Louis Gallavardin (1875,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

– 2 December 1957, Lyon) was a French

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

cardiologist 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 disease, heart failure, valvular hear ...

remembered for the Gallavardin phenomenon.

Biography

Louis Gallavardin studied medicine at the Lyon medical school, becoming ''interne'' in 1895 and ''Médecin des Hôpitaux de Lyon'' in 1902. He published 360 papers on cardiovascular medicine from 1898 to 1945, covering the whole subject apart from congenital malformations. Until 1910 his papers were concerned with general medicine, and after 1910 he focused on cardiology. His book ''La Tension artérielle en Clinique'', published in 1910, was the standard text on the measurement of blood pressure. He realised the importance of

electrocardiography Electrocardiography is the process of producing an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), a recording of the heart's electrical activity. It is an electrogram of the heart which is a graph of voltage versus time of the electrical activity of the hear ...

, and published on

arrhythmias Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adults ...

, particularly

ventricular tachycardia Ventricular tachycardia (V-tach or VT) is a fast heart rate arising from the lower chambers of the heart. Although a few seconds of VT may not result in permanent problems, longer periods are dangerous; and multiple episodes over a short period ...

. He described a type of

aortic stenosis Aortic stenosis (AS or AoS) is the narrowing of the exit of the left ventricle of the heart (where the aorta begins), such that problems result. It may occur at the aortic valve as well as above and below this level. It typically gets worse ove ...

which was not

rheumatic Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...

in origin, and described effort syncope in the condition. He studied

angina pectoris Angina, also known as angina pectoris, is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle (myocardium). It is most commonly a symptom of coronary artery disease. Angina is typically the result of obstru ...

, describing the syndrome in ''Les Angines de Poitrine'' in 1925; he maintained the belief that

coronary artery disease Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial ischemia, or simply heart disease, involves the reduction of blood flow to the heart muscle due to build-up of atherosclerotic pla ...

was the cause. He founded an independent school of cardiology in Lyon at a time when Louis Henri Vaquez dominated cardiology in France.

References

1875 births 1957 deaths French cardiologists {{France-med-bio-stub