Portrait of swedish professor arvid lindau

Arvid Vilhelm Lindau (23 July 1892 – 7 September 1958) was a Swedish

pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

and

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology— a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

born in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

. Lindau studied medicine at the

University of Lund Lund University () is a public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially founded in 1666 on the ...

and received his training in

bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the Morphology (biology), morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the iden ...

at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

and at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

(1931/32 as a Rockefeller scholarship holder). In 1933 he succeeded

John Forssman Magnus John Karl August Forssman (22 November 1868 – 12 March 1947) was a Swedish pathologist and bacteriologist born in Kalmar.Arvid Vilhelm Lindau
@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

Lindau published more than forty papers on pathology,

neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

, and

. In the latter field, he was involved with issues such as

bovine tuberculosis Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The members of this group are classif ...

, Boeck's sarcoid and Wasserman reaction, to name a few. At the Institute of Pathological

Anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

, he wrote an important thesis titled ''Studien über Kleinhirncysten. Bau, Pathogenese und Beziehungen zur Angiomatosae retinae'', in which he described the relationship between

cerebellar The cerebellum (: cerebella or cerebellums; Latin for 'little brain') is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as it or e ...

cysts and their correlation to tumors (angiomata) of the

retina The retina (; or retinas) is the innermost, photosensitivity, light-sensitive layer of tissue (biology), tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some Mollusca, molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focus (optics), focused two-dimensional ...

. In 1926, Lindau was the first to describe a coherent link between the retinal, cerebellar and visceral components of a disease he called "angiomatosis of the central nervous system". This disease is characterized by tumors of the retina and the brain, along with cysts of several visceral organs such as the

kidneys In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and right in the retro ...

pancreas The pancreas (plural pancreases, or pancreata) is an Organ (anatomy), organ of the Digestion, digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdominal cavity, abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a ...

, and

adrenal gland The adrenal glands (also known as suprarenal glands) are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol. They are found above the kidneys. Each gland has an outer adrenal corte ...

s. Lindau's research soon attracted the attention of famed

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, ...

Harvey Cushing Harvey Williams Cushing (April 8, 1869 – October 7, 1939) was an American neurosurgery, neurosurgeon, pathologist, writer, and draftsman. A pioneer of brain surgery, he was the first exclusive neurosurgeon and the first person to describe Cush ...

, who named the disorder "Lindau's disease". By 1964 the medical community had become more aware of early 20th century research on retinal angiomata conducted by

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

Eugen von Hippel Eugen Adolf Arthur von Hippel (3 August 1867 – 4 July 1939) was a German ophthalmologist born in Königsberg. Family Eugen is the son of Arthur von Hippel (physician), Arthur von Hippel, brother of Robert von Hippel and Richard von Hippel, an ...

, and today the disease is named

Von Hippel–Lindau disease Von Hippel–Lindau disease (VHL), also known as Von Hippel–Lindau syndrome, is a rare disease, rare genetic disorder with multisystem involvement. It is characterized by visceral cysts and benign tumors with potential for subsequent malignant t ...

Partial bibliography

* ''Studien über Kleinhirncysten. Bau, Pathogenese und Beziehungen zur Angiomatosis retinae'', (doctoral thesis); Acta pathologica et microbiologica Scandinavica, Copenhagen, 1926, 3 (supplement): 1-128. * ''Angiomatosis retinae''. Acta pathologica et microbiologica Scandinavica, Copenhagen, 1926, supplement 1: 77.Hippel-Lindau disease
@

References and external sources

Information on VHL disease

(biography of Arvid Lindau) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindau, Arvid 1892 births 1958 deaths People from Malmö Swedish pathologists Academic staff of Lund University Swedish bacteriologists

Partial bibliography

See also

References and external sources