Heinrich Unverricht (18 September 1853 – 22 April 1912) was a German

internist Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of th ...

who was a native of Breslau.

Education and Medical career

In 1877 he obtained his doctorate from the

University of Breslau A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, where he was a student of Michael Anton Biermer (1827-1892). Later he became professor at

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

(1886) and

Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

(1888), where he resigned in 1892 for political reasons, and became director of the city hospital at

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

-Sudenburg, until his retirement in 1911. During this time he also served as president of the Magdeburg Medical Society, and as editor of the ''Zentralblatt für innere Medizin''. Unverricht published over fifty medical works, including ''Studien über die Lungenentzündung'', his prize-winning doctorate thesis on

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

Research

Heinrich Unverricht is most remembered for his research of

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

, especially his work with progressive myoclonus epilepsies (PME). In 1891 he described a form of PME that was later come to be known as " Unverricht-Lundborg disease" (sometimes referred also as "Wagner–Unverricht syndrome".). Equally notable, however, following

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

(1863) and

Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow ( ; ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder of ...

's (1866) initial clinical descriptions, in 1891 he developed the concept of an intimate connection between rash and muscle weakness that defined a new disorder:

"...it seems to me that the skin appearance plays such an important role in the disease picture that the designation
Polymyositis Polymyositis (PM) is a type of chronic inflammation of the muscles ( inflammatory myopathy) related to dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis. Its name is derived . The inflammation of polymyositis is mainly found in the endomysial layer ...
is not completely accurate. In our case, the partnership of the skin and muscle disease allows us to use the elocution ''
Dermatomyositis Dermatomyositis (DM) is a Chronic condition, long-term inflammatory disorder, inflammatory Autoimmune disease, autoimmune disorder which affects the skin and the muscles. Its symptoms are generally a skin rash and worsening muscle weakness over ...
''..." (translation).

Death

Unverricht, died of

hemiplegia Hemiparesis, also called unilateral paresis, is the weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia, in its most severe form, is the complete paralysis of one entire side of the body. Either hemiparesis or hemiplegia ...

complicating chronic nephritis on April 22 1912, at

, Germany.

References

1853 births 1912 deaths {{Germany-med-bio-stub German neurologists