Pierre Carle Édouard Potain (19 July 1825 – 5 January 1901) was a French

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 ...

born 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 ...

. In 1853 he earned his doctorate from the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, and later worked as an assistant to

Jules Baillarger Jules Baillarger, full name Jules Gabriel François Baillarger (25 March 1809 – 31 December 1890), was a French neurologist and psychiatrist. Biography Baillarger was born in Montbazon, France. He studied medicine at the University of Paris u ...

(1809-1890) at the mental asylum in

Ivry-sur-Seine Ivry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Paris's main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique in the 13th arrondissement, borders the ...

. In 1856 he began work in the clinic of

Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud (16 September 1796 – 29 October 1881) was a French physician born in Bragette, now part of Garat, Charente. Bouillaud was an early advocate of the localization of cerebral functions (especially of speech). He received ...

(1796-1881), whom Potain regarded as a major influence to his career. Afterwards, he worked in various hospitals in Paris, including the

Hôpital Saint-Antoine Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

and Hôpital Necker. In 1861 he was appointed ''médecin des hôpitaux'' and an associate professor to the

medical faculty. In 1876 he attained the chair of

pathology Pathology is the study of the 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 used in ...

, and soon afterwards served as chair of clinical medicine. From 1882 to 1900 he was associated with the

Hôpital de la Charité Hôpital de la Charité (, "Charity Hospital") was a hospital in Paris founded in the 17th century and closed in 1935. History In 1606, Marie de Médicis invited the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God to come to France. The Abbot of Sain ...

. Potain made several contributions in his research of

cardiovascular The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...

disease, and conducted various tests in the field of cardiology. These tests included analysis of jugular venous waves, heart

gallop rhythm A gallop rhythm refers to a (usually abnormal) rhythm of the heart on auscultation. It includes three or four sounds, thus resembling the sounds of a Horse gait#Gallop, gallop. The normal heart rhythm contains two audible heart sounds called S1 ...

research,

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term "blood pressure" r ...

testing and auscultatory analysis. In 1889 he was credited for making modifications to the

sphygmomanometer A sphygmomanometer ( ), a blood pressure monitor, or blood pressure gauge, is a device used to measure blood pressure, composed of an inflatable cuff to collapse and then release the artery under the cuff in a controlled manner, and a mercury (e ...

, a device used to measure blood pressure that had been recently invented by Samuel Siegfried Carl von Basch (1837-1905). He also designed a

pleural The pleural cavity, pleural space, or interpleural space is the potential space between the pleurae of the pleural sac that surrounds each lung. A small amount of serous pleural fluid is maintained in the pleural cavity to enable lubrication bet ...

suction apparatus and made improvements to the Malassez

hemocytometer The hemocytometer (or haemocytometer) is a counting-chamber device originally designed and usually used for counting blood cells. The hemocytometer was invented by Louis-Charles Malassez and consists of a thick glass microscope slide with a ...

The term "Potain's sign" is an extension of

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

dullness over the

aortic arch The aortic arch, arch of the aorta, or transverse aortic arch () is the part of the aorta between the ascending and descending aorta. The arch travels backward, so that it ultimately runs to the left of the trachea. Structure The aorta begins a ...

from the

manubrium The sternum or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels from injury. Sha ...

to the third

costal cartilage The costal cartilages are bars of hyaline cartilage that serve to prolong the ribs forward and contribute to the elasticity of the walls of the thorax. Costal cartilage is only found at the anterior ends of the ribs, providing medial extension. ...

on the right-hand side of the body. Potain's name is associated with several other eponymous medical terms; the following terms are seldom used today and are for historical purposes only. * "Potain's disease":

pulmonary edema Pulmonary edema, also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive edema, liquid accumulation in the parenchyma, tissue and pulmonary alveolus, air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause hypoxemia an ...

