Christian Georg Schmorl (2 May 1861 – 14 August 1932) was a German

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 ...

who was a native of

Mügeln Mügeln () is a town in the district Nordsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is located 9 km southwest of Oschatz and 14 km northwest of Döbeln. The town has a population of approximately 5,808 people. Geography Mügeln lies almost equi ...

in the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...

. He studied medicine at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, where in 1892 he obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

for

forensic medicine Forensic medicine is a broad term used to describe a group of medical specialties which deal with the examination and diagnosis of individuals who have been injured by or who have died because of external or unnatural causes such as poisoning, assa ...

. Up until 1894 he worked as an assistant under pathologist Felix Victor Birch-Hirschfeld at the university.Christian Georg Schmorl
at

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 ...

. For most of his career (1894-1931) he was associated with the city hospital in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

(Krankenhaus Dresden-Friedrichstadt). Schmorl is remembered for his work in

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...

and his studies of the human

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

. He created an histological stain especially designed to show the canaliculi and

lamellae Lamella (: lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal * Lame ...

in sections of bone. He also described protrusions of the

intervertebral disc An intervertebral disc (British English), also spelled intervertebral disk (American English), lies between adjacent vertebrae in the vertebral column. Each disc forms a fibrocartilaginous joint (a symphysis), to allow slight movement of the ver ...

into the

vertebral body Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spinal ...

. These protrusions are now known as Schmorl's nodes. Shortly before his death, Schmorl published ''Die Gesunde und Kranke Wirbelsäule'' (The Healthy and Sick Spine). He died from

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

caused by an infected finger, which he nicked in the process of dissecting a spine. In 1904 Schmorl coined the term

kernicterus Kernicterus is a bilirubin-induced brain dysfunction. The term was coined in 1904 by Christian Georg Schmorl. Bilirubin is a naturally occurring substance in the body of humans and many other animals, but it is neurotoxic when its concentration ...

to describe nuclear

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or, less frequently, greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving ...

of the

basal ganglia The basal ganglia (BG) or basal nuclei are a group of subcortical Nucleus (neuroanatomy), nuclei found in the brains of vertebrates. In humans and other primates, differences exist, primarily in the division of the globus pallidus into externa ...

. This condition was earlier identified in 1875 by pathologist

Johannes Orth Johannes Orth (14 January 1847 – 13 January 1923 in Berlin) was a German pathologist born in Wallmerod. He studied medicine at the universities of Heidelberg, Würzburg and Bonn, receiving his habilitation in 1872 while an assistant to Edua ...

(1847-1923).

References

Pioneers in the Scientific Study of Neonatal Jaundice and Kernicterus
Pediatrics / August 2000, Volume 106 / Issue 2.

School of Anatomy and Human Biology- The University of Western Australia * ''This article incorporates translated text from an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

.''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmorl, Christian Georg 1861 births 1932 deaths People from Nordsachsen People from the Kingdom of Saxony Leipzig University alumni German pathologists German histologists Deaths from sepsis