Eponyms in Cardiopulmonary Reflexes

Heart rate, blood pressure, and vascular tone, as well as ventilator drive, respiratory rate, and breathing pattern, are, at least in part, under the control of specific reflexes. These reflexes are mediated by a complex network of baroreceptors and chemoreceptors in the arterial system of the carotids, aorta, and left heart, including receptors in the left atrium, the ventricle, and the coronary arteries; irritants in the upper airways and stretch receptors in the lower airways; juxtacapillary-located nonmyelinated fibers in the alveoli and in the bronchial arterial system; and muscle spindles that evoke changes in the membrane potential upon alteration of sarcolemmal tension. Some of these reflexes, usually named after the first individual to describe them, have spread as eponyms into propaedeutic education and clinical work. Because these euphonic eponyms are enigmatic to most clinicians today, this article is intended to provide a short overview of these reflexes, including the historical context of their describers. As evidenced by their clinical implications, the eponyms discussed are revealed to be more than curiosities taught during undergraduate medical education.