Jean-François Calot (17 May 1861 – 1 March 1944) was a French

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

best known for describing treatment of curvature of the spine in

Pott's disease Pott's disease, or Pott disease, named for British surgeon Percivall Pott who first described the symptoms in 1799, is tuberculosis of the spine, usually due to haematogenous spread from other sites, often the lungs. The lower thoracic and upp ...

. He also described a method of treating tuberculous abscesses and defined Calot's triangle.

Biography

Calot was born in a farmer family of six children and spent his childhood in Arrens-Marsous, France. He received his bachelor's degree in 1880 at Saint-Pe de Bigorre and in 1881 moved to Paris, where he worked as a tutor to pay for his university education. While still a student he described Calot's triangle in his doctoral thesis, defended on 12 December 1890. He then worked as a surgeon at l'Hôpital Rotschild and l'Hôpital Cazin-Perrochaud in

Berck Berck (), sometimes referred to as Berck-sur-Mer in French or Berck-su-Mér in Picard language, Picard ( ''Berck on Sea''), is a Communes of France, commune in the northern French Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Situated on ...

. He described his technique for treating Pott's disease of the spine in a paper he read to the Academy of Medicine in Paris in 1896. Much of his work later in his career was in

orthopaedic surgery Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

, particularly the treatment of war injuries; he founded the ''Institut orthopédique de Berck'' in 1900. Callot married Marie Bacqueville (1870–1934), and together they had four daughters.

Eponyms

* '' Calot's triangle'' –

isosceles triangle In geometry, an isosceles triangle () is a triangle that has two Edge (geometry), sides of equal length and two angles of equal measure. Sometimes it is specified as having ''exactly'' two sides of equal length, and sometimes as having ''at le ...

bounded by the

common hepatic duct The common hepatic duct is the first part of the biliary tract. It joins the cystic duct coming from the gallbladder to form the common bile duct. Structure The common hepatic duct is the first part of the biliary tract. It is formed by the ...

, the

cystic duct The cystic duct is the duct that (typically) joins the gallbladder and the common hepatic duct; the union of the cystic duct and common hepatic duct forms the bile duct (formerly known as the common bile duct). Its length varies. Anatomy ...

and the

cystic artery The cystic artery (also known as bachelor artery) is (usually) a branch of the right hepatic artery that provides arterial supply to the gallbladder and contributes arterial supply to the extrahepatic bile ducts. Anatomy The cystic artery usually ...

; it remains an important landmark for surgeons performing

cholecystectomy Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. Cholecystectomy is a common treatment of symptomatic gallstones and other gallbladder conditions. In 2011, cholecystectomy was the eighth most common operating room procedure performed i ...

to avoid damaging the

common bile duct The common bile duct (also bile duct) is a part of the biliary tract. It is formed by the union of the common hepatic duct and cystic duct. It ends by uniting with the pancreatic duct to form the ampulla of Vater (hepatopancreatic ampulla). ...

. * '' Calot's node'' –

gallbladder In vertebrates, the gallbladder, also known as the cholecyst, is a small hollow Organ (anatomy), organ where bile is stored and concentrated before it is released into the small intestine. In humans, the pear-shaped gallbladder lies beneath t ...

lymph node 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 ...

. * ''Calot's method'' – treatment of tuberculous abscesses by repeated puncture and immobilisation. * ''Calot's operation'' – surgical correction of spinal deformity due to Pott's disease (spinal tuberculosis).

References

External links

* French surgeons 1861 births 1944 deaths {{france-med-bio-stub