title: History of femoral head fracture and coronal fracture of the femoral condyles.
abstract: The first known description of the coronal fracture of the lateral femoral condyle was published by Busch in 1869. Hoffa used Busch's drawing in the first edition of his book in 1888 and accompanied it only with one sentence. A full case history of this fracture pattern was described by Braun in 1891. However, Braun's article fell into oblivion and so the fracture was popularized only in the fourth edition of Hoffa's textbook, particularly thanks to the drawing, rather than the brief description. Therefore, a fracture of the posterior femoral condyle, or more specifically, of the lateral condyle, could properly be called "Busch-Hoffa fracture". Femoral head fracture was initially described by Birkett in 1869. Of essential importance in this respect were the publications by Christopher in 1924 and, particularly, Pipkin's study of 1957, including his classification that is still in use today. A historically correct eponym for a femoral head fracture would therefore be "Birkitt-Pipkin fracture".
authors: Department of Orthopaedics, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Central Military Hospital Prague, U Vojenské nemocnice 1200, 169 02, Prague 6, Czech Republic, bartonicek.jan@seznam.cz.
authors: Jan
authors: J
authors: Bartoníček
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Rammelt
mesh_terms: D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000266:history*; D005270:Femur Head / Q000293:injuries*; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal / Q000379:methods; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures / Q000266:history; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000266:history*