Meigs' syndrome: the history of the eponym

Abstract

Meigs' syndrome is defined as presence of ascites with hydrothorax in association with benign ovarian tumor. The syndrome is named after Joe Vincent Meigs (1892-1963), a Harvard Medical School Professor of Gynecology. However, it was described by several authors in the 19th and the beginning of 20th centuries. Meigs and Cass deserve the credit for awakening the medical profession to the importance of the syndrome in 1937. At the end, the syndrome was coined Meigs' syndrome by Rhodes and Terrell in 1937.