List of eponymous diseases

# Overview
An eponymous disease is one that has been named after the person who first described the condition. This usually involves publishing an article in a respected medical journal. Rarely an eponymous disease may be named after a patient (examples include Christmas disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, Hartnup disease and Mortimer's disease).
Related disease namings include place names (Bornholm disease, Lyme disease, Ebola hemorrhagic fever) and even societies (Legionnaires' disease). These, however, are not eponyms.
Eponyms are a longstanding tradition in Western science and medicine. Being awarded an eponym is regarded as an honour: "eponymity, not anonymity, is the standard" (Merton R K, 1973). It is regarded as bad form to attempt to eponymise oneself. At a time when medicine lacked the tools to investigate the underlying causes of many syndromes, the eponym was a convenient mechanism for attaching a label to a disease. In order to freely discuss something, it must have a name.

# Punctuation
In 1975, the Canadian National Institutes of Health held a conference where the naming of diseases and conditions was discussed. This was reported in The Lancet (1975;1(7905):513, PMID 46972) where the conclusion was that "The possessive use of an eponym should be discontinued, since the author neither had nor owned the disorder." Medical journals, dictionaries and style guides remain divided on this issue.

# Eponyms and alternatives
There is a trend away from the use of eponymous disease names towards a medical name that describes either the cause or the primary signs. Reasons for this include:
- The name confers no information other than the historical.
- There can be a Western bias to the choices.
- History sometimes shows the credit should have gone to a different person.
- Different countries may have different eponyms for the same disease.
- Several eponyms may turn out to be the same disease (example: amyloid degeneration is also called Abercrombie's disease, Abercrombie's syndrome, and Virchow's syndrome).
Arguments for maintaining eponyms include:
- The name may be more memorable and shorter than the medical one (the latter requiring abbreviation to its acronym)
- Sometimes the medical name proves to be incorrect.
- The syndrome may have more than one cause, yet it remains useful to consider it as a whole.
- It continues to give respect to a person who may otherwise have been forgotten.

# Alphabetical list

## A
- Aarskog-Scott syndrome  Dagfinn Aarskog, Charles Scott
- Aase-Smith syndrome  Jon Morton Aase, David Weyhe Smith
- Abdallat Davis Farrage syndrome  Adnan Al Abdallat, S.M. Davis, James Robert Farrage
- Abderhalden-Kaufmann-Lignac syndrome  Emil Abderhalden, Eduard Kauffman, George Lignac
- Abercrombie disease  John Abercrombie
- Achard-Thiers syndrome  Emile Achard, Joseph Thiers
- Ackerman tumor  Lauren Ackerman
- Addison disease  Thomas Addison
- Adson-Caffey syndrome  Alfred Adson, I.R. Caffey
- Aicardi syndrome  Jean Aicardi
- Alagille syndrome  Daniel Alagille
- Albers-Schonberg disease  Heinrich Albers-Schonberg
- Albright syndrome  Fuller Albright
- Albright-Butler-Bloomberg disease  Fuller Albright, Allan Macy Butler, Esther Bloomberg
- Albright-Hadorn syndrome  Fuller Albright, Walter Hadorn
- Alexander disease  William Stuart Alexander
- Alice in Wonderland syndrome  Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
- Alpers disease  Bernard Jacob Alpers
- Alport syndrome  Arthur Cecil Alport
- Alstrom syndrome  Carl Henry Alstrom
- Alzheimer disease  Alois Alzheimer
- Anders disease  James Meschter Anders
- Andersen disease  Dorothy Andersen
- Anderson-Fabry disease  William Anderson, Johannes Fabry
- Angelman syndrome  Harry Angelman
- Angelucci syndrome  Arnaldo Angelucci
- Anton-Babinski syndrome  Gabriel Anton, Joseph Babinski
- Apert syndrome  Eugene Apert
- Aran-Duchenne spinal muscular atrophy  Francois-Amilcar Aran , Guillaume Duchenne
- Armanni-Ebstein nephropathy  Luciano Armanni, Wilhelm Ebstein
- Arnold-Chiari malformation  Julius Arnold, Hans Chiari
- Arthus phenomenon
- Asherman syndrome  Joseph G. Asherman
- Asperger syndrome  Hans Asperger
- Avellis syndrome  Georg Avellis
- Ayerza syndrome  Abel Ayerza
- Ayerza-Arrillaga syndrome  Abel Ayerza, Francisco Arrillaga

