François Dessertenne

Biography

• Born in 1917
• 1948 – Assistant Professor of Medicine, Hôpital Lariboisière, France. Assistant to Prof Yves Bouvrain (1910-2002)
• Died in 2006

Medical Eponyms

Torsades de pointes (1966)

1965 – Dessertenne et al demonstrated that the progressive variations of amplitude observed were distinct from ventricular fibrillation, and they coined the term torsades de pointes

Key Medical Contributions

Major Publications

• Dessertenne F. Considerations sur I’ECG de la fibrillation ventriculaire. Archives des Maladies du Cœur et des Vaisseaux 1964; 57: 1421-1437.
• Dessertenne F. La fibrillation ventriculaire. Semaine des hôpitaux de Paris 1964; 40: 1791-1794
• Dessertenne F. La tachycardie ventriculaire à deux foyers opposés variables [Ventricular tachycardia with 2 variable opposing foci]. Archives des Maladies du Cœur et des Vaisseaux 1966; 59(2): 263–272
• Dessertenne F. Ventricular tachycardia with two variable foci. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 1990; 4(4): 1171-1176.
• Dessertenne F, Coumel P, Fabiato A. Ventricular fibrillation and torsades de pointes. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 1990;4(4):1177-1182.
• Dessertenne F, Fabiato A, Coumel P. Un chapitre nouveau d’électrocardiographie: les variations progressives de l’amplitude de l’électrocardiogramme [A new chapter in electrocardiography: progressive variations in the amplitude of the electrocardiogram] Actualités cardiologiques et angéiologiques internationales. 1966 Oct-Dec; 15(4): 241-58. [Reprint: Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 1991; 5(1): 171-190.]
• Dessertenne F. Le complexe électrique ventriculaire à phase lente prolongée [The ventricular electrical complex with prolonged slow phase]. Sem Hop. 1967 Feb 14;43(8):539-41
• Dessertenne F, Refet A, Bonnafous JP. Le syndrome polygraphique. Sa definition. Ses modifications spontanées ou provoquées [The polygraphic syndrome. Its definition. Its spontaneous or induced modifications]. Sem Hop. 1967 Sep 10;43(38):2299-303.

References

Biography

• Fabiato A, Coumel P. Torsades de pointes, a quarter of a century later: a tribute to Dr. F. Dessertenne. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 1991 Feb;5(1):167-9.

Eponymous terms

• Curtis MJ. Torsades de pointes: arrhythmia, syndrome, or chimera? A perspective in the light of the Lambeth Conventions. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 1991 Feb;5(1):191-200
• Priori SG, Napolitano C, Schwartz PJ. Electrophysiologic mechanisms involved in the development of torsades de pointes. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 1991 Feb;5(1):203-12.
• Fontaine G. A new look at torsades de pointes. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1992; 644: 157-177.
• Mullins ME. Mon bête noir (my pet peeve). J Med Toxicol. 2011; 7(2): 181.

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