[Armand Trousseau (1801-1867), French physician par excellence]

Abstract

Armand Trousseau (1801-1687) was one of the greatest masters of the French medicine. He was the first physician to practice tracheotomy in diphtheria and to recommend thoracentesis for removal of air and fluid out of the pleural space. He also recommended the cannulation of the glottis. He described the first cases of laryngeal phthisis and infantile tetany whose Trousseau's sign became a typical feature. Among the classic French medical books "Clinique médicale de l'Hôtel-Dieu", by Trousseau must be mentioned as it has been published in 1861 and often had to be edited or translated. In it, Trousseau displays a masterly manner of describing asthma from which he suffered himself. Trousseau's methods of research and results of his observations conferred a world famous celebration on him.