- A dictionary of medical eponyms

Charcot-Weiss-Baker syndrome

Related people

Consists of transient attacks of syncope with marked slowing in heart rate and lowering of blood pressure, and loss of consciousness, caused by strong pressure on the neck over the bifurcation of the carotid arteries, which cause the excitation of baroreceptors of the carotid sinuses. The attacks may also be produced by a sudden turn of the head, wearing a tight collar. Attacks may be preceded or accompanied by focal neurological signs. In some cases the patient dies of heart arrest. Elderly persons, especially those with calcified atherosclerotic plaques in the carotid arteries, are most susceptible. The condition occurs more commonly in men, more often after the age of 45 years.

First described by Johann Nepomuk Czermak (1828-1873) in 1866. It was comprehensively described by Soma Weiss (1898-1942) and James Porter Baker (1913-) in 1933.

Bibliography

  • J. N. Czermak:
    Über mechanische Vagusreizung beim Menschen.
    Jenaische Zeitschrift für Medicin und Naturwissenschaft, Leipzig, 1866, 2: 384.
  • J. M. Charcot:
    Lecons sur les maladies du système nerveux faites à la Salpêtrière.
    Paris 1872-1873.
  • S. Weiss, J. P. Baker:
    The carotid sinus reflex in health and disease. Its rôle in the causation of fainting and convulsions.
    Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 1933, 12: 297-354.

What is an eponym?

An eponym is a word derived from the name of a person, whether real or fictional. A medical eponym is thus any word related to medicine, whose name is derived from a person.

What is Whonamedit?

Whonamedit.com is a biographical dictionary of medical eponyms. It is our ambition to present a complete survey of all medical phenomena named for a person, with a biography of that person.

Disclaimer:

Whonamedit? does not give medical advice.
This survey of medical eponyms and the persons behind them is meant as a general interest site only. No information found here must under any circumstances be used for medical purposes, diagnostically, therapeutically or otherwise. If you, or anybody close to you, is affected, or believe to be affected, by any condition mentioned here: see a doctor.