Guido Werdnig ( Ratschach, 20 June 1844 – 26 April 1919) was an Austrian

neurologist Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

. Werdnig, together with Johann Hoffmann of the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

, were the first doctors to describe

Werdnig–Hoffmann disease Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disorder that results in the loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting. It is usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood and if left untreated it is the most common genetic ...

, now known as ''

spinal muscular atrophy Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disorder that results in the loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting. It is usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood and if left untreated it is the most common geneti ...

type 1''.Peter Beighton, Greta Beighton: ''The Man Behind the Syndrome.'' Springer, 1986, ISBN 978-1-4471-1417-8, p. 193.

References

Austrian neurologists Physicians from Austria-Hungary 1844 births 1919 deaths Spinal muscular atrophy {{Austria-med-bio-stub