title: Edmund Biernacki (1866-1911): Discoverer of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate. On the 100th anniversary of his death.
abstract: In contemporary medicine, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is used to assess severity in patients with such diseases as erysipelas, psoriasis, eosinophilic fasciitis, dermatomyositis, and Behçet's disease. We remember the scientific achievements of a Polish physician, the discoverer of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), Edmund Faustyn Biernacki (1866-1911), on the 100th anniversary of his death. The practical application of ESR in clinical diagnostics in 1897 by Biernacki was little known for many years, because it was often neglected owing to the work of Robert Fåhraeusand Alf Westergren from 1921. In addition, it is also frequently omitted that before Westergren's and Fåhraeus's reports were published, ESR was also noticed by Ludwig Hirschfeld in 1917.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Poznań City Hospital, ul. Szwajcarska 3, 61-285 Poznań, Poland; Medical Faculty, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland. ae.grzybowski@gmail.com
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grzybowski
authors.forename: Jarosław
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sak
mesh_terms: D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D010686:Philosophy, Medical / Q000266:history; D010820:Physicians; D011044:Poland