DR. HENRI GOUGEROT – AN OUTSTANDING PHYSICIAN AND SCIENTIST

Abstract

The problem of medical eponyms is relevant and important for modern doctors and healthcare providers. The article discusses medical concepts that have gained their names from the proper name of the famous physician and scientist Dr.Henri Gougerot. The aim of this article is to trace the path of emergence of new medical terms on the basis of Dr.Henri Gougerot’s medical discoveries. This topic is of particular interest to those of who is going to become a doctor or who is interested in the history of medicine.

Full Text

Introduction. Henri Gougerot and was a French dermatologist born in 1881 in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine. He spent his life doing researches and discovering a number of dermatological diseases and passed away in 1955. In 1908, he earned his doctorate from the University of Paris and was appointed as Professor Agrégé at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris. Later on, he was offered the position of Chief Physician at the Saint Louis Hospital. Gougerot had a lot to offer in World War I, and for that he was awarded the French «Croix de Guerre». He was also a writer who published more than 2500 articles. To name some of them we can mention: «Archives dermato-syphiligraphiques de la clinique de l’hopital Saint Louis» and with Ferdinand-Jean Darier and Raymond Jacques Adrien Sabouraud, he edited «la nouvelle pratique Dermatologique», which consisted of 8 volumes all about dermatology. All what we mentioned is not even half of what Gougerot achieved in his lifetime but what I chose to talk about is his Eponyms. But first of all, we should answer the question what is an eponym. The definition of an eponym is the name of an object or activity that is also the name of the person who first produced the object or did the activity.

Relevance. The problem of medical eponyms is relevant and important for modern doctors and healthcare providers. The article discusses medical concepts that have gained their names from the proper name of the famous physician and scientist Henri Gougerot. This topic is of particular interest to those of who is going to become a doctor or who is interested in the healthcare.

The research objective. The aim of this article is to trace the path of emergence of new medical terms on the basis of Henri Gougerot’s medical discoveries.

Methods. The design of research is observational and historical study. We use an ecological approach actualizing the relationship between the appropriate culture and the idea of professional know ledge continuity [1]. Ethical review: ethical rules were not broken during this research. Statistical analysis: mathematic method as statistical data analysis methods was not used.

The Results and Discussion. The word is back-formed from euponymous from the greek eponymos which means giving name [2, 3, 4]. For example, the eponyms that will be mentioned today are: Gougerot’s disease, Gougerot-Blum disease, Gougerot-Carteaud Papillomatosis, Gougerot Hailey Hailey disease and Gougerot Ruiter disease.

Firstly, we’ll start with Gougerot’s disease. This is an autoimmune disease. It could also be called Sjögren's syndrome. It's a long-term autoimmune disease that affects the body's moisture-producing glands (lacrimal and salivary) and often seriously affects other organs systems, such as the lungs, kidneys and nervous system. The primary symptoms could be dryness in the mouth and eyes, pain and fatigue. Dry skin, vaginal dryness, a chronic cough, numbness in the arms and legs, feeling tired, muscle and joint pains, and thyroid problems could also be noticed. The risk of getting lymphoma when affected with this disease increases by 5%. The exact cause of the disease is unclear but it is believed to involve a combination of genetics and an environmental trigger such as exposure to a virus or bacterium. Treatment includes eye care, dental care, musculoskeletal and systemic therapy.

Secondly, Gougerot Blum disease is a peculiar form of haemorrhagic pigmentary dermatosis characterized by lichenoid plaques on the legs. A variant of pigmented purpuric dermatitis, a skin condition characterized by minute, rust-colored to violaceous, lichenoid papules that tend to fuse into plaques of various hues. Both sexes can be affected, but prevalent in females onset in middle life.

The third eponym is Gougerot-Carteaud Papillomatosis. This is a rare disease. It consists of papillomatosis that appear between breasts and in the middle of the neck as round, discrete and grey-brown papules. They can also be cornified lesions with sharply defined borders. As the epidermis thickens, the lesions increase in size and some may resemble juvenile warts. This disease could be inherited autosomally and it is dominant.

Next on, we have the Gougerot Hailey Hailey disease. It affects both sexes with onset in adolescence or early adulthood. It is characterized by pemphigus with clusters of small vesicles arising on an erythematous base. In the center, the lesions show healing processes with pigmentation or moist areas. They tend to spread peripherally, involving the neck, axillae, groin and the genital, perianal, periumbilical and other regions being limited to a few sites at one time and occasionally to a single area. These lesions do not cause any scars after the healing process.

And finally, Gougerot-Ruiter syndrome will be considered. This is an allergic skin disease characterized by erythema, papules, vesicles, pustules, exudation, urticarial oedema, cutaneous haemorrhage, telangiectases, and arteriolitis of the cutaneous vessels. The symptoms could be fever, malaise, arthralgia and/or gastrointestinal manifestations. By the use of specific antisera it was possible to demonstrate that IgG and C′3 are present in the areas of fibrinoid necrosis of capillaries and small vessels in the corium. The presence of IgG and complement and the absence of other plasma proteins suggest that an immunologic process is taking place in the pathogenesis of AV.

Conclusion.

Thus, Dr. Henri Gougerot was the forefather of five medical terms and concepts that have gained their names from the proper name of this famous physician and scientist. The ways of emergence of new medical terms on the basis of outstanding Gougerot’s medical discoveries are of great interest to future doctors.