## B
- Babington disease  Benjamin Babington
- Babinski sign  Joseph Babinski
- Babinski-Frohlich syndrome  Joseph Babinski, Alfred Frohlich
- Babinski-Froment syndrome  Joseph Babinski, Jules Froment
- Babinski-Nageotte syndrome  Joseph Babinski, Jean Nageotte
- Bahima disease
- Baker cyst  William Morrant Baker
- Balo's disease or Balo concentric sclerosis  Joszef Balo
- Bamberger disease  Heinrich von Bamberger
- Bamberger-Marie disease  Eugen von Bamberger, Pierre Marie
- Bancroft filariasis  Joseph Bancroft
- Bang's disease  Bernhard Bang
- Banti disease  Guido Banti
- Barany syndrome  Robert Barany
- Barlow disease  Thomas Barlow
- Barlow syndrome  John Barlow
- Barraquer-Simons syndrome  Luis Barraquer Roviralta, Arthur Simons
- Barre-Lieou syndrome  Jean Alexandre Barre, Yang-Choen Lieou
- Barrett's ulcer  Norman Barrett
- Bart-Pumphrey syndrome  R.S. Bart, R.E. Pumphrey
- Bartholin cyst  Caspar Bartholin
- Bartter syndrome  Frederic Bartter
- Basedow disease  Karl Adolph von Basedow
- Basedow syndrome  Karl Adolph von Basedow
- Bassen-Kornzweig syndrome  Frank Bassen, Abraham Kornzweig
- Batten disease  Frederick Batten
- Bazin disease  Pierre-Antoine-Ernest Bazin
- Becker muscular dystrophy  Peter Emil Becker
- Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome  John Bruce Beckwith, Hans-Rudolf Wiedemann
- Behcet disease  Hulusi Behcet
- Bekhterev disease  Vladimir Bekhterev
- Bell palsy  Charles Bell
- Benedikt syndrome  Moritz Benedikt
- Benjamin syndrome  E. Benjamin
- Berger's disease  Jean Berger
- Bergeron disease  Etienne-Jules Bergeron
- Bernard syndrome  Claude Bernard
- Bernard-Soulier syndrome  Jean Bernard, Jean Pierre Soulier
- Bernhardt-Roth paraesthesia  Martin Bernhardt, Vladimir Karlovich Roth
- Bernheim syndrome  Hippolyte Bernheim
- Besnier prurigo  Ernest Henri Besnier
- Besnier-Boeck-Schaumann disease  Ernest Henri Besnier, Csar Peter Mller Boeck, Jorgen Nilsen Schaumann
- Biermer anaemia  Michael Anton Biermer
- Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis  Edwin Bickerstaff
- Bilharzia  Theodor Maximilian Bilharz
- Bing-Neel syndrome  Jens Bing, Axel Valdemar Neel
- Binswanger dementia  Otto Binswanger
- Bland-White-Garland syndrome  Edward Franklin Bland, Paul Dudley White, Joseph Garland
- Bloom syndrome  David Bloom
- Blount syndrome  Walter Putnam Blount
- Boerhaave syndrome  Herman Boerhaave
- Bogorad syndrome  F.A. Bogorad
- Bonnevie-Ullrich syndrome  Kristine Bonnevie, Otto Ullrich
- Bourneville-Pringle disease  Desire-Magloire Bourneville, John James Pringle
- Bowen disease  John T. Bowen
- Brailsford-Morquio syndrome  James Frederick Brailsford, Luis Morquio
- Brandt syndrome  Thore Edvard Brandt
- Brenner tumour  Fritz Brenner
- Brewer kidney  George Emerson Brewer
- Bright disease  Richard Bright
- Brill-Symmers disease  Nathan Brill, Douglas Symmers
- Brill-Zinsser disease  Nathan Brill, Hans Zinsser
- Briquet syndrome  Paul Briquet
- Brissaud disease  Edouard Brissaud
- Brissaud-Sicard syndrome  Edouard Brissaud, Jean-Athanase Sicard
- Broadbent apoplexy  William Broadbent
- Brock syndrome  Russell Claude Brock
- Brodie abscess  Benjamin Collins Brodie
- Brodie syndrome  Benjamin Collins Brodie
- Brooke epithelioma  Henry Ambrose Grundy Brooke
- Brown-Sequard syndrome  Charles-Edouard Brown-Sequard
- Brucellosis  David Bruce
- Brugada syndrome
- Bruns syndrome  Ludwig Bruns
- Bruton-Gitlin syndrome  Ogden Carr Bruton, David Gitlin
- Budd-Chiari syndrome  George Budd, Hans Chiari
- Buerger disease  Leo Buerger
- Bumpke syndrome  Oswald Conrad Edouard Bumke
- Burger-Grutz syndrome  Max Burger, Otto Grutz
- Burkitt lymphoma  Denis Parsons Burkitt
- Burnett syndrome  Charles Hoyt Burnett
- Byler disease
- Bywaters syndrome  Eric Bywaters

