Adam Christian Thebesius (January 12, 1686 – November 10, 1732) was a German anatomist who was a native of Sandenwalde, Silesia

Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

. He studied medicine in Jena

Jena

Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...

, Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 and Leiden, and received his doctorate from the University of Leiden in 1708. In 1709 Thebesius started a medical practice in Hirschberg, and beginning in 1715 he was Stadtphysikus (municipal physician) in Hirschberg

Jelenia Góra

----Jelenia Góra is a city in Lower Silesia, south-western Poland. The name of the city means "deer mountain" in Polish, Czech and German. It is close to the Krkonoše mountain range running along the Polish-Czech border – ski resorts such as Karpacz and Szklarska Poręba can be found...

, as well as a medical consultant to the nearby Warmbrunn spa.

Thebesius is known for his studies of coronary circulation

Circulatory system

The circulatory system is an organ system that passes nutrients , gases, hormones, blood cells, etc...

. In his 1708 graduate thesis titled De circulo sangunis in corde (On the Circulation of the Blood in the Heart), he described the tiny cardiac venous

Vein

In the circulatory system, veins are blood vessels that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated blood to the heart...

 tributaries that drain directly into the cardiac chambers. These veins are now known as Thebesian veins, or venae cordis minimae

Venae cordis minimae

The smallest cardiac veins or Thebesian veins are minute valveless veins in the walls of all four heart chambers. They are most abundant in the right atrium and least in the left ventricle. They drain the myocardium and pass through the endocardial layer to empty directly into the right atrium...

, and the drainage pathway is referred to as the Thebesian system. Two other eponyms that contain his name are:

• Thebesian foramina: Also known as foramina venarum minimarum
  Foramina venarum minimarum
  The foramina venarum minimarum are the orifices of minute veins , which return blood directly from the muscular substance of the heart....
  
  or Vieussens' foramina after Raymond Vieussens
  Raymond Vieussens
  Raymond Vieussens was a French anatomist from Vigan. He studied medicine at the University of Montpellier where he earned his degree in 1670. He later became head physician at Hôtel Dieu Saint-Eloi in Montpellier...
  
   (1635–1715). These structures are orifices of the Thebesian veins.
• Thebesian valve: The valve of the coronary sinus
  Valve of the coronary sinus
  The valve of the coronary sinus is a semicircular fold of the lining membrane of the right atrium, at the orifice of the coronary sinus.The valve may vary in size, or be completely absent....
  
  .

External links

• Biography of Adam Christian Thebesius
• Adam Christian Thebesius @ Who Named It
  Who Named It
  Who Named It? is an English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though this is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliographies. It is hosted in Norway and maintained by medical...