George Alexander Gibson

Biography

• Born 27 January 1854
• Educated at both the University of Glasgow and Edinburgh University. Obtained his DSc in 1877 and MD in 1881 
• Initially studied Law before changing to Medicine. His father was a solicitor
• Briefly appointed assistant-physician to Birmingham General Hospital 1878
• House-physician to George Balfour at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
• Appointed President of the Dialectic Society and Royal Medial Society
• Held his appointment as a Physician to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for 22 years
• Died 18 January 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.

Other eponyms

• Gibson Memorial Lecture: as a memorial to George Alexander Gibson, 1913 [Br Med J 1913;2:151]

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 I] [Volume II]
• Gibson GA. A clinical lecture on persistent ductus arteriosus. Med Press Circular 1906; 132: 572-4. [Gibson murmur]

References

• 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.
• Memorial: to the late Dr George Alexander Gibson. Br Med J 1913;2:151
• 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.
• Obituary. The Late George Alexander Gibson.  Edinb Med J. 1913 Feb; 10(2): 152-155.
• Robbins A, Zhang G. Name that murmur. LITFL 2019