## C
- Caffey-Silverman syndrome  John Patrick Caffey, William Aaron Silverman
- Calve disease  Jacques Calve
- Canavan disease  Myrtelle Canavan
- Cannon syndrome  Walter Cannon
- Capgras syndrome  Joseph Capgras
- Caplan's syndrome  Anthony Caplan
- Caroli syndrome  J. Caroli
- Carrion's disease  Daniel Alcides Carrion
- Castleman disease  Benjamin Castleman
- Cestan-Chenais syndrome  Etienne Jacques Marie Raymond Cestan,Louis Jean Chennais
- Chagas disease  Carlos Chagas
- Charcot's disease  Jean-Martin Charcot
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease  Jean-Martin Charcot, Pierre Marie, Howard Henry Tooth
- Cheadle's disease  Walter Butler Cheadle
- Chediak-Higashi syndrome  Alexander Chediak,Otokata Higashi
- Chiari-Frommel syndrome  Johann Baptist Chiari,Richard Frommel
- Chilaiditi syndrome  Demetrius Chilaiditi
- Christ-Siemens-Touraine syndrome  Josef Christ, Hermann Werner Siemens, Albert Touraine
- Christensen-Krabbe disease  Erna Christensen, Knud Krabbe
- Christmas disease  Stephen Christmas
- Churg-Strauss syndrome  Jacob Churg, Lotte Straus
- Claude syndrome  Henri Claude
- Clerambault syndrome  Gaetan Gatian de Clerambault
- Clerambault-Kandinsky syndrome  Gaetan Gatian de Clerambault, Victor Khrisanfovich Kandinsky
- Coats disease  George Coats
- Cock peculiar tumor  Edward Cock
- Cockayne syndrome  Edward Alfred Cockayne
- Cogan's syndrome  David Glendenning Cogan
- Colles' fracture  Abraham Colles
- Collet-Sicard syndrome  Frederic Justin Collet, Jean-Athanase Sicard
- Concato disease  Luigi Maria Concato
- Conn's Syndrome  Jerome Conn
- Cooley's anemia  Thomas Benton Cooley
- Cori Disease  Carl Ferdinand Cori
- Cornelia de Lange syndrome  Cornelia Catharina de Lange
- Costen syndrome  James Bray Costen
- Count Choculitis  Count Chocula
- Crigler-Najjar syndrome  John Fielding Crigler, Victor Assad Najjar
- Crocq-Cassirer syndrome  Jean Crocq, Richard Cassirer
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease  Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt, Alfons Maria Jakob
- Crohn's disease  Burrill Bernard Crohn
- Cronkite-Canada syndrome  L.W. Cronkite, Wilma Canada
- Crouzon syndrome  Octave Crouzon
- Cruveilhier-Baumgarten disease  Jean Cruveilhier, Paul Clemens von Baumgarten
- Cruz disease  Osvaldo Goncalves Cruz
- Curling's ulcer  Thomas Blizard Curling
- Curschmann-Batten-Steinert syndrome  Hans Curschmann, Frederick Batten, Hans Gustav Steinhart
- Cushing's disease  Harvey Cushing

