Odilon Marc Lannelongue (4 December 1840 – 22 December 1911) 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 was a native of Castéra-Verduzan. In 1867 he earned his medical doctorate at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he was a student of Charles-Pierre Denonvilliers (1808–1872) and Auguste Nélaton (1807–1873). In 1883 he became a professor at the Faculté de Médecine de Paris, and in 1895 became a member of the Academy of Sciences. Later in life he became interested in politics, being chosen as senator from the department of

Gers Gers (; or , ) is a departments of France, department in the regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southwestern France. Gers is bordered by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques to ...

in 1906. Lannelongue is remembered for his work involving

bone disease Bone disease refers to the medical conditions which affect the bone. Terminology A bone disease is also called an "osteopathy", but because the term osteopathy is often used to refer to an alternative health-care philosophy, use of the term can ...

s, especially

osteomyelitis Osteomyelitis (OM) is the infectious inflammation of bone marrow. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The feet, spine, and hips are the most commonly involved bones in adults. The cause is ...

and bone

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. In 1892 he performed the first craniectomy for

craniosynostosis Craniosynostosis is a condition in which one or more of the fibrous sutures in a young infant's skull prematurely fuses by turning into bone (ossification), thereby changing the growth pattern of the skull. Because the skull cannot expand perpe ...

, an operation that involved correction of a sagittal synostosis. He is also credited for introducing a method of treatment for synovial tuberculosis through the use of

chloride The term chloride refers to a compound or molecule that contains either a chlorine anion (), which is a negatively charged chlorine atom, or a non-charged chlorine atom covalently bonded to the rest of the molecule by a single bond (). The pr ...

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

injections. In 1911 he founded the ''Médaille internationale de chirurgie'' (Foundation Lannelongue) in memory of his wife, Marie Lannelongue (née Cibiel), who served as a nurse during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. This award is issued every five years by the ''Académie nationale de chirurgie'' (National Academy of Surgery). During his medical career, Lannelongue had several famous persons as patients, such as

Léon Gambetta Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government. Early life and education Born in Cahors, ...

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...

and Félix Faure.

Associated eponyms

* Lannelongue's foramina: Also known as foramina venarum minimarum, which are

foramina In anatomy and osteology, a foramen (; : foramina, or foramens ; ) is an opening or enclosed gap within the dense connective tissue (bones and deep fasciae) of extant and extinct amniote animals, typically to allow passage of nerves, arter ...

of the smallest veins of the

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

. * Lannelongue's ligaments: Also known as sternopericardiac ligaments.

References

* ''This article is partially based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia () is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has :fr:Special:Statistics, encyclopedia artic ...

.''
''Odilon Marc Lannelongue''
@ Who Named It

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lannelongue, Odilon 1840 births 1911 deaths Independent Radical politicians Members of the 6th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of Parliament for Gers French senators of the Third Republic Senators of Gers French surgeons Academic staff of the University of Paris Members of the French Academy of Sciences Commanders of the Legion of Honour