André Strohl

Biography

• 1887 – Born 20 March in Poitiers, France, to Henry Strohl (1847–1907), Inspector General of Ponts et Chaussées, of Alsatian origin.
• 1904 – Completed baccalauréat scientifique; 1905 bachelier ès lettres.
• 1906–1908 – Undertook military service but was reformed due to health; shifted focus from mathematics to natural sciences.
• 1909 – Completed PCN supérieur and certificates in Histology and Botany at the Sorbonne.
• 1911 – Licencié ès sciences (mathematics, chemistry, physics).
• 1913 – Received medical degree (Doctorat en Médecine), University of Paris. Thesis on “Contributions à l’étude physiologique des réflexes chez l’Homme”.
• 1914–1918 – Served as radiologist during World War I; developed a novel radiological technique for localising projectiles.
• 1916 – Co-authored original description of radiculo-neuritis with Guillain and Barré.
• 1919 – Returned to academia; preparateur at Faculty of Medicine, Paris.
• 1920 – Appointed agrégé de physique médicale, Faculty of Medicine, Paris.
• 1920–1922 – Chargé de cours, Faculty of Medicine, Strasbourg, under Georges Weiss.
• 1922–1925 – Professor of Physical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Algiers.
• 1924 – Earned Doctorat ès sciences with thesis on tissue polarisation.
• 1925 – Appointed Professor of Physical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Paris, following death of André Broca.
• 1925 – Published major work La Conductibilité Électrique du Corps Humain.
• 1930s–1950s – Extensive publications on electrophysiology, diathermy, respiratory and circulatory physiology; contributed to official teaching of radiology and electro-radiology in Paris.
• 1940 – During WWII, solved technical problem of condensation affecting aerial reconnaissance photography.
• 1942–1945 – Continued research and teaching despite wartime conditions.
• 1957 – Retired from Faculty of Medicine, Paris; continued research at laboratory of physics médicale.
• 10 March 1977 – Died in Paris, following sudden collapse.

Medical Eponyms

Guillain-Barré syndrome (1916)

[*aka Landry palsy; Landry-Guillain–Barré–Strohl syndrome; Guillain–Barré–Strohl syndrome]

Guillain-Barré syndrome is the most common and severe acute inflammatory paralytic neuropathy. The classical description of GBS involves rapidly progressive bilateral weakness, usually starting in the distal lower extremities and ascending proximally.

1916 – Over a two week period in 1916, Guillain and Barré admitted two patients to the army hospital with motor difficulties, areflexia, preservation of cutaneous reflexes, parasthesias, muscle tenderness, alteration in nerve conduction and increased albumin in the absence of lymphocyte elevation (which differentiated it from the more common condition of poliomyelitis at that time). These clinical observations were confirmed with nerve conduction studies by the physician André Strohl (1887-1977).

Guillain and Barré termed the syndrome “notre syndrome” (our syndrome) and excluded Strohl, with there being no clear explanation for this. Some speculate it was related to his younger age, him not being a neurologist or him being from Alsace

• Guillain G, Barré JA, Strohl A. Sur un syndrome de radiculo-névrite avec hyperalbuminose du liquide céphalo-rachidien sans réaction cellulaire. Remarques sur les caractères cliniques et graphiques des réflexes tendineux. Bulletins et mémoires de la Société médicale des hôpitaux de Paris, 1916; 40: 1462-1470

1927 – The eponym, Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), was introduced by Drăgănescu and Claudian at the Congress of the Neurology Society of Paris (led by Barré) where Strohl’s name was not only omitted from the presentation title, but also removed from references to the original work.

• Draganescu S, Claudian J. Sur un cas de radiculo-névrite curable (syndrome de Guillain et Barré) apparue au cours d’une osteomyelite du bras. Revue Neurologique 1927; 2: 517-519

Controversies

Despite being an original author of the 1916 landmark paper, Strohl’s name was omitted from subsequent eponymic references to Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Possible reasons for this omission:

• Guillain and Barré continued to publish on the syndrome in the 1920s without Strohl.
• Strohl was relatively junior at the time (having received his medical degree only three years earlier).
• He was not exclusively a neurologist; his broader focus may have reduced his standing in neurological circles.
• His Alsatian background may have carried subtle biases in postwar France.

The omission was noted and regretted by later historians (Green 1962).

Major Publications

• Strohl A. Les reflexes d’automatisme medullaire: le phenomene des raccourcisseurs. 1913
• Strohl A. Contribution à l’étude physiologique des réflexes chez l’Homme. Doctoral thesis, 1915
• Guillain G, Barré JA, Strohl A. Le réflexe médico-plantaire: Étude de ses caracteres graphiques et de son temps perdu. Bulletins et mémoires de la Société médicale des hôpitaux de Paris, 1916; 40: 1459-1462.
• Guillain G, Barré JA, Strohl A. Sur un syndrome de radiculo-névrite avec hyperalbuminose du liquide céphalo-rachidien sans réaction cellulaire. Remarques sur les caractères cliniques et graphiques des réflexes tendineux. Bulletins et mémoires de la Société médicale des hôpitaux de Paris, 1916; 40: 1462-1470 [Guillain–Barré syndrome]
• La Conductibilité Électrique du Corps Humain (1925)
• Leçons de Physico-Chimie à l’Usage des Médecins et Biologistes. 1930
• Conductibilité et Excitabilité Électriques du Nerf. 1942
• Strohl A, Berger M. Les Isotopes Radioactifs en Biologie. 1946
• Précis de Physique Médicale. 5th ed. 1957

References

• Le Professeur Strohl. Paris médical 1926: 327
• Le Professeur Strohl. Chanteclair. 1928: 457
• Green D. Infectious polyneuritis and Professor Andre Strohl–a historical note. N Engl J Med. 1962 Oct 18;267:821-2.
• Desgrez H. André Strohl (1887-1977). Bulletin de l’Académie nationale de médecine. 1977; 161(8): 563-571

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