## D
- Da Costa syndrome  Jacob Mendez Da Costa
- Dalrymple disease  John Dalrymple
- Danbolt-Closs syndrome  Niels Christian Gauslaa Danbolt, Karl Philipp Closs
- de Quervain's disease  Fritz de Quervain
- Dejerine-Sottas disease
- Denys-Drash syndrome
- Dent's disease
- Devic's disease
- Di Guglielmo's disease
- Donovanosis
- Down syndrome  John Langdon Down
- Dressler's syndrome
- Duane syndrome
- Dubin-Johnson syndrome
- Duchenne muscular dystrophy
- Duncan's disease
- Duncan's syndrome
- Dupuytren's contracture
- DiGeorge syndrome

## E
- Eales disease
- Edwards syndromeJohn H. Edwards

## F
- Fabry's disease
- Fanconi anaemia
- Farber's disease
- Felty's syndrome-A.R. Felty
- Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome
- Foix-Alajouanine disease
- Fournier gangrene
- Forbe's disease (see Glycogen storage disease type III)
- Fugate's disease
- Franklin's disease
- Friedreich's ataxia

## G
- Gaucher's disease
- Ghon focus  Anton Ghon
- Gilbert syndrome  Augustin Nicolas Gilbert, French gastroenterologist
- Graves' disease
- Graves-Basedow disease  Robert James Graves, Karl Adolph von Basedow
- Grawitz tumor (nephrocellular carcinoma)  Paul Albert Grawitz, German pathologist
- Guam disease
- Guillain-Barre syndrome  Georges Guillain, Jean Alexandre Barre
- Gunther's disease

## H
- Hailey-Hailey disease
- Hallervorden-Spatz disease
- Hansen disease  Gerhard Armauer Hansen
- Hartnup disease
- Hashimoto thyroiditis  Hakaru Hashimoto
- Heyde's syndrome
- Hirschsprung disease  Harald Hirschsprung, Danish physician
- Hodgkin disease, Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma  Thomas Hodgkin
- Horton headache
- Huntington's disease
- Henoch-Schonlein purpura

## J
- Jaeken's disease
- Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease

## K
- Kahler's disease
- Kanner syndrome  Leo Kanner (this name is rarely used now)
- Kaposi sarcoma  Moritz Kaposi, Hungarian dermatologist
- Kashin-Beck disease
- Kawasaki disease
- Kearns-Sayre syndrome
- Kenny syndrome
- Keshen disease
- Kienbock's disease
- Kikuchi's disease
- Kimmelstiel-Wilson disease
- Kimura's disease
- Kinsbourne's syndrome
- Kjer's optic neuropathy Poul Kjer, Danish ophthalmologist
- Klatskin's tumor
- Klinefelter's syndrome
- Kluver-Bucy syndrome
- Kohler's bone disease
- Korsakoff syndrome
- Krabbe's disease
- Kugelberg-Weland disease
- King-Kopetzky syndrome

## L
- Lackasushi
- Lafora's disease
- Legg-Calve-Perthes disease
- Leigh's disease
- Leiner's disease
- Lenegre's disease
- Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
- Letterer-Siwe disease
- Lev's disease
- Libman-Sacks disease
- Lobomycosis
- Loffler's eosinophilic endocarditis
- Lou Gehrig's disease
- Ludwig's angina
- Lynch syndrome

