Piebaldism: rare but all dermatologists have heard this strange term during residency
- Although not used frequently in English, *Quincke’s edema refers to a German physician and surgeon. His name was Dr Heinrich Iränus Quincke.
- He was born in Frankfurt in 1842 and died there in 1922.
- He was a subordinate physician (Assistentarzt) at the age of 28 and became chair of the department of internal medicine at the University of Bern three years later.
- Later, he returned to Germany and became chair at the university of Kiel.
- His contributions to medicine were numerous, angioedema is the most famous and carries his name.
- Other discoveries and observation are also linked to hist name as:
- Quincke’s sign: a sign of aortic insufficency
- Quincke’s puncture: the classical lumbar puncture. He wasn’t the first one to do it put introduced it as a diagnostic tool.
*Quincke’s edema is also known as* angioedema (angiodema), angioneurotic edema.
Clinical perls on Angioedema:
- It is important to distinguish hereditary angi-edema (very rare) from the other angioedemas.
- It is frequently located on the face but other areas can be involved.
- Edema appearing in joint areas can be deceptive.
Contributors
Dr Christophe Hsu – dermatologist. Geneva, Switzerland
Source of information: Harms M. Dermatologica Helvetica (The Swiss Journal of Dermatology and Venereology)
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