Jean-Athanase Sicard was a French neurologist

Neurologist

A neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders.Neurology is the medical specialty related to the human nervous system. The nervous system encompasses the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A specialist...

 and radiologist who was born in Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

.

He studied medicine in Marseille and Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, where he studied with Charles Emile Troisier

Charles Emile Troisier

Charles Emile Troisier was a French doctor.The following are named for him:* Troisier's sign, a hard, enlarged, left supraclavicular lymph node.* Troisier-Hanot-Chauffard syndrome, a form of diabetes mellitus-References:...

 (1844-1919), Édouard Brissaud

Édouard Brissaud

-See also:*Timeline of tuberous sclerosis*History of Tourette syndrome...

 (1852-1909), Henri-Alexandre Danlos

Henri-Alexandre Danlos

Henri-Alexandre Danlos was a French physician and dermatologist born in Paris. With Danish dermatologist Edvard Ehlers , the Ehlers–Danlos syndrome is named, which is a group of inherited connective tissue disorders.He studied medicine in Paris, and during the early part of his career performed...

 (1844-1912), Fulgence Raymond

Fulgence Raymond

Fulgence Raymond was a French neurologist who was born in the French department Indre-et-Loire.Originally trained as a veterinarian, he later studied human medicine under Alfred Vulpian in Paris...

 (1844-1910) and Georges-Fernand-Isidore Widal (1862-1929). With Widal he performed serodiagnostic

Serology

Serology is the scientific study of blood serum and other bodily fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the diagnostic identification of antibodies in the serum...

 studies in immunology

Immunology

Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...

. In 1899 he obtained his medical doctorate, and in 1910 was appointed chef de service at the Hôpital Necker. In 1923 he became a professor of internal pathology

Pathology

Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....

.

With Jacques Forestier

Jacques Forestier

Jacques Forestier was a French internist who was a pioneer in the field of rheumatology. He studied and practiced medicine in Paris, and was founder of the National French Society of Rheumatology...

 (1890-1978), he introduced lipiodol

Lipiodol

Lipiodol also known as ethiodized oil is a poppyseed oil used by injection as a radio-opaque contrast agent that is used to outline structures in radiological investigations. It is used in chemoembolization applications as a contrast agent in follow-up imaging. Lipiodol is also used in...

 (radio-opaque iodized poppyseed oil

Poppyseed oil

Poppyseed oil is an edible oil from poppy seeds . The oil has culinary and pharmaceutical uses, as well as long established uses in the making of paints, varnishes, and soaps.Poppy seeds yield 45–50% oil...

) for use in radiological investigations. Lipiodol was injected into a patients' cerebrospinal fluid

Cerebrospinal fluid

Cerebrospinal fluid , Liquor cerebrospinalis, is a clear, colorless, bodily fluid, that occupies the subarachnoid space and the ventricular system around and inside the brain and spinal cord...

 for myelographic

Myelography

Myelography is a type of radiographic examination that uses a contrast medium to detect pathology of the spinal cord, including the location of a spinal cord injury, cysts, and tumors...

 diagnosis and localization of intraspinal cyst

Cyst

A cyst is a closed sac, having a distinct membrane and division on the nearby tissue. It may contain air, fluids, or semi-solid material. A collection of pus is called an abscess, not a cyst. Once formed, a cyst could go away on its own or may have to be removed through surgery.- Locations :* Acne...

s and tumor

Tumor

A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...

s. Sicard is also credited for introducing injections of sodium salicylate for treatment of varicose veins

Varicose veins

Varicose veins are veins that have become enlarged and tortuous. The term commonly refers to the veins on the leg, although varicose veins can occur elsewhere. Veins have leaflet valves to prevent blood from flowing backwards . Leg muscles pump the veins to return blood to the heart, against the...

. Additionally, he was one of the first physicians to become interested in the possibilities of a procedure known as pneumoencephalography

Pneumoencephalography

Pneumoencephalography is a medical procedure in which most of the cerebrospinal fluid is drained from around the brain and replaced with air, oxygen, or helium to allow the structure of the brain to show up more clearly on an X-ray image...

.

Along with Frédéric Justin Collet

Frédéric Justin Collet

Frédéric Justin Collet was a French pathologist and otolaryngologist.He studied medicine in Lyon, where he had as instructors Raphaël Lépine , and Antonin Poncet . In 1894 he obtained his doctorate, and in 1901 was appointed médecin des hôpitaux...

, Sicard is credited with identifying Collet-Sicard syndrome, in which neck trauma such as a Jefferson fracture

Jefferson fracture

A Jefferson fracture is a bone fracture of the anterior and posterior arches of the C1 vertebra, though it may also appear as a three or two part fracture...

 causes damage to the cranial nerves

Cranial nerves

Cranial nerves are nerves that emerge directly from the brain, in contrast to spinal nerves, which emerge from segments of the spinal cord. In humans, there are traditionally twelve pairs of cranial nerves...

.

Written Works

• Le liquide céphalo-rachidien. Paris, 1902.
• La névralgie faciale essentielle et son traitement par les injections locales neurologiques. Paris, 1911.
• Méthode radiographique d’exploration de la cavité épidurale par la lipiodol; Written with Jacques Forestier (1890-1978). Revue neurologique, Paris, 1921, 28: 1264-1266. Lipide (iodised oil) first used in radiology. Positive contrast myelography with iodised oil (lipiodol).
• Traitement des varices par les injections phlébo-sclérosantes du salicylate de soude. Written with J. Paraf and J. Lermoyez. Gazette des hôpitaux, Paris, 1922, 95: 1573-1575.
• L’exploration radiologique des cavités broncho-pulmonaires par les injections intra-trachéales d’huile iodée. With Jacques Forestier. J méd Franç, 1924, 13: 3-9.
• Le traitement des varices par la méthode sclérosante. With L. Gaugier. Paris, 1927; 3rd edition, 1931.