Alfred-Armand-Louis-Marie Velpeau (18 May 1795 – 24 August 1867) was a French

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

and

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

Biography

A native of Brèches,

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it ...

, he served as a student and assistant to

Pierre Bretonneau Pierre-Fidèle Bretonneau (3 April 1778 – 18 February 1862) was a French medical doctor. Biography Born in Saint-Georges-sur-Cher, in the Loir-et-Cher département. His father was a surgeon. He studied with his uncle, the vicar at Chenoncea ...

(1778-1862) in

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

. In 1823 he obtained his doctorate in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he subsequently worked as a hospital surgeon. Following the death of

Alexis de Boyer Alexis Boyer (1 March 175723 November 1833) was a French surgeon, born in Corrèze. He was the son of a tailor, and he obtained his first medical knowledge in the shop of a barber surgeon. When he moved to Paris, he had the good fortune to att ...

(1757-1833), he was appointed chair of clinical surgery, a position he maintained until his death in 1867. In 1843 he succeeded

Dominique Jean Larrey Baron Dominique Jean Larrey (; 8 July 1766 – 25 July 1842) was a French surgeon and military doctor, who distinguished himself in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. An important innovator in battlefield medicine and triage, ...

(1766-1842) at the

Académie des sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des 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 research. It was at the ...

(section of medicine and surgery).

Ramón Emeterio Betances Ramón Emeterio Betances y Alacán (April 8, 1827 – September 16, 1898) was a Puerto Rican independence advocate and medical doctor. He was the primary instigator of the Grito de Lares revolution and is considered to be the father of the Pu ...

, Puerto Rican pro-independence leader, surgeon and

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

laureate, was one of Velpeau's prominent students.

Accomplishments in medicine

Velpeau was a skilled surgeon and renowned for his knowledge of surgical anatomy. He was the author of over 340 titles on

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

embryology Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, '' -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

, ''inter alia''. Among his better known written efforts was a work on obstetrics, titled ''Traité elementaire de l’art des accouchements: ou, Principes de tokologie et d'embryologie'' (1829). Shortly afterwards, it was translated into English and issued as "An elementary treatise on midwifery: or Principles of tocology and embryology" (1831). A second French edition was published in 1835 with the title ''Traité complet de l'art des accouchements'', etc. Other works by Velpeau that have been translated into English are: ''Nouveaux éléments de médecine opératoire'' (1832) as "New elements of operative surgery" (1856) and ''Traité des maladies du sein et de la région mammaire'' as "A treatise on the diseases of the breast and mammary region" (1856). He is credited with providing the first accurate description of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

(1827). A wrapping used to immobilize the arm to the

chest wall The thoracic wall or chest wall is the boundary of the thoracic cavity. Structure The bone, bony human skeleton, skeletal part of the thoracic wall is the rib cage, and the rest is made up of muscle, skin, and fasciae. The chest wall has 10 lay ...

is known as a "Velpeau bandage". There are several other medical terms associated with his name, however these terms are now primarily used for historical purposes only; these include: "Velpeau hernia" for the

femoral hernia Femoral hernias occur just below the inguinal ligament, when abdominal contents pass through a naturally occurring weakness in the abdominal wall called the femoral canal. Femoral hernias are a relatively uncommon type, accounting for only 3% of ...

, "Velpeau's disease" for

hidradenitis suppurativa Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), sometimes known as acne inversa or Verneuil's disease, is a long-term dermatological condition characterized by the occurrence of inflamed and swollen lumps. These are typically painful and break open, releasing ...

, "Velpeau's canal" for the

inguinal canal The inguinal canals are the two passages in the anterior abdominal wall of humans and animals which in males convey the spermatic cords and in females the round ligament of the uterus. The inguinal canals are larger and more prominent in males. T ...

and "Velpeau's fossa", also known as the

ischiorectal fossa The ischioanal fossa (formerly called ischiorectal fossa) is the fat-filled wedge-shaped space located lateral to the anal canal and inferior to the pelvic diaphragm. It is somewhat prismatic in shape, with its base directed to the surface of the p ...

.Mondofacto Dictionary
definition of eponyms Despite being one of the top surgeons in his time, Velpeau believed that pain-free surgery was a fantasy, and that surgery and pain were inseparable. With the advent of anaesthetics such as

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be c ...

and

chloroform Chloroform, or trichloromethane, is an organic compound with chemical formula, formula Carbon, CHydrogen, HChlorine, Cl3 and a common organic solvent. It is a colorless, strong-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to ...

in the 1840s, Velpeau was amazed, saying "On the subject of ether, that it is a wonderful and terrible agent, I will say of chloroform, that it is still more wonderful and more terrible".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Velpeau, Alfred-Armand-Louis-Marie 1795 births 1867 deaths People from Indre-et-Loire French anatomists French surgeons Members of the French Academy of Sciences University of Paris faculty

Biography

Accomplishments in medicine

References

Further reading

External links