## M
- Machado-Joseph disease (Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3)
- Maladie de Charcot, French name for Motor Neurone Disease  Jean-Martin Charcot, a French neurologist
- Mallory-Weiss syndrome  G. Kenneth Mallory and Soma Weiss
- Marburg multiple sclerosis  Otto Marburg
- Marfan syndrome
- Marshall-Smith syndrome  Richard E. Marshall and David Weyhe Smith
- McArdle's Disease
- McCune-Albright syndrome  Donovan James McCune and Fuller Albright
- Menetrier's disease
- Menieres disease  Prosper Meniere
- Menkes disease
- Minamata disease  Minamata, Japan
- Mondor's disease
- Monge's disease
- Mucha-Habermann disease

## N
- Naxos disease
- Noonan syndrome

## O
- Ondine's curse
- Ormond disease
- Osgood-Schlatter disease
- Osler-Weber-Rendu (Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia)

## P
- Paget's disease of bone (- Paget's disease)
- Paget's disease of the breast (- Paget's disease of the nipple)
- Paget's disease of the penis
- Parkinson's disease  Dr. James Parkinson
- Patau syndrome
- Pelizeus-Merzbacher disease
- Peyronie's disease  Francois Gigot de la Peyronie
- Pick's disease  Arnold Pick
- Pickardt syndrome
- Plummer's disease
- Poland's syndrome  Sir Alfred Poland
- Pompe's disease
- Pott's disease  Percivall Pott
- Pott's Puffy Tumor  Percivall Pott
- Potter's syndrome  Dr. Edith Potter
- Prader-Willi syndrome  Dr. Andrea Prader, (Alexis Labhart) and Dr. Heinrich Willi
- Prinzmetal angina  Myron Prinzmetal

## R
- Ramsay Hunt syndrome   James Ramsay Hunt, American neurologist
- Raynaud's disease  Maurice Raynaud, French physician
- Refsum's disease
- Reiter's syndrome
- Rett Syndrome  Andreas Rett, Austrian pediatrician
- Reye's syndrome
- Riggs' disease  John M. Riggs (dentist)
- Riley-Day syndrome
- Ritter's disease
- Robles Disease  Rodolfo Robles, Guatemalan physician
- Roger's disease
- Rotor syndrome  Arturo Belleza Rotor, Filipino internist
- Rubenstein-Taybi syndrome

## S
- Salmonella  Daniel Elmer Salmon
- Sandhoff's disease
- Scahmberg's disease
- Schilder's disease
- Schinzel-Giedion Syndrome  Drs. Albert Schinzel and Andreas Giedion, who first described the syndrome in a professional journal
- Seligmann's disease
- Sever's disease
- Silver-Russel syndrome
- Simmond's Disease
- Sjogren's syndrome
- Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome
- Stevens-Johnson syndrome
- Sturge-Weber disease
- Still's disease
- Susac's syndrome

## T
- Takayasu's arteritis
- Tangier disease
- Tay-Sachs disease
- Thomsen's disease
- Tourette syndrome  Georges Albert Edouard Brutus Gilles de la Tourette
- Treacher Collins syndrome is the common name for mandibulofacial dysostosis
- Turcot syndrome
- Turner's syndrome  Henry Turner

## U
- Unverricht-Lundborg disease

## V
- Vincent's angina
- Virchow's syndrome
- Von Gierke's disease
- Von Hippel-Lindau disease  Dr. Eugen von Hippel; Arvid Vilhelm Lindau, Swedish pathologist
- Von Recklinghausen's disease (- neurofibromatosis)
- Von Willebrand's disease  Erik Adolf von Willebrand

## W
- Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia
- Warkany syndrome (trisomy)
- Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome
- Weber-Christian disease
- Wegener's granulomatosis
- Weil's disease-Adolf Weil
- Wells syndrome George Wells
- Werner's syndrome
- Wernicke's encephalopathy
- Whipple's disease  George Hoyt Whipple
- Williams syndrome
- William Strauss disease
- Wilms' tumor  Dr Max Wilms, a German surgeon
- Wilson's disease
- Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome  Alfred Wiskott, Robert Aldrich
- Wohlfart-Kugelberg-Welander disease
- Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome
- Wolman disease

## X Y Z
- Zieve's syndrome
- Zollinger-Ellison syndrome