Otto Wilhelm Madelung (May 15, 1846 – July 22, 1926) was a German

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 ...

who was a native of

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

. His son,

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

Erwin Madelung Erwin Madelung (18 May 1881 – 1 August 1972) was a German physicist. He was born in 1881 in Bonn. His father was the surgeon Otto Wilhelm Madelung. He earned a doctorate in 1905 from the University of Göttingen, specializing in crystal struct ...

(1881–1972), discovered the

Madelung constant The Madelung constant is used in determining the electrostatic potential of a single ion in a crystal by approximating the ions by point charges. It is named after Erwin Madelung, a German physicist. Because the anions and cations in an ionic soli ...

Academic career

Madelung was born in

. In 1869 he received his medical doctorate from the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

, afterwards being assigned to a military hospital during the Franco-Prussian War. He later served as a surgical assistant in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, and in 1873–74 worked as an assistant at the

pathological Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. 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 us ...

clinic of Georg Eduard von Rindfleisch (1836–1908). In 1874 he visited

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 1881 he became an assistant professor of surgery at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

, followed by professorships at

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

(from 1882) and

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

(from 1894). After the French takeover of Strasbourg following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Madelung was relieved of his duties, and he subsequently retired to

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

, where he died.

Contributions in medicine

Otto Madelung is remembered for his work with an

orthopedic Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

disorder known as

Madelung's deformity Madelung's deformity is usually characterized by malformed wrists and wrist bones and is often associated with Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis. It can be bilateral (in both wrists) or just in the one wrist. It has only been recognized within the pa ...

, defined as a progressive curvature of the

radius In classical geometry, a radius ( : radii) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The name comes from the latin ''radius'', meaning ray but also the ...

bone in the

forearm The forearm is the region of the upper limb between the elbow and the wrist. The term forearm is used in anatomy to distinguish it from the arm, a word which is most often used to describe the entire appendage of the upper limb, but which in anat ...

. The condition was earlier mentioned by

Guillaume Dupuytren Baron Guillaume Dupuytren (; 5 October 1777 – 8 February 1835) was a French anatomist and military surgeon. Although he gained much esteem for treating Napoleon Bonaparte's hemorrhoids, he is best known today for his description of Dupuytren's ...

in 1834,

Auguste Nélaton Auguste Nélaton (17 June 1807 – 21 September 1873) was a French physician and surgeon. Born in Paris, he began studying medicine in 1828 and graduated as an MD in 1836 with a thesis on the effects of tuberculosis on the bones. Three years la ...

in 1847, and

Joseph-François Malgaigne Joseph-François Malgaigne (14 February 1806 – 17 October 1865) was a French surgeon and medical historian born in Charmes-sur-Moselle, Vosges. He studied medicine in Paris, and was later a surgeon of Parisian hospitals, including Hôpitals Sa ...

in 1855, however Madelung was the first physician to provide a comprehensive, clinical description. Madelung also described a benign form of

lipomatosis Lipomatosis is believed to be an autosomal dominant condition in which multiple lipomas are present on the body. Many discrete, encapsulated lipomas form on the trunk and extremities, with relatively few on the head and shoulders. In 1993, a gene ...

, characterized by symmetrical deposits of

adipose Adipose tissue, body fat, or simply fat is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. In addition to adipocytes, adipose tissue contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, vascular ...

tissue in the area of the neck,

shoulder girdle The shoulder girdle or pectoral girdle is the set of bones in the appendicular skeleton which connects to the arm on each side. In humans it consists of the clavicle and scapula; in those species with three bones in the shoulder, it consists of t ...

, arms, and upper trunk of the body. Today, this disorder goes by several names, including "

benign symmetric lipomatosis Benign symmetric lipomatosis is a skin condition characterized by extensive symmetric fat deposits in the head, neck, and shoulder girdle area. The German surgeon Otto Wilhelm Madelung was the first to give a detailed description of the disorder. T ...

", "Madelung's syndrome", and "multiple symmetric lipomatosis". If the condition is confined to the neck, it is sometimes referred to by the eponym "Madelung's neck". Madelung specialized in abdominal surgery, and is known for his pioneer work with

intestinal The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans ...

anastomoses An anastomosis (, plural anastomoses) is a connection or opening between two things (especially cavities or passages) that are normally diverging or branching, such as between blood vessels, leaf veins, or streams. Such a connection may be normal ...

and

laparotomy A laparotomy is a surgical procedure involving a surgical incision through the abdominal wall to gain access into the abdominal cavity. It is also known as a celiotomy. Origins and history The first successful laparotomy was performed without ane ...

Written works

* ''Die spontane Subluxation der Hand nach Vorne''. Verhandlungen der deutschen Gesellschaft für Chirurgie, Berlin, 1878; 7: 259–276.

explained. * ''Zur Erleichterung der Sehnennaht''. Centralblatt für Chirurgie,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, 1882. * ''Das Stadt-Krankenhaus in Rostock''. In: Julius Uffelmann (1837–1894): Hygienische Topographie der Stadt Rostock.

, 1889.Who Named It
Otto Wilhelm Madelung – bibliography

References

Sources

*

@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograph ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madelung, Otto Wilhelm German surgeons 1846 births 1926 deaths Academic staff of the University of Bonn Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg Academic staff of the University of Rostock People from Gotha (town)