Joseph Jules Dejerine (1849–1917) E
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823_824_Bassetti_JON_1905 22.06.2006 8:12 Uhr Seite 823 J Neurol (2006) 253:823–824 DOI 10.1007/s00415-006-0905-5 PIONEERS IN NEUROLOGY View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by RERO DOC Digital Library Claudio L. Bassetti Joseph Jules Dejerine (1849–1917) E. Caroline Jagella Dejerine was the third occupant of Neurological Society, of whom 13 the world’s first chair of neurology were pupils of Charcot. He received at ‘La Salpêtrière’, after Jean Martin many honours including the title of Charcot and Fulgence Raymond. He ‘Chevalier’ and later ‘Officier’ of the is well known as a strenuous ‘local- Legion of Honor; in 1914 he re- izationist’ of higher brain functions ceived the Moxon gold medal of the but should be remembered mainly Royal College of Physicians of for his innumerable contributions London, after Hughlings Jackson, to clinical neurology as well as for Richard Gowers and David Ferrier. his monumental anatomical and Dejerine was an imposing figure anatomo-pathological studies. who was remembered by his pupils Dejerine was born in Switzer- as affectionate and loyal. In 1888 he land near Geneva as a son of a Savo- married Auguste Marie Klumpke yard carriage-proprietor of modest (1859–1927), an American-born income. In 1871 he arrived in Paris physician, with whom he shared his to study medicine. In 1875 he was passion and work for anatomical appointed ‘Médecin des hôpitaux’at and pathological studies. The cou- the ‘Hôpital de la Pitié’, where he ple had one daughter, who also be- published his first papers on pe- came a physician. The Dejerine’s ripheral neuropathies, with Edmé were described as very hard work- Félix Alfred Vulpian (1826–1887).In ers, they had a rather simple style of 1879, after having completed a doc- living and were fond of nature and Joseph Jules Dejerine (1849–1917) toral thesis on acute ascending sports. Robert Bing was among paralysis, he became ‘Chef de clin- those who wrote an obituary [1] ique’ at the ‘Hôpital Bicètre’, where while Gauckler published the only in 1886 he was nominated ‘pro- biography to date [2]. fesseur agrégé’. In 1887 he joined As a pupil and soon also co- the Salpêtrière. In the following worker of both Charcot and years he became professor of his- Vulpian, Dejerine combined the tory of medicine and surgery anatomo-clinical approach of the (1900), internal medicine (1907), former with the experimental-clini- and finally neurological diseases cal method of the latter. The influ- Received: 21 February 2005 Accepted: 16 March 2005 (1910). Dejerine died of the conse- ence and the relationship with quences of Bright’s disease in 1917, Vulpian were the strongest and while ‘La Salpêtrière’ had been most enduring in his career. Prof. C. L. Bassetti (౧) · E. C. Jagella transformed into an army hospital Dejerine’s work focused on Neurology Department JON 1905 University Hospital during World War I. anatomical and anatomo-patholog- Zürich-Switzerland Dejerine was in 1899 among the ical studies, which were conducted E-Mail: [email protected] 17 founding members of the French mainly with his wife and which led 823_824_Bassetti_JON_1905 22.06.2006 8:12 Uhr Seite 824 824 to the publication of the ‘Anatomie introduced a new concept of muscu- Dejerine’s investigations fit per- des centres nerveux’(1895–1901 [3], lar atrophy in the absence of neu- fectly in the context of the neurolog- and the ‘Sémiologie des affections ropathy. In his work on the thala- ical research of his time and reflect du système nerveux’ (1914 [4]). Es- mus, Dejerine contradicted Charcot the main problems and issues of this sential for these studies were the by demonstrating the existence of ‘age d’or’ of Neurology. Dejerine ac- discoveries of Golgi’s staining, Gud- sensory deficits from a brain lesion cepted scientific arguments only den’s microtome, Marchi’s serial without peripheral sensory lesions when based on morphologic evi- sections,and the use of the principle or motor deficits. dence. Nevertheless, as exemplified of secondary