Pierre Carle Édouard Potain (19 July 1825 – 5 January 1901) was a French

cardiologist Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...

born in

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 ...

. In 1853 he earned his doctorate from the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, and later worked as an assistant to

Jules Baillarger Jules Baillarger, full name Jules Gabriel François Baillarger (25 March 1809 – 31 December 1890), was a French neurologist and psychiatrist. Biography Baillarger was born in Montbazon, France. He studied medicine at the University of Paris u ...

(1809-1890) at the mental asylum in

Ivry-sur-Seine Ivry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Paris's main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique in the 13th arrondissement, borders the ...

. In 1856 he began work in the clinic of

Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud (16 September 1796 – 29 October 1881) was a French physician born in Bragette, now part of Garat, Charente. Bouillaud was an early advocate of the localization of cerebral functions (especially of speech). He received ...

(1796-1881), whom Potain regarded as a major influence to his career. Afterwards, he worked in various hospitals in Paris, including the

Hôpital Saint-Antoine Hôpital Saint-Antoine () is a university hospital of the Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris at ''184, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine''. It is part of the AP-HP Sorbonne University Hospi ...

and Hôpital Necker. In 1861 he was appointed ''médecin des hôpitaux'' and an associate professor to the

medical faculty. In 1876 he attained the chair of

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 ...

, and soon afterwards served as chair of clinical medicine. From 1882 to 1900 he was associated with the

Hôpital de la Charité Hôpital de la Charité (, "Charity Hospital") was a hospital in Paris founded by the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God in the 17th century. In 1935, it was closed and demolished to make way for the new faculty of medicine. Located at 45, ...

. Potain made several contributions in his research of

cardiovascular In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart a ...

disease, and conducted various tests in the field of cardiology. These tests included analysis of

jugular venous The jugular veins () are veins that take blood from the head back to the heart via the superior vena cava. The internal jugular vein descends next to the internal carotid artery and continues posteriorly to the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Struc ...

waves, heart

gallop rhythm A gallop rhythm refers to a (usually abnormal) rhythm of the heart on auscultation. It includes three or four sounds, thus resembling the sounds of a gallop. The normal heart rhythm contains two audible heart sounds called S1 and S2 that give ...

research,

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of Circulatory system, circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term ...

testing and auscultatory analysis. In 1889 he was credited for making modifications to the

sphygmomanometer A sphygmomanometer ( ), also known as a blood pressure monitor, blood pressure machine, or blood pressure gauge, is a device used to measure blood pressure, composed of an inflatable cuff to collapse and then release the artery under the cuff i ...

, a device used to measure blood pressure that had been recently invented by Samuel Siegfried Carl von Basch (1837-1905). He also designed a

pleural The pleural cavity, or pleural space (or sometimes intrapleural space), is the potential space between the pulmonary pleurae, pleurae of the pleural sac that surrounds each lung. A small amount of serous fluid, serous pleural fluid is maintained ...

suction apparatus and made improvements to the Malassez

hemocytometer The hemocytometer (or haemocytometer, or Burker's chamber) is a counting-chamber device originally designed and usually used for counting blood cells. The hemocytometer was invented by Louis-Charles Malassez and consists of a thick glass mi ...

The term "Potain's sign" is an extension of

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

dullness over the

aortic arch The aortic arch, arch of the aorta, or transverse aortic arch () is the part of the aorta between the ascending and descending aorta. The arch travels backward, so that it ultimately runs to the left of the trachea. Structure The aorta begins ...

from the

manubrium The sternum (: sternums or sterna) or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, human lung, lungs, and ma ...

to the third

costal cartilage Costal cartilage, also known as rib cartilage, are bars of hyaline cartilage that serve to prolong the ribs forward and contribute to the elasticity of the walls of the thorax. Costal cartilage is only found at the anterior ends of the ribs, pr ...

on the right-hand side of the body. Potain's name is associated with several other eponymous medical terms; the following terms are seldom used today and are for historical purposes only. * "Potain's disease":

pulmonary edema Pulmonary edema (British English: oedema), also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive fluid accumulation in the tissue or air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. This leads to impaired gas exchange, most often leading to shortness ...

