – James Paget
Paget's disease of the breast (aka Paget's disease of the nipple) – James Paget
Paget–Schroetter disease (aka Paget–Schroetter syndrome and aka Paget–von Schrötter disease) – James Paget, Leopold von Schrötter
Pelizaeus–Merzbacher disease – Friedrich Christoph Pelizaeus, Ludwig Merzbacher
Perthes syndrome – Arthur Legg, Jacques Calvé, Georg Perthes
Pfaundler–Hurler syndrome – Meinhard von Pfaundler, Gertrud Hurler
Plummer–Vinson syndrome (aka Kelly–Patterson syndrome, aka Paterson–Brown–Kelly syndrome, and aka Waldenstrom–Kjellberg syndrome) – Henry Stanley Plummer and Porter Paisley Vinson
Plyushkin syndrome (aka Diogenes syndrome, aka Havisham syndrome, and aka Miss Havisham syndrome)– Stepan Plyushkin, a fictional character in Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls
Potocki–Shaffer syndrome – Lorraine Potocki, Lisa G. Shaffer
Proteus syndrome – Proteus, Greek sea god who could shape-shift
Purtilo syndrome (aka Duncan disease and aka Duncan syndrome) – David Theodore Purtilio
Q
R
Raymond Céstan syndrome – Étienne Jacques Marie Raymond Céstan
Reiter syndrome – Hans Conrad Julius Reiter (This is now a strongly discouraged eponym due to Dr. Reiter's Nazi party ties. The disease is now known as reactive arthritis.)
Riley–Day syndrome – Conrad Milton Riley, Richard Lawrence Day
Riley–Smith syndrome – Harris D. Riley Jr., William R. Smith
Rothmund–Thomson syndrome – August von Rothmund, Matthew Sydney Thomson
Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome – Jack Herbert Rubinstein, Hooshang Taybi
Ruvalcaba–Myhre syndrome – Rogelio H. A. Ruvalcaba, S. Myhre
Ruvalcaba–Myhre–Smith syndrome – Rogelio H. A. Ruvalcaba, S. Myhre, David Weyhe Smith
Ruzicka–Goerz–Anton syndrome – T. Ruzicka, G. Goerz, I. Anton-Lamprecht
S
Sanjad-Sakati syndrome (a.k.a Sanjad–Sakati–Richardson–Kirk syndrome) – Sami A. Sanjad, Nadia Awni Sakati, Ricky J Richardson, Jeremy MW Kirk
Schinzel–Giedion syndrome – Albert Schinzel, Andreas Giedion
Scott–Aarskog syndrome (aka Aarskog-Scott syndrome, Aarskog disease, Aarskog syndrome) - Dagfinn Aarskog, Charles I. Scott, Jr.
Sertoli–Leydig cell tumour - Enrico Sertoli, Franz Leydig a sex-cord stromal tumor, (aka arrhenoblastoma)
Shwachman–Bodian–Diamond syndrome – Harry Shwachman, Martin Bodian, Louis Klein Diamond
Silver–Russell syndrome (a.k.a. Silver–Russell dwarfism) – Henry Silver, Alexander Russell
Sjögren–Larsson syndrome – Torsten Sjögren, Tage Konrad Leopold Larsson
Smith–Lemli–Opitz syndrome – David Weyhe Smith, Luc Lemli, John Marius Opitz
Stein-Leventhal Syndrome - Irving F. Stein, Sr. and Michael L. Leventhal (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, PCOS)
Stevens–Johnson syndrome – Albert Mason Stevens, Frank Chambliss Johnson
Sturge–Weber syndrome – William Allen Sturge, Frederick Parkes Weber
T
Tatton-Brown–Rahman syndrome – Katrina Tatton-Brown, Nazneen Rahman
Theileriosis – Sir Arnold Theiler
Temple–Baraitser syndrome – Karin Temple and Michael Baraitser
Timothy syndrome - Katherine W. Timothy
Todd syndrome (a.k.a. Alice in Wonderland syndrome) – John Todd
Tourette syndrome – Georges Albert Édouard Brutus Gilles de la Tourette
U
V
Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada disease – Alfred Vogt, Yoshizo Koyanagi, Einosuke Harada
Von Hippel–Lindau disease – Eugen von Hippel, Arvid Vilhelm Lindau
Von Recklinghausen's disease – Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen
Von Zumbusch (acute) generalized pustular psoriasis) – (a.k.a. Zumbusch psoriasis) Leo Ritter von Zumbusch
Von Zumbusch syndrome (a.k.a. Csillag disease, Hallopeau disease, Zumbusch syndrome) – Leo Ritter von Zumbusch
W
Waldenstrom–Kjellberg syndrome – Jan G. Waldenström, S. R. Kjellberg
Waterhouse–Friderichsen syndrome – Rupert Waterhouse, Carl Friderichsen
Weber–Christian disease – Frederick Parkes Weber, Henry Asbury Christian
Wegener's granulomatosis – Friedrich Wegener (This usage is now formally discouraged by professional medical societies due to the Nazi associations of the eponymous physician. The disease is now known as granulomatosis with polyangiitis.)
Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome – Carl Wernicke, Sergei Korsakoff
Westerhof–Beemer–Cormane syndrome – Wiete Westerhof, Frederikus Antonius Beemer, R. H.Cormane
Wittmaack–Ekbom syndrome – Theodur Wittmaack, Karl-Axel Ekbom
Wohlfart–Kugelberg–Welander disease – Karl Gunnar Vilhelm Wohlfart, Erik Klas Henrik Kugelberg, Lisa Welander
Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome – Louis Wolff, John Parkinson, Paul Dudley White
X
Y
Z
Zahorsky syndrome II (aka Mikulicz Aphthae, Mikulicz disease, Sutton disease 2, Zahorsky disease) – John Zahorsky
Zimmermann–Laband syndrome (a.k.a. Laband syndrome, Laband–Zimmermann syndrome) – Karl Wilhelm Zimmermann
Zollinger–Ellison syndrome – Robert Zollinger, Edwin Ellison
Zondek–Bromberg–Rozin syndrome (a.k.a. Zondek syndrome) – Bernhard Zondek, Yehuda M. Bromberg, R.Rozin
Zuelzer–Kaplan syndrome II (a.k.a. Crosby syndrome) – Wolf William Zuelzer, E. Kaplan
Zuelzer–Ogden syndrome – Wolf William Zuelzer, Frank Nevin Ogden
Zumbusch psoriasis (a.k.a. von Zumbusch (acute) generalized pustular psoriasis) – Leo Ritter von Zumbusch
Zumbusch syndrome (a.k.a. Csillag disease, Hallopeau disease, von Zumbusch syndrome) – Leo Ritter von Zumbusch
See also
List of eponymous medical signs, a list of medical signs named after people
References
External links
Whonamedit?, a site dedicated to medical eponyms and their namesakes.