Carlo Mondini

Biography

• Born 5 November 1729 Bologna, Italy
• 1752 – Assistant in the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Morte
• 1757 – Doctor of philosophy and medicine,
• 1782 – Chair of anatomy, Bologna (when Luigi Galvani (1737–1798) was appointed professor of obstetrics
• Died 4 September 1803 Bologna, Italy

Medical Eponyms

Mondini deformity (1791) [Mondini cochlea; Mondini dysplasia] – deformity of the inner ear characterised by reduced coiling of the cochlea. Often associated with the sensorineural deafness of Pendred syndrome (1896). Mondini original description included:

1) a cochlea of one-and-one-half turns instead of the normal two-and-one-half turns, comprising a normal basal turn and a cystic apex in place of the distal one-and-one-half turns; 2) an enlarged vestibule with normal semicircular canals; and 3) an enlarged vestibular aqueduct containing a dilated endolymphatic sac.

Mondini, 1791

Mondini deafness – Congenital deafness.

Key Medical Attributions

1777 – Working on eel reproduction, Mondini discovered the location of eel ovaries…

Major Publications

• Mondini C. De auris surdi nati anatome. [Born Deaf Ear Anatomy] In: De Bononiensi Scientiarum et Artium Instituto atque Academia Commentarii. 1791;7:28-29
• Mondini C. Anatomica surdi nati sectio. [The Anatomic Section of a Boy Born Deaf] In: De Bononiensi Scientiarum et Artium Instituto atque Academia Commentarii. 1791;7:419-431.

Controversies

• Alternative name: Caroli Mundini

References

• Medici M. Vita di Carlo Mondini. 1829
• Medici M. Compendio storico della Scuola anatomica di Bologna. 1857 pp378
• Mondini C. Minor works of Carlo Mondini: the anatomical section of a boy born deaf. Am J Otol. 1997;18(3):288-293. [PMID 9149819]
• Lo WW. What is a ‘Mondini’ and what difference does a name make? AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 1999;20(8):1442-1444. [PMID 10512226]
• Paparella MM. Mondini’s deafness. A review of histopathology. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol Suppl. 1980;89(2(3)):1-10. [PMID 6769379]