Heinrich von Bamberger
Heinrich von Bamberger (1822-1888) was a German-Austrian physician.
Prof Bamberger was noted for his work in cardiology, nephrology, and internal medicine. He was a pivotal figure in the Viennese medical tradition and laid groundwork in the clinical and pathological understanding of heart, kidney, and pulmonary diseases.
Bamberger was a towering figure of mid-19th-century internal medicine, whose rigorous approach to pathological anatomy reshaped the study and diagnosis of cardiopulmonary and renal diseases. Trained in Prague and later working under Johann von Oppolzer in Vienna, Bamberger became a key figure in the Second Vienna Medical School.
His Lehrbuch der Krankheiten des Herzens (1855) was one of the earliest systematic textbooks of cardiology, providing clinically grounded descriptions of endocarditis, myocarditis, and valvular pathology. He also published important studies on Bright’s disease, pulmonary embolism, and blood disorders including leukaemia and anaemia.
Bamberger was deeply invested in integrating pathological anatomy with clinical observation, bridging a gap between theoretical knowledge and bedside diagnosis. He influenced generations of clinicians and is remembered for conditions like Bamberger’s disease, describing thoracic actinomycosis, and his observations on Bamberger’s sign—the association of clubbing with chronic pulmonary disease.
As professor at the University of Vienna for three decades, Bamberger helped establish internal medicine as a modern discipline. He left a medical legacy continued by his son, a noted internist, Eugen von Bamberger (1858-1921) of Bamberger-Marie syndrome.
Biography
- 1822 – Born December 27 in Zwanowitz, Bohemia (now Slavkov, Czech Republic)
- 1847 – Graduated MD in medicine from the University of Prague
- 1851 – Appointed assistant to Johann Ritter von Oppolzer (1808-1871) in Vienna
- 1854 – Became Professor of Pathological Anatomy at the University of Würzburg
- 1855 – Published Lehrbuch der Krankheiten des Herzens (Textbook of Heart Diseases)
- 1857 – Returned to Vienna; appointed Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Vienna, succeeding Joseph Škoda (1805-1881)
- 1861 – Admitted as full member of the Vienna Academy of Sciences
- 1860s–1880s – Authored influential works on kidney disease, pulmonary embolism, and haematological disorders
- 1885 – Ennobled by the Emperor, becoming “von Bamberger”
- 1887 – Founded the journal Wiener klinische Wochenschrift with Ernst Fuchs (1851-1930)
- 1888 – Died November 9 in Vienna, aged 65
Medical Eponyms
Bamberger sign in Pericardial Effusion (1856)
In pericardial effusion pulmonary resonance is modified posteriorly. At the angle of the scapula is a small area of dulness, increased fremitus, and broncho-vesicular and bronchial breathing when the patient is sitting upright, which disappears when he leans forward (Bamberger’s sign).
Musser JH. 1894: 397 and 1913: 615
Bamberger originally described the sign in 1856 in his article Ueber Pericarditis in the chapter Beiträge zur Physiologie und Pathologie des Herzens. This long winded and rambling description was refined in his 1857 chapter on Krankheiten des Herzbeutels (Diseases of the pericardium) in Lehrbuch der Krankheiten des Herzens.
Certainly Bamberger records the posterior chest signs of pericardial effusion, however it is much less clear that he wrote about the specific disappearance of these signs with positional change
Original
English
Die linke Lunge wird bei jedem grossem Pericardialexsudate comprimirt. Am obern Lappen ist dies meist wenig beträchtlich und zeigt sich in der Regel durch einen tympanitischen, dabei aber gewöhnlich noch ziemlich vollen Schall unter dem linken Schlüsselbeine, der untere Lappen dagegen ist manchmal selbst bis zur Luftleere comprimirt. Fast in jedem Falle ist daher der Schall an der Rückenfläche des linken Thorax etwa vom untern Winkel des Schulterblatts bis nach abwärts gedämpft und manchmal selbst völlig leer. Das Athmungsgeräusch daselbst ist unbestimmt, oder kaum hörbar, seltener bronchial. Man darf diesen Zustand nicht mit den Erscheinungen eines gleichzeitigen pleuritischen Exsudats, welches allerdings nicht selten vorkommt, verwechseln, das Fühlbarsein der Stimmvibrationen, die bei blosser Compression durch den Herzbeutel nicht verschwinden, ist hier eines der wichtigsten differentiellen Zeichen.
