title: Lumbar nerve root: the enigmatic eponyms.
abstract: Man's quest for recognition has not escaped the physician, whose contributions to medicine perpetuate his name in print. It is a final grasp for professional immortality, which for men like Imhotep and Hippocrates, has prevailed for millennia. This fervor was particularly evident in the latter 19th century, which created a flurry of eponyms, often two or more physicians publishing the same clinical observation. This article reviews the eponym epidemic as it relates to lumbar radiculopathy.
mesh_terms: D004534:Egypt; D004850:Eponyms; D005060:Europe; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D012384:Rome; D012585:Sciatica / Q000266:history*; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots