Albert Henry Freiberg

Biography

• Born August 17, 1868 Cincinnati, Ohio
• 1890 – MD Medical College of Ohio (now the University of Cincinnati Medical School)
• Studied in Wurzburg, Strassburg, Berlin, Paris, Vienna and London during his graduate years
• 1902-1939 Professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio
• 1910 – President of the American Orthopedic Association
• 1914-1918 WWI Rank of Major n the U.S. Army Medical corps. Member of the advisory council on orthopedic surgery at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC
• Director of orthopedic surgery services at the Cincinnati General, Jewish and Children’s hospitals in Cincinnati
• Died July 14, 1940 Cincinnati, Ohio

Medical Eponyms

Freiberg infraction (1914)

Osteochondrosis of the metatarsal heads (typically the 2nd metatarsal head) characterized pathologically by subchondral bone collapse, osteonecrosis, and cartilaginous fissures.

Freiberg infraction is more common in women and most commonly manifests during adolescence (aged 10-18 years). Bilateral presentation in 10% of cases. Cause unknown and probably multi-factorial. High-heeled shoes have been implicated as a causative factor.

1913 – Albert Freiberg presented a paper to the Southern Surgical and Gynecological Association. He reported the cases of six young women presenting with a painful limp and discomfort localized to the second metatarsal, the first patient presenting in 1903. [1914; 26: 171-174]

Freiberg employed used the term ‘infraction’ as the diagnosis (archaic term for fracture without displacement implying trauma as the cause)

I felt justified in the diagnosis of infraction of the distal end of the second metatarsal, a condition which I have thus far failed to find described in the literature.

Freiberg 1914

Major Publications

• Freiberg AH. Infraction of the second metatarsal – a typical injury. Transactions of the Southern Surgical and Gynecological Association 1914;26:171-174. [Freiberg infraction]
• Freiberg AH. The so-called infraction of the second metatarsal bone. J Bone Joint Surg 1926; 8: 257-61.

References

• Freiberg Family Papers. American Jewish Archives Collection No. 716
• Hunter TB, Peltier LF, Lund PJ. Radiologic history exhibit. Musculoskeletal eponyms: who are those guys? RadioGraphics 2000; 20: 819-36.
• Cadogan M. Eponymythology of foot injuries. LITFL