degeneration for the In the second part of his life, by his contributions on the thalamic localisation of fibre tracts. These Dejerine devoted an increasing syndrome, he was also able to ex- techniques enabled Dejerine to de- amount of energy to the study of tend the localization principle to a scribe radicular myotomes and der- higher brain functions. He was cer- more general (and functional) vi- matomes, the somatotopy and con- tainly influenced by Charcot’s vi- sion of the nervous system. In this, nections of the pyramidal tracts,the sion on aphasia and amnesia. Dejerine proved himself capable of aberrant corticobulbar bundles (ex- Dejerine was convinced there linking the main themes of neuro- plaining for example central facial should be distinct types of aphasic logical research in the 19th and 20th palsy in medullary lesions), the as- disturbances according to well de- centuries. cending sensory tracts,and the con- fined structural lesions, partly com- nections between the thalamus and bined with other deficits of higher the cerebral hemispheres. brain functions [9, 10]. In 1908 References Parallel to his laboratory work, Pierre Marie challenged Broca’s fa- Dejerine made important clinico- mous brain-studies and at the same 1. Bing R (1918) Jules Dejerine pathological correlations: scapulo- time Dejerine’s position as leading (1849–1917). Schweiz Arch Neurol Psy- chiatr 2:314–315 humeral atrophy (with Landouzy aphasiologist of his time by suggest- 2. Gauckler E (1922) Le Professeur Dejer- 1885 [5]), hypertrophic progressive ing the existence of only a single ine, 1849–1917. Paris interstitial neuritis (with Sottas type of aphasia (Wernicke type) 3. Dejerine J, Dejerine-Klumpke A 1893 [6]), olivo-ponto-cerebellar while dismissing motor aphasia as (1895–1901) Anatomie des centres nerveux. Paris: Rueff and Cie atrophy (with André-Thomas 1902 mere anarthric phenomenon. This 4. Dejerine J (1914) Sémiologie des affec- and 1912 [7]), peripheral and cen- debate lacked a clear winner but was tions du système nerveux. Paris: Mas- tral ataxia (with Egger 1903), the fundamental because it questioned son thalamic syndrome (with Roussy the relevance of anatomical findings 5. Landouzy L, Dejerine J (1885) De la myopathie atrophique progressive. 1906 [8]), sensory parietal syn- in understanding higher brain func- Myopathie sans neuropathie, débutant dromes (pseudoradicular with tions. d’ordinaire dans l’enfance, par la face. Chiray 1904; cortical with Crouzon In the last decade of his life De- Rev Méd (Paris) 5:81–117, 253–366 1914; pseudothalamic with Mouzon jerine developed an interest in psy- 6. Dejerine J, Sottas J (1893) Sur la 1915), and medial medullary syn- chiatry and psychotherapy, partly névrite interstitielle hypertrophique et progressive de l’enfance. Comptes Ren- drome (1914). Dejerine also de- stimulated by his friendship with dus de la Société de Biologie 45:63–96 scribed intermittent vascular clau- his later biographer Gauckler and 7. Dejerine J, Thomas A (1902) Traité des dication of the spinal cord (1906), with Paul Dubois (1848–1918), one maladies de la moelle épinière. Paris: the phenomenon that aphasics can of the founders of the Swiss Neuro- Baillière, J. B. 8. Dejerine J, Roussy G (1906) Le syn- by a show of fingers identify the logical Society. He claimed that the drome thalamique. Rev Neurol (Paris) number of syllables in a word (De- success of psychiatric treatment de- 12:521–532 jerine-Lichtheim phenomenon),the pends mainly on the personality of 9. Dejerine J (1906) L’aphasie sensorielle: first callosal disconnection syn- the therapist, thus stressing the sa localisation et sa physiologie pathologique. Presse Médicale 55: drome (alexia without agraphia, emotional rather than the rational 437–439 1892), and tactile agnosia. element. This empirical position 10. Dejerine J (1906) L’aphasie motrice: Some of these studies were reflected his own empathic behav- sa localisation et sa physiologie revolutionary. The description of iour towards both his patients and pathologique. Presse Médicale 57: scapulo-humeral muscular atrophy pupils. 453–457.