* "Potain's solution":

diluent A diluent (also referred to as a filler, dilutant or thinner) is a diluting agent. Certain fluids are too viscous to be pumped easily or too dense to flow from one particular point to the other. This can be troublesome, because it might not be ...

used in a procedure to count

red blood cell Red blood cells (RBCs), referred to as erythrocytes (, with -''cyte'' translated as 'cell' in modern usage) in academia and medical publishing, also known as red cells, erythroid cells, and rarely haematids, are the most common type of blood cel ...

s * "Potain's syndrome":

dyspepsia Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier ...

with expansion of the

right ventricle A ventricle is one of two large chambers located toward the bottom of the heart that collect and expel blood towards the peripheral beds within the body and lungs. The blood pumped by a ventricle is supplied by an atrium (heart), atrium, an adjace ...

, and an increase of pulmonary auscultation. He was a member of the

Académie de Médecine An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

(1883), 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 ...

(1893) and a commander of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(1895). In the

19th arrondissement of Paris The 19th arrondissement of Paris (''XIXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-neuvième''. The arrondissement, known as Butte-Chaumont, ...

, there is a street named ''Rue du Docteur Potain''.

Written works

* ''Des lésions des ganglions lymphatiques viscéraux''. Paris, Remquet, 1860 – Lesions of visceral

lymph nodes A lymph node, or lymph gland, is a kidney-shaped Organ (anatomy), organ of the lymphatic system and the adaptive immune system. A large number of lymph nodes are linked throughout the body by the lymphatic vessels. They are major sites of lymphoc ...

. * ''De la Succession des mouvements du coeur, réfutation des opinions de M. Beau, leçon faite à l'Hôtel-Dieu''. Paris: impr. de H. Plon, 1863 – On successive motions of the heart, refuting the opinions of Mr. Beau, lesson at the

Hôtel-Dieu In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu () was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris being the oldest an ...

. * ''Note sur les dédoublements normaux des bruits du coeur, présentée à la Société médicale des hôpitaux, dans la séance du 22 juin 1866, par le Dr Potain'',. Paris: impr. de F. Malteste, 1866 – Paper on normal duplication of heart sounds, etc. * ''Des mouvements et des bruits qui se passent dans les veines jugulaires''. Bull. Soc. Méd. Hôp. Paris (Mémoires), 1867, 2 sér., 4, 3-27 – Movements and noises that occur in the

jugular veins The jugular veins () are veins that take blood from the head back to the heart via the superior vena cava. The internal jugular vein descends next to the internal carotid artery and continues posteriorly to the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Struc ...

. * ''Du Rhythme cardiaque appelé bruit de galop, de son mécanisme et de sa valeur séméiologique, note présentée à la Société médicale des hôpitaux de Paris''. Paris: A. Delahaye, 1876. También en : Bull. Soc. Méd. Hôp. Paris (Mémoires), (1875), 1876, 12, 137–66. – Rhythm of the heart known as gallop rhythm, its mechanism and its diagnostic value, etc. * ''Des Fluxions pleuro-pulmonaires réflexes d'origine utéro-ovarienne''. Paris: impr. de Chaix, 1884 – Fluxions of pleuro-pulmonary reflexes of utero-

ovarian The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are endoc ...

origin. * ''Du sphygmomanomètre et de la mesure de la pression artérielle chez l'homme à l'état normale et pathologique''. Arch. Physiol. Nom. Path., 5 sér., 1, 556-69 –

Sphygmomanometer A sphygmomanometer ( ), also known as a blood pressure monitor, blood pressure machine, or blood pressure gauge, is a device used to measure blood pressure, composed of an inflatable cuff to collapse and then release the artery under the cuff i ...

and blood pressure measurement of humans in normal and pathological states * ''Dernière leçon de M. le professeur Potain''. Paris: impr. de J. Gainche, 1900.* (Final lesson of Professor Potain). * ''La Pression artérielle de l'homme à l'état normal et pathologique'' Paris: Masson, 1902 – Blood pressure of humans in normal and pathological states.

References

* "Parts of this article are based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

".
Google-translated article from Historiadelamedicina.org
biographical information.

Written works

References

See also