Fritz de Quervain (4 May 1868 – 24 January 1940) was a Swiss surgeon born in Sion. He was a leading authority on thyroid disease.

In 1892 he received his doctorate from the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

, and several years later became director of the surgical department at a hospital in

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds (; archaic ) is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura Mountains at an altitude of 992 metres, a few kilometres south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne, Biel/Bienne, and Fribourg, ...

in the canton of Neuchâtel. In 1910 he was appointed to the chair of surgery at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

, and from 1918 was a professor of surgery at

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

and director of the Inselspital. Quervain published many papers devoted to

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, it is a butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck below the Adam's apple. It consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by ...

disease, ranging from the

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

of the disease to technical procedures on thyroidectomy. His book ''Spezielle chirurgische Diagnostik'' (Special Surgical Diagnosis) was a leading textbook on surgery in its day. He co-developed an operating table which won the Grand Prix at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1914. goitre. Two eponymous diseases are named after Quervain: * De Quervain's thyroiditis: Subacute, non-bacterial inflammation of the thyroid gland, often after

viral infection A viral disease (or viral infection) occurs when an organism's body is invaded by pathogenic viruses, and infectious virus particles (virions) attach to and enter susceptible cells. Examples include the common cold, gastroenteritis, COVID-19, t ...

respiratory tract The respiratory tract is the subdivision of the respiratory system involved with the process of conducting air to the alveoli for the purposes of gas exchange in mammals. The respiratory tract is lined with respiratory epithelium as respirato ...

. * De Quervain's disease: inflammation of the sheath or tunnel that surrounds two

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue, dense fibrous connective tissue that connects skeletal muscle, muscle to bone. It sends the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system, while withstanding tensi ...

s that control movement of the

thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...

. Sometimes called "washer woman's sprain".

External links

''Fritz de Quervain''
at Who Named It

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quervain, Fritz de 1868 births 1940 deaths People from Sion, Switzerland Swiss surgeons Swiss medical writers Textbook writers Academic staff of the University of Bern Academic staff of the University of Basel

See also

External links

References