Jonathan Hutchinson--The Eponyms Physician.

Abstract

Jonathan Hutchinson was born in Selby, England, in 1828. He is well known for the eponymous terms named after him and his catchy descriptive terms thatwere accurate andwell-remembered, for instance, the “apple jelly” for lupus vulgaris, the “screwdriver” for central incisor peg teeth, and the “ground glass” for cornea of congenital syphilis. He believed that illustrations were a necessary adjunct of clinical observations.He employed an artist to visit thewards andpaint pictures of skin lesions, and later he built amuseum for his collection of drawings, illustrations,andwaxmodels forpathologicalanddermatologicalconditions. Hutchinson was a surgeon, dermatologist, ophthalmologist, and pathologist. Of note, his interest in pathology was influenced by James Paget. His research on syphilis started after observing severe disease of the skull bones in a young man whose mother had had syphilis. After extensive research, his first book Syphilitic Diseases of Ears and Eye was published in 1863. He named syphilis “the great imitator” and described the triad of hereditary syphilis, which was later named “Hutchinson’s Triad.” The list of the eponymous terms named after Hutchinson is long. It includes Hutchinson sign, Hutchinson teeth, Hutchinson freckle, Hutchinson disease, Hutchinson mask, Hutchinson patch, Hutchinson angina, Hutchinson facies, Hutchinson pupil, Hutchinson summer prurigo, Hutchinson syndrome, HutchinsonWeber-Peutz syndrome, and Hutchinson-Gilford progeria. Hutchinson medical bibliography has almost 1200 items. He wrote every single word in the 11 volumes of Archives of Surgery, published between 1889 and 1900. He also published 4 volumes of Lectures in Clinical Surgery; the first volume had 20 chapters on dermatology. Hutchinsonhadpeculiar ideas.Hebelieved that leprosywas caused byeatingbadlycured fish.HetraveledtoNorway,Egypt, theMiddleEast, and India togathermaterials in supportofhishypothesis.AlthoughHansen had discovered the leprosy bacillus in 1874, Hutchinson published his last book On Leprosy and Fish Eating in 1906 justifying his beliefs. He also believed that alopecia areatawas amodified ringworm, or a sequela of ringworm, even though all his microscopic examinations were negative for fungal infection. Although hewas opposedwomen to entering themedical profession, he lovedhiswifewithdeepaffection and wrote letters to her almost daily in periods of separation. He saw the person who had the disease first; thus, he would label new disease conditions with the patient’s name. Examples are Mabey malady, Penmann disease, Mortimer malady, and Branford legs. Hutchinson died in Haslemere, Surrey, England in 1913. On his tombstone was inscribed “A Man of Hope and Forward Looking Mind.” Hutchinson’scontributions tomedicineandthefieldofdermatologycontinue tomake an important impact on the recognition and diagnosis of disease.