CME INDIA Presentation by ⚜ Dr. M. Gowri Sankar, MD, Senior Assistant Professor, Dept. of General Medicine, Government Medical College and ESI Hospital, Coimbatore.

Today’s History Feature:

Dr. Jozef Brudzinski

(1874 – 1917)

💠 Poland Pediatrician
💠 Father of the Poland Paediatrics

His contributions…

🔸Brudzinski was born in a family with patriotic traditions in a village in Poland.
🔸He studied medicine at Moscow and graduated in 1897.
🔸After his medical studies, he went to Europe on study trip for two years. When he was in Germany, he did his research with Dr. Theodor Escherich, a pioneer in the field of pediatric infectious diseases and also got trained with Dr. Antoine Marfan, who was the first to describe Marfans syndrome.
🔸In fact, Dr. Brudzinski had not only gained subject training but also learned how European hospitals were working.
🔸After his return to Poland, he involved himself in establishing Anna Maria Children Hospital, which was a model hospital of that time. He was also the co-founder of the first Paediatric journal in Eastern Europe – “Paediatric Review.”
🔸Moreover, Dr. Brudzinski was playing significant role in reestablishing the Poland University in Warsaw during World War I in 1915 and became its Director.
🔸But, he is best known for his contribution in the field of neurology – he developed four maneuvers to detect meningitis in children.
🔸His Eponym Maneuvers…
🔅 Brudzinski’s neck sign – Patient on supine position, passive flexion of the neck causes reflective flexion of the hips and knees.
🔅 Brudzinski’s symphyseal sign – Pressure over pubic symphysis leads to knee, hip flexion and leg abduction.
🔅 Brudzinski’s cheek sign – Pressure beneath the zygomatic bone leads to flexion of the forearm and arm.
🔅 Brudzinski’s reflex – Passive flexion of one knee into the abdomen leads to involuntary flexion in the opposite hip and knee.
🔸In 1884, the Russian Physician Dr. Viladimir Kernig published his clinical observation of Kernig sign in meningitis.
🔸Subsequently, Dr. Brudzinski helped diagnose meningitis as well as determine the need for lumbar puncture and early empirical antibiotic therapy.
🔸These two eponyms – Kernig sign and Brudzinski’s sign are still being used in clinical practice. It laid the foundation for clinical medicine by emphasizing the importance of patient’s history taking and physical examination.

…………………………………
An Astute Clinician

Dr. Jozef Brudzinski🙏🏼


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