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Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laënnec (1781–1826): The Man Behind the Stethoscope

Ariel Roguin, MD, PhD, Department of Cardiology, Rambam Medical Center, B. Rappaport - Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 31096 Israel

Reprint Requests: Ariel Roguin, MD, PhD, Department of Cardiology, Rambam Medical Center, B. Rappaport - Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 31096 Israel, Tel: 972-50-206-3201, Fax: 972-4-854-3451, Email: aroguin{at}technion.ac.il

Abstract

Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laënnec (1781–1826) was a French physician who, in 1816, invented the stethoscope. Using this new instrument, he investigated the sounds made by the heart and lungs and determined that his diagnoses were supported by the observations made during autopsies. Laënnec later published the first seminal work on the use of listening to body sounds, De L’auscultation Mediate (On Mediate Auscultation). Laënnec is considered the father of clinical auscultation and wrote the first descriptions of bronchiectasis and cirrhosis and also classified pulmonary conditions such as pneumonia, bronchiectasis, pleurisy, emphysema, pneumothorax, phthisis and other lung diseases from the sounds he heard with his invention. Laënnec perfected the art of physical examination of the chest and introduced many clinical terms still used today.

Key Words: Mediate auscultation • Tuberculosis • Laënnec’s Cirrhosis • Melanoma • Ventricular systole • Atrial systole