Jean Lenègre
Jean Lenègre (1904-1972) was a French cardiologist.
Lenègre was a visionary French cardiologist whose investigations into the heart’s conduction system profoundly shaped 20th-century electrophysiology. Through tireless clinicopathological research, Lenègre discovered that atrioventricular (AV) block in otherwise structurally normal hearts was often caused by idiopathic fibrous degeneration of the bundle branches. This led to the definition of maladie de Lenègre – an eponymous degenerative conduction disorder—and laid the foundation for the modern classification of bundle branch blocks and their management.
A pioneer in right heart catheterization and one of the earliest adopters of intracardiac electrogram techniques, Lenègre brought rigor and clarity to the analysis of cardiac rhythm disturbances. He published over 600 scholarly works and played a central role in the formation of the European Society of Cardiology, serving as its President from 1960 to 1964 and Editor-in-Chief, Archives des Maladies du Coeur.
His clinical insights, authoritative publications—most notably Électrocardiographie Clinique (1954)—and leadership in cardiological societies earned him international recognition. Despite deteriorating health in his final years, Lenègre remained an active clinician, teacher, and researcher until his sudden death in 1972.
Biography
- 1904 – Born March 25 in Paris, France
- 1927 – Appointed as medical intern; early mentorship from Charles Flandin, Marcel Brûlé, and Charles Laubry
- 1936 – Appointed Head of Pathological Anatomy, Cardiology Centre, Broussais Hospital
- 1937 – Médecin des Hôpitaux (hospital physician)
- 1939–1940 – Served in French military during World War II
- 1940–1949 – Worked at Lariboisière Hospital, Paris
- 1943 – Pioneered right heart catheterization using ureteric catheters with Pierre Maurice
- 1944–1945 – Developed intracardiac electrogram technique for studying cardiac activation
- 1949 – Appointed Head of Cardiology Department, Boucicaut Hospital
- 1950 – Founding Vice-President of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)
- 1952 – Appointed Professor of Experimental Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Paris
- 1954 – Published Électrocardiographie Clinique, landmark reference in electrocardiography
- 1960–1964 – Served as President of the European Society of Cardiology
- 1963 – Elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP), UK
- 1964 – Published seminal work on fibrous bundle branch degeneration (Lenègre’s disease)
- 1965 – Appointed Professor of Clinical Cardiology, Boucicaut Hospital
- 1964 – Second marriage; one daughter
- 1972 – Died February 9 of a syncopal episode caused by calcific aortic stenosis
Medical Eponyms
Lenègre’s Disease and the Cardiac Conduction System
Jean Lenègre was a pioneer in elucidating the pathology of intraventricular conduction disturbances. His meticulous histological studies revealed that chronic heart block—particularly with Adams-Stokes attacks—could stem from primary fibrotic degeneration of the bundle branches, not merely coronary artery disease. This idiopathic condition, later eponymously termed Lenègre’s disease, was characterized by sclerodegeneration of the His-Purkinje system, and became a cornerstone in understanding conduction abnormalities in structurally normal hearts.
Lenègre’s clinical-anatomical approach, informed by decades of dissection and ECG correlation, elevated the diagnostic precision of bundle branch blocks. His collaborative work with Maurice Lev (1908–1994) laid the foundation for the combined term Lenègre-Lev syndrome, encompassing age-related degenerative conduction disease. Their parallel discoveries remain central to modern arrhythmology and pacemaker indications.
Lenègre-Lev disease (1964)
Acquired complete heart block. Fibrous transformation progressive and slow, of degenerative origin, of the two branches of the bundle of His, resulting in progressive conduction disorders:
- block of branch with or without hemiblock of the opposite side
- then complete, paroxysmal then permanent artroventricular (AV) block.
1964 – Lenègre described progressive fibrosis of the ventricular conduction system in a series of articles published in French in the 1950s:
Transformation fibreuse lente et progressive, d’origine dégénérative, des deux branches du faisceau de His, entraînant des troubles conductionnels progressifs : bloc de branche avec ou sans hémibloc du côté opposé, puis bloc auriculoventriculaire complet, paroxystique puis permanent (maladie d’Adams-Stokes)
His first and major reference in English appeared in 1964 as “Etiology and pathology of bilateral bundle branch block in relation to complete heart block“
1964 – Maurice Lev, of the University of Miami, saw a similar sclerodegenerative process, often with calcification, in an older age group publishing “Anatomic basis for atrioventricular block“
Major Publications
- d’Allaines F, Lenegre J, Dubost C, Mathivat A. Rétrécissement mitral. Anastomose veine-pulmonaire-veine azygos. Premier cas opéré. Mémoires de l’Académie de chirurgie (Paris), 1949; 75: 318-319 [rétrécissement mitral]
- Lenègre J, Coblentz B, Himbert J. L’auscultation cardiaque. 1957
- Lenègre J. Contribution à l’étude des blocs de branche [comportant notamment les confrontations électriques et histologiques] Contribution to the study of branch blocks. Paris 1958
- Lenègre J. Cardiopathies par athérosclérose coronarienne. La Revue du praticien. T. 8. N° spécial, 25 mai 1958
- Lenègre J. Moreau P. Le bloc auriculo-ventriculaire chronique. Etude anatomique, clinique et histologique. Archives des maladies du coeur et des vaisseaux. 1963;56: 867-888.
- Lenègre J. Etiology and pathology of bilateral bundle branch block in relation to complete heart block. Prog Cardiovasc Dis 1964;6:409-444. [Lenègre-Lev disease]
- Lenègre J. Maladies de l’appareil cardio-vasculaire. Collection médico-chirurgicale à révision annuelle 1968 (36)
References
Biography
- Bedford E. Jean Lenègre 1904-1972. Br Heart J. 1972; 34(8): 858
- Turiaf J. Eloge: Jean Lenègre (1904-1972). Bulletin of the National Academy of Medicine. 1973/01 (T157, N1):36-48
- TrotouxJ, Germain MA. L’hôpital Boucicaut Une histoire centenaire. Histoire des sciences médicales. 2008;XLII(4):403-410
Eponymous terms
- Kusumoto FM et al. 2018 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline on the Evaluation and Management of Patients With Bradycardia and Cardiac Conduction Delay: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines and the Heart Rhythm Society. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019 Aug 20;74(7):e51-e156.
- Carius BM, Long B, Schauer S. Lev’s Syndrome: A rare case of progressive cardiac conduction disorder presenting to the emergency department. Am J Emerg Med. 2019 May;37(5):1006.e1-1006.e4.
Eponym
the person behind the name
Doctor in Australia. Keen interest in internal medicine, medical education, and medical history.
