Germanicus Mirault was a French

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

who pioneered

cleft lip A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the palate (the roof of the mouth) contains an opening into the nasal cavi ...

surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

Early life

Germanicus Mirault was born in Angers on either 29 February or 1 March 1796 (1796 was a leap year). His father and grandfather were also surgeons, with his father specialising in

ophthalmology 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 ...

Education

Mirault first began studying medicine under his father in 1814. Moving to Paris to continue his studies, he presented his thesis in 1823 on

keratitis Keratitis is a condition in which the human eye, eye's cornea, the clear dome on the front surface of the eye, becomes inflammation, inflamed. The condition is often marked by moderate to intense pain and usually involves any of the following sy ...

Medical career

Together with Joseph-François Malgaigne, Mirault introduced flap transposition for cleft-lip closure.Mirault G. Deux lettres sur l'operation du bec-delievre. J Chir. 1844;2:257. In 1935, this work was championed by Victor Veau, who stated "Mirault is the genius of cleft lip surgery".Veau V. Bec de Lievre. Hypothese sur la malformation initiale. Ann Anat Pathol Paris. 1935;12:389. He made other key contributions to

maxillofacial Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) is a surgical specialty focusing on reconstructive surgery of the face, facial trauma surgery, the mouth, head and neck, and jaws, as well as facial plastic surgery including cleft lip and cleft palate s ...

surgical procedures, including the first

ligature Ligature may refer to: Language * Ligature (writing), a combination of two or more letters into a single symbol (typography and calligraphy) * Ligature (grammar), a morpheme that links two words Medicine * Ligature (medicine), a piece of suture us ...

of a human lingual artery in 1833 and pioneering a method of temporary occlusion of the eyelids when correcting a post-burn

ectropion Ectropion is a medical condition in which the lower eyelid turns outwards. It is one of the notable aspects of newborns exhibiting congenital harlequin-type ichthyosis, but ectropion can occur due to any weakening of tissue of the lower eyelid ...

, which is still in use today.

Awards

Mirault was awarded by the

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

in 1869 for his work on eyelid surgery.

Death

Mirault died on 19 January 1879 in Angers.

References

French surgeons People from Angers 1796 births 1879 deaths {{france-med-bio-stub