Geswein hole: A fanciful Wikipedian medical eponym for preauricular sinus

Abstract

In the English version of the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, we find the term "Geswein hole" mentioned as another name for preauricular sinus. On the Wikipedia page, the following note "Geswein, a familial name of German descent" is used as a reference. The aim of this study is to delineate the origin of this eponym. After an introductory compilation of the modern 20th and 21st centuries literature, the research was conducted at three levels: the compilation of all cited references on the Wikipedia page; the systematic study of the first description of this entity from 1864 to 1878, also sometimes termed fistula auris congenita; and the study of German references dealing with this subject from 1879 to 1901. No track of this eponym was found. Geswein hole must be considered a modern fanciful Wikipedian medical eponym! This clearly demonstrates the dangers of using anonymous internet references, notably Wikipedia.

Keywords: Eponym; Geswein hole; History; Preauricular sinus; Wikipedia.