Félix Balzer (4 April 1849 – 15 March 1929) was a French
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
, specialising in
dermatology
Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the Human skin, skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A List of dermatologists, ...
and
pathology
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 ...
.
Balzer gave an early description of
pseudoxanthoma elasticum
Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a genetic disease that causes mineralization of elastic fibers in some tissues. The most common problems arise in the skin and eyes, and later in blood vessels in the form of premature atherosclerosis. PXE is cau ...
in 1884. He used the term "''xanthome elastique''" but subsequently it was found not to be a form of
xanthomatosis. Balzer is also responsible for coining the term "''adénomes sébacés''" (adenoma sebaceum) to describe the papular facial rash of
tuberous sclerosis
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a rare multisystem autosomal dominant genetic disease that causes non-cancerous tumours to grow in the brain and on other vital organs such as the kidneys, heart, liver, eyes, lungs and skin. A combinatio ...
. Again, this term proved to be incorrect since the papules were neither
adenoma
An adenoma is a benign tumor of epithelium, epithelial tissue with glandular origin, glandular characteristics, or both. Adenomas can grow from many glandular organ (anatomy), organs, including the adrenal glands, pituitary gland, thyroid, prosta ...
nor derived from
sebaceous glands
A sebaceous gland or oil gland is a microscopic exocrine gland in the skin that opens into a hair follicle to secrete an oily or waxy matter, called sebum, which lubricates the hair and skin of mammals. In humans, sebaceous glands occur in t ...
.
Between 1880 and 1887, Balzer was a director of the histology laboratory in the Faculty of the hospital Saint Louis. He became a member of the ''Académie de Médecine'' in 1908. He was also president of ''la Société Française de Dermatologie''.
Papers
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See also
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Timeline of tuberous sclerosis
External links
Biography
References
1849 births
1929 deaths
French dermatologists
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