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.

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-Sch?nberg disease ? Heinrich Albers-Sch?nberg
• 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
• Alpers disease ? Bernard Jacob Alpers
• Alport syndrome ? Arthur Cecil Alport
• Alstr?m syndrome ? Carl Henry Alstr?m
• 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 ? Eug?ne Apert
• Aran-Duchenne spinal muscular atrophy ? Fran?ois-Amilcar Aran , Guillaume Duchenne
• Armanni-Ebstein nephropathy ? Luciano Armanni, Wilhelm Ebstein
• Arnold-Chiari malformation ? Julius Arnold, Hans Chiari
• Arthus phenomenon ? Nicolas Maurice Arthus
• 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-Fr?hlich syndrome ? Joseph Babinski, Alfred Fr?hlich
• Babinski-Froment syndrome ? Joseph Babinski, Jules Froment
• Babinski-Nageotte syndrome ? Joseph Babinski, Jean Nageotte
• Bahima disease
• Baker cyst ? William Morrant Baker
• Bal?'s disease or Balo concentric sclerosis ? J?zsef Bal?
• Bamberger disease ? Heinrich von Bamberger
• Bamberger-Marie disease ? Eugen von Bamberger, Pierre Marie
• Bancroft filariasis ? Joseph Bancroft
• Bang's disease ? Bernhard Bang
• Bankart lesion ? Arthur Bankart
• Banti disease ? Guido Banti
• B?r?ny syndrome ? Robert B?r?ny
• Barlow disease ? Thomas Barlow
• Barlow syndrome ? John Barlow
• Barraquer-Simons syndrome ? Luis Barraquer Roviralta, Arthur Simons
• Barr?-Li?ou syndrome ? Jean Alexandre Barr?, Yang-Choen Li?ou
• 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
• Beh?et disease ? Hulusi Beh?et
• 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, C?sar Peter M?ller Boeck, J?rgen 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 ? D?sir?-Magloire Bourneville, John James Pringle
• Bowen disease ? John T. Bowen
• Brailsford-Morquio syndrome ? James Frederick Brailsford, Lu?s 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 ? ?douard Brissaud
• Brissaud-Sicard syndrome ? ?douard 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-S?quard syndrome ? Charles-?douard Brown-S?quard
• Brucellosis ? David Bruce
• Brugada syndrome ? the Brugada brothers
• 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
• B?rger-Gr?tz 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
• Calv? disease ? Jacques Calv?
• Canavan disease ? Myrtelle Canavan
• Cannon syndrome ? Walter Cannon
• Capgras syndrome ? Joseph Capgras
• Caplan's syndrome ? Anthony Caplan
• Caroli syndrome ? J. Caroli
• Carri?n's disease ? Daniel Alcides Carri?n
• Castleman disease ? Benjamin Castleman
• C?stan-Chenais syndrome ? ?tienne Jacques Marie Raymond C?stan,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
• Ch?diak-Higashi syndrome ? Alexander Ch?diak,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 ? Ga?tan Gatian de Clerambault
• Clerambault-Kandinsky syndrome ? Ga?tan 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 ? Fr?d?ric 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
• 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 Gon?alves 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
• de Quervain's thyroiditis ? Fritz de Quervain
• Dejerine-Sottas disease
• Denys-Drash syndrome
• Dent's disease
• Dercum's disease ? Francis Xavier Dercum
• 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 syndrome ? John H. Edwards
• Ehrlichiosis ? Paul Ehrlich
• Erdheim-Chester disease ? Jakob Erdheim, William Chester
• Escherichia coli? Theodor Escherich

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-Barr? syndrome ? Georges Guillain, Jean Alexandre Barr?
• Gunther's disease

H

• Hardikar Syndrome
• 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-Sch?nlein 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
• Kl?ver-Bucy syndrome
• K?hler's bone disease
• Korsakoff syndrome
• Krabbe's disease
• Kugelberg-Weland disease
• King-Kopetzky syndrome

L

• Lackasushi
• Lafora's disease
• Legg-Calv?-Perthes disease
• Leigh's disease
• Leiner's disease
• Leishmaniasis ? Sir William Boog Leishman
• Len?gre's disease
• Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
• Letterer-Siwe disease
• Lev's disease
• Libman-Sacks disease
• Lobomycosis
• L?ffler'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
• Mansonellosis ? Sir Patrick Manson
• 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
• Meig's syndrome ? Joe Vincent Meigs
• M?n?trier's disease
• M?ni?re?s 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 ? Friedrich Christoph Pelizaeus and Ludwig Merzbacher
• Perthes syndrome
• Peyronie's disease ? Fran?ois Gigot de la Peyronie
• Pick's disease ? Arnold Pick
• Pickardt syndrome
• Plummer's disease
• Poland's syndrome ? Sir Alfred Poland
• Pompe's disease ? Johann Cassianius Pompe
• 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
• Rickettsiosis - Howard Taylor Ricketts
• Riggs' disease ? John M. Riggs (dentist)
• Riley-Day syndrome
• Ritter's disease
• Robles Disease (Onchocercosis ) ? 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
• Theileriosis ? Sir Arnold Theiler
• Thomsen's disease
• Tietze's syndrome
• Tourette syndrome ? Georges Albert ?douard 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

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