The left lung is compromised with large pericardial effusions. The upper lobe is least affected as is demonstrated by a full tympanic sound under the left clavicle. The lower lobe on the other hand is compromised to the point of being compressed and without air. In almost every case, percussion of the left posterior thorax, below the lower border of the scapula is muffled or dull. The breath sounds at this level are barely audible and occasionally bronchial in nature. This condition should not be confused with the commonly occurring pleural effusion where these signs and tactile vocal fremitus do not disappear when compressed by pericardial exudates, and this is one of the most important differential signs.
Other medical eponyms
Bamberger albuminuria (1857) archaic term. Albuminuria occurring in severe anaemia. [Ueber die Beziehungen zwischen Morbus Brightii und Herzkraukheiten]
Bamberger disease (1859) Clonic spasms of the leg muscles; echolalia; and abulia, observed in schizophrenia and hysteria. [Saltatorischer Reflekskrampf, eine merkwürdige Form von Spinal-Irritation]
Bamberger disease II (1872) [Concato disease; Bamberger-Concato disease] Progressive polyserositis with pleural and pericardial effusions, most commonly assoicated with TB. [Über zwei seltene Herzaffektionen mit Bezugnahme auf die Theorie des ersten Herztons]
Bambergergasse – Vienna, Donaustadt (22nd district). Named after Bamberger in 1954, previously known as Kubitschekweg
Major Publications
- Bamberger H. I Ueber Herzbewegung. In: Beiträge zur Physiologie und Pathologie des Herzens. Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin. 1856; 9: 328–347
- Bamberger H. II Ueber Pericarditis. In: Beiträge zur Physiologie und Pathologie des Herzens. Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin. 1856; 9: 348–380
- Bamberger H. III Ueber Klappenfehler. In: Beiträge zur Physiologie und Pathologie des Herzens. Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin. 1856; 9: 523–556
- Bamberger H. Lehrbuch der Krankheiten des Herzens. Braumüller, Vienna. 1857 [Bamberger sign p120-121]
- Bamberger H. Ueber die Beziehungen zwischen Morbus Brightii und Herzkraukheiten. Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin. 1857; 11: 12–37 [Bamberger albuminuria]
- Bamberger H. Saltatorischer Reflekskrampf, eine merkwürdige Form von Spinal-Irritation. Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift, 1859, 9(4): 49-52, 65-67. [Bamberger disease]
- Bamberger H. Die Krankheiten des chylopoetischen Systems. 1860 (2e 1864)
- Bamberger H. Über zwei seltene Herzaffektionen mit Bezugnahme auf die Theorie des ersten Herztons. Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift, 1872; 22(1): 1-4, 25-28. [Bamberger sign]
References
Biography
- Meynert T. Heinrich von Bamberger. Wiener klinische Wochenschrift 1888; 1(35): 713-717
- Heinrich von Bamberger, Prof. Dr. Universität Wien
- Bamberger, Heinrich von (1822-1888). Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon
- Heinrich von Bamberger. Wien Geschichte Wiki
- Bamberger, Heinrich von. Biographisches Lexikon hervorragender Ärzte
- Portrait. Heinrich von Bamberger
Pericardial effusion
- Musser JH. Practical Treatise on Medical Diagnosis for Students and Physicians, 1894: 397 and 1913: 615.
- West S. Pericardial Effusion: Its Diagnosis and Treatment. Lancet 1910; 175(4513): 560-564
- Christian HA. The frequency of pulmonary compression signs in acute fibrinous pericarditis. JAMA. 1918; 71(6):419-422.
- Conner LA. On the diagnosis of pericardial effusion: With special reference to physical signs on the posterior aspect of the thorax. American Heart Journal. 1926; 1(4): 421–433
Eponym
the person behind the name
