Cecilio Félix Romaña (1899–1997 in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
) was an Argentine
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
remembered for describing
Romaña's sign, as he was the first to describe the phenomenon. Romaña's sign is a medical term for the unilateral painless periorbital swelling associated with the acute stage of Chagas' disease. Romaña's Sign should not be confused with a
chagoma.
He researched
tropical disease
Tropical diseases are diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions. The diseases are less prevalent in temperate climates, due in part to the occurrence of a cold season, which controls the insect population by forc ...
s from 1930 to 1960 in Northern Argentina, particularly
Chagas disease
Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a tropical parasitic disease caused by ''Trypanosoma cruzi''. It is spread mostly by insects in the subfamily Triatominae, known as "kissing bugs". The symptoms change throughout the ...
. His description of his eponymous sign in 1935 allowed for earlier and easier diagnosis of this disease in endemic areas. In 1942 he became the first director of the Regional Institute of Medicine at the
National University of the Northeast
The National University of the Northeast (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad Nacional del Nordeste'', UNNE) is an Argentina, Argentine national university. It is located in the cities of Corrientes and Resistencia, Chaco, Resistencia, capita ...
.
Regional Institute of Medicine
National University of the Northeast
References
External links
Tropical physicians
1899 births
1997 deaths
Chagas disease
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