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Henri Huchard

Henri Huchard (1844 - 1910)

Henri Huchard (1844-1910) was a French cardiologist and neurologist.

Huchard specialized in the study of cardiovascular disease. He wrote and researched extensively on delirium in cardiovascular disease, arteriosclerosis, valvular and arterial heart disease, arterial hypertension caused by typhoid fever, hereditary aortism, and pulmonary oedema in aortic disease. He released his findings in a series of memoirs

He is eponymously remembered for Huchard disease; Huchard sign; and Syndrôme de Huchard (or Texidor twinge)


Biography
  • Born on April 4, 1844 in Auxon, France
  • 1875 – MD, University of Paris
  • 1876 – Médecin des hôpitaux, Paris. Specialised in the study fo pathologies of the heart and blood vessels.
  • 1884 – Admitted as member of the Académie nationale de médecine; Godard Prize for his work on angina pectoris
  • 1887-1910 Director of Publication of the Journal – Revue générale de clinique et de thérapeutique. Journal des praticiens
  • 1896 – Physician to the Necker hospital
  • Died on December 1, 1910 aged 66

Medical Eponyms
Syndrôme de Huchard (1893)

The Texidor Twinge or Precordial Catch Syndrome (PCS) is a benign condition that causes brief episodes of localised musculoskeletal chest pain in children and young adults. Pain is pleuritic, non-exertional, and typically sudden onset at rest or with minimal activity. Forced inspiration or correction of posture often relieves pain completely. The exact aetiology is unknown.

First described by Huchard in 1893. Huchard termed the condition ‘précordialgie’ (from the latin “praecordia” meaning “before the heart”). The condition was later termed ‘Syndrôme de Huchard’ or ‘Huchard syndrome’.

Dans une leçon clinique qu’il faisait à l’hopital Bichat au mois de novembre 1892, M. Huchard donnait le nom de précordialgie à toute douleur, accompagnée ou non d’angoisse, survenant dans la région précordiale. Après avoir passé en revue les diverses douleurs qui peuvent affecter cette région, notre excellent maître arrivait à cette conclusion: «En général, à de rares exceptions près, chaque fois qu’un malade vient se plaindre au médecin, d’une douleur dans la région cardiaque, il n’a pas d’affection organique du cœur»

Chevillot 1893

In a clinical lesson he gave at the Bichat hospital in November 1892, Mr. Huchard gave the name precordialgia to any pain, whether or not accompanied by anxiety, occurring in the precordial region. After having reviewed the various pains which can affect this region, our excellent teacher came to this conclusion: “In general, with rare exceptions, each time a patient comes to complain to the doctor, of a pain in the region of the heart, there is no organic cause

Chevillot 1893

Huchard classified the précordialgies into 4 categories

1° Douleurs précordiales, accompagnées d’angoisse douleurs de l’angine et des pseudu-angines de poitrine;

2° Précordialgies ne consistant que dans l’angoisse qui s’ observent dans les maladies infectieuses et qui ne s’ accompagnent pas de douleur. J’ai en maintes fois l’occasion de les rencontrer dans les formes malignes de la variole, de la grippe, de la scarlatine, etc;

3° Précordialgies néuralgiques, caractérisées par des douleurs augmentant par la pression sans angoisse;

4° Enfin, on peut encore établir un quatrième groupe en mentionnant les «algies centrales» que j’ai étudiées dans un travail récent (1) et que Bloch appelle «topoalgies». Ces douleurs ont pour caracteres de ne pas exister sur le trajet d’un nerf, de ne pas augmenter à la pression, et chez certains malades, elles se localisent à la région précordiale. Une telle douleur a un siège central et non périphérique; elle est comparable à ces douleurs que les amputés croieut éprouver dans le membre qu’on leur a enlevé.

Huchard Les précordialgies 1893

(1) Huchard. Les Neurasthénies Locales. 1892

1° Precordial pains of angina and pseudo-angina pectoris, accompanied by anxiety

2° Precordialgias consisting only of anxiety. Observed in infectious diseases and not accompanied by pain. I have on many occasions the opportunity to meet them in the malignant forms of smallpox, influenza, scarlet fever, etc;

3° Neuralgic precordialgia, characterized by pain increased with pressure without anxiety;

4° Finally, we can establish a fourth group by mentioning the “central pain” that I studied in a recent work (1) and that Bloch calls “topoalgia”. These pains have the characteristics of not existing on the path of a nerve, of not increasing under pressure, and in some patients, they are localized in the precordial region. Such pain has a central and not a peripheral site; it is comparable to the pains that amputees believe to experience in the limb that has been removed.

Huchard Les précordialgies 1893

(1) Huchard. Les Neurasthénies Locales. 1892

Other eponyms

Huchard sign: Decreased reduction in heart rate in patients with hypertension when changing from standing to supine position. The observed reduction in heart rate is less than that for normotensive patients.

Huchard disease: Hypertension that occurs without preexisting renal disease or known cause [essential or primary hypertension]. 


Major Publications

References

Biography

Eponymous terms


Eponym

the person behind the name

BA MA (Oxon) MBChB (Edin) FACEM FFSEM. Emergency physician, 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 |

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