Clinical Review
Hyphenated History: Erb-Duchenne Brachial Plexus Palsy
Am J Orthop. 2008 July;37(7):356-358
Author and Disclosure Information
Carrie Schmitt, BA, Charles T. Mehlman, DO, MPH, and A. Ludwig Meiss, MD
Ms. Schmitt is a Medical Writer, Division of Orthopaedics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Dr. Mehlman is Associate Professor, Division of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Director of Musculoskeletal Outcomes and Co-Director of the Brachial Plexus Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Dr. Meiss is a staff member, Division of Orthopaedics, University of Hamburg College of Medicine, Hamburg, Germany; Professor Emeritus, Eppendorf University Hospital, Hamburg, Germany; and Consultant, Altona Children's Hospital, Hamburg, Germany.
Throughout history, the discoveries of their predecessors have led physicians to revolutionary advances in the understanding and practice of medicine. The result is a plethora of hyphenated eponyms paying tribute to individuals connected through time by a common interest. The history of Guillaume Duchenne de Boulogne, the “father of electrotherapy and electrodiagnosis,” and Wilhelm Heinrich Erb, the “father of neurology,” offers insight into the personal and professional lives of these astute clinicians and their collaborative medical breakthrough in the area of neurologic paralysis affecting the upper limbs.