* "Potain's solution":

diluent A diluent (also referred to as a filler, dilutant or thinner) is a Concentration, diluting agent. Certain fluids are too Viscosity, viscous to be pumped easily or too density, dense to flow from one particular point to the other. This can be prob ...

used in a procedure to count

red blood cell Red blood cells (RBCs), also referred to as red cells, red blood corpuscles (in humans or other animals not having nucleus in red blood cells), haematids, erythroid cells or erythrocytes (from Greek ''erythros'' for "red" and ''kytos'' for "holl ...

s * "Potain's syndrome":

dyspepsia Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier t ...

with expansion of the

right ventricle A ventricle is one of two large chambers toward the bottom of the heart that collect and expel blood towards the peripheral beds within the body and lungs. The blood pumped by a ventricle is supplied by an atrium, an adjacent chamber in the upper ...

, and an increase of pulmonary auscultation. He was a member of the

Académie de Médecine An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

(1883), 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 ...

(1893) and a commander of the

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 ...

(1895). In the 19th arrondissement of Paris, there is a street named ''Rue du Docteur Potain''.

Written works

* ''Des lésions des ganglions lymphatiques viscéraux''. Paris, Remquet, 1860 – Lesions of visceral

lymph nodes A lymph node, or lymph gland, is a kidney-shaped organ of the lymphatic system and the adaptive immune system. A large number of lymph nodes are linked throughout the body by the lymphatic vessels. They are major sites of lymphocytes that includ ...

. * ''De la Succession des mouvements du coeur, réfutation des opinions de M. Beau, leçon faite à l'Hôtel-Dieu''. Paris: impr. de H. Plon, 1863 – On successive motions of the heart, refuting the opinions of Mr. Beau, lesson at the

Hôtel-Dieu In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu ( en, hostel of God) was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris b ...

. * ''Note sur les dédoublements normaux des bruits du coeur, présentée à la Société médicale des hôpitaux, dans la séance du 22 juin 1866, par le Dr Potain'',. Paris: impr. de F. Malteste, 1866 – Paper on normal duplication of heart sounds, etc. * ''Des mouvements et des bruits qui se passent dans les veines jugulaires''. Bull. Soc. Méd. Hôp. Paris (Mémoires), 1867, 2 sér., 4, 3-27 – Movements and noises that occur in the

jugular veins The jugular veins are veins that take deoxygenated blood from the head back to the heart via the superior vena cava. The internal jugular vein descends next to the internal carotid artery and continues posteriorly to the sternocleidomastoid mus ...

. * ''Du Rhythme cardiaque appelé bruit de galop, de son mécanisme et de sa valeur séméiologique, note présentée à la Société médicale des hôpitaux de Paris''. Paris: A. Delahaye, 1876. También en : Bull. Soc. Méd. Hôp. Paris (Mémoires), (1875), 1876, 12, 137–66. – Rhythm of the heart known as gallop rhythm, its mechanism and its diagnostic value, etc. * ''Des Fluxions pleuro-pulmonaires réflexes d'origine utéro-ovarienne''. Paris: impr. de Chaix, 1884 – Fluxions of pleuro-pulmonary reflexes of utero-

ovarian The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body ...

origin. * ''Du sphygmomanomètre et de la mesure de la pression artérielle chez l'homme à l'état normale et pathologique''. Arch. Physiol. Nom. Path., 5 sér., 1, 556-69 –

Sphygmomanometer A sphygmomanometer ( ), a blood pressure monitor, or blood pressure gauge, is a device used to measure blood pressure, composed of an inflatable cuff to collapse and then release the artery under the cuff in a controlled manner, and a mercury (e ...

and blood pressure measurement of humans in normal and pathological states * ''Dernière leçon de M. le professeur Potain''. Paris: impr. de J. Gainche, 1900.* (Final lesson of Professor Potain). * ''La Pression artérielle de l'homme à l'état normal et pathologique'' Paris: Masson, 1902 – Blood pressure of humans in normal and pathological states.

References

* "Parts of this article are based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

".
Google-translated article from Historiadelamedicina.org
biographical information.

Written works

References

See also