George A. Gibson

George Alexander Gibson (1854-1913) was a Scottish physician.

Gibson was educated at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh where he initially studied Law, before changing to Medicine.

Physician and amateur geologist, Gibson wrote on the diverse fields of both geology and heart disease.

Eponymously affiliated with the Gibson murmur (1906) and the Gibson Memorial Lecture (1913)

Biography

• Born on January 27, 1854 in Kelliebank, Muckhart
• 1874 – BSc; Falconer Memorial Fellowship
• 1877 – DSc; thesis: The Old Red Sandstone of Shetland
• 1878 – Assistant-physician, Birmingham General Hospital
• House-physician to George Balfour at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
• 1881 – MD, Edinburgh University
• Appointed President of the Dialectic Society and Royal Medial Society
• 1893-1913 Physician to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
• Died January 18, 1913 in Edinburgh

It is given to few men, as it was to Gibson, to attract and to keep attached so wide a circle of friends and admirers. He was a great, large-hearted human. Everything pertaining to humanity was of interest to him. He believed in men, he loved men, and he was loved and trusted in return.

Obituary 1913

Medical Eponyms

Gibson murmur (1906)

Long rumbling continuous (machinery) murmur occupying most of systole and diastole, most commonly localized in the second left interspace near the sternum. Usually indicative of patent ductus arteriosus.

Gibson original description:

It persists throughout the second sound, and dies away gradually during the long pause. The murmur is distinctly rough and thrilling in its character. It begins, however, somewhat softly, and increases in intensity so as to reach its acme just about, or immediately after, the incidence of the second sound, and from that point gradually wanes till its termination.

G. A. Gibson 1906

Other eponyms

• Gibson Memorial Lecture: as a memorial to George Alexander Gibson, 1913

Major Publications

• Gibson GA. The Old Red Sandstone of Shetland. A graduation thesis. Williams & Norgate. 1877.
• Gibson GA. On The Signs Of Chlorosis. 1877.
• Gibson GA. Jugular Reflux and Tricuspid Regurgitation. 1880.
• Gibson GA. Cheyne-Stokes respiration. 1892.
• Gibson GA. Physical Diagnosis: A Guide to Methods of Clinical Investigation. 1893
• Gibson GA. Diseases of the heart and aorta. Pentland, Edinburgh, 1898 [pp 161 (Fig 51), 303, 310–312]
• Gibson GA. Text-book of medicine. Pentland, Edinburgh, 1901.
• Gibson GA. The nervous affections of the heart. Morison lecture, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1902 and 1903
• Gibson GA. Practice of medicine. 1901 [Volume II]
• Gibson GA. A clinical lecture on persistent ductus arteriosus. Med Press Circular 1906; 132: 572-4. [Gibson murmur]

References

Biography

• Memorial: to the late Dr George Alexander Gibson. Br Med J 1913;2:151
• Obituary. The Late George Alexander Gibson.  Edinb Med J. 1913 Feb; 10(2): 152-155.
• Bibliography. Gibson, George A. WorldCat Identities

Eponymous terms

• Gibson Memorial Lecture: as a memorial to George Alexander Gibson, Br Med J 1913;2:151
• Tynan M. The murmur of the persistently patent arterial duct, or “The Colonel is going to a dance”. Cardiol Young. 2003 Dec;13(6):559-62.
• Mackenzie J. The First George Alexander Gibson Memorial Lecture. Br Med J. 1914 May 16; 1(2785): 1053–1057.
• Ma I, Tierney LM. Name that murmur–eponyms for the astute auscultician. N Engl J Med. 2010 Nov 25;363(22):2164-8.
• Malik PK, Ahmad M, Rani A, Dwivedi S. The men who picked the truant notes in heart sounds. Astrocyte 2015;1:305-8.
• Robbins A, Zhang G, Cadogan M. Name that murmur. LITFL 2022
• Cadogan M. Gibson murmur. Eponym A Day. Instagram

Mike Cadogan

Associate Professor Curtin Medical School, Curtin University. Emergency physician MA (Oxon) MBChB (Edin) FACEM FFSEM Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.  Passion for rugby; medical history; medical education; and asynchronous learning #FOAMed evangelist. Co-founder and CTO of Life in the Fast lane | Eponyms | Books | Twitter |