Antoine Marfan

Who was Antoine Marfan?

Antoine Bernard-Jean Marfan was a French pediatrician.

He was born in Castelnaudary to Antoine Prosper Marfan and Adélaïde Thuries. He began his medical studies in Toulouse, where he stayed for two years before moving to Paris. He graduated in 1886, his education having been interrupted by a period of military service. In 1914 he became a professor of infantile hygiene in the pediatric clinic of the University of Paris. During the same year, he became a member of the Académie de Médecine.

In 1896, Marfan described a hereditary disorder of connective tissue which became known as Marfan syndrome. The term "Marfan's syndrome" was first used by Henricus Jacobus Marie Weve of Utrecht in 1931. Today, it is thought that Marfan's patient was affected by a condition known as congenital contractural arachnodactyly, and not Marfan's syndrome. Also, Loeys–Dietz syndrome is a connective tissue disease that has features similar to those of Marfan syndrome.

Further eponymous medical conditions named after Antoine Marfan include:

Dennie–Marfan syndrome

Marfan's hypermobility syndrome