Muristek
“Medical terminology,” says Lubarsch, editor of Virchows Archiv, “has never distinguished itself by its exactitude, clarity and precision.” He then yields to the impulse that has assailed many another medical editor, and relieves his emotions by scolding the tribe of medical authors. He particularly directs his lance at the practice of misusing the word cirrhosis, a sin shared by both Teutons and Anglo-Saxons and which is of itself a none too pleasant commentary on the prevalence of loose writing by medical men. The word cirrhosis is applied to every possible sort of condition associated with hardening; for example, cirrhosis of the kidney as a synonym for chronic forms of nephritis with fibrosis. Probably the reason for this misuse lies in the fact that the cirrhotic liver is fibrotic or sclerotic, and that the word cirrhosis sounds not unlike sclerosis. But cirrhosis is from the Greek word meaning yellow or tawny, carries no reference to sclerosis, and was applied to the diffuse hepatic fibrosis because often the liver in this condition is yellow, either from fat or from bile. The sclerotic kidney, however, is not usually yellow, and the “cirrhotic” lung is generally black with coal pigment. At the best, cirrhosis is a poor term even for the hepatic fibrosis, since often the cirrhotic liver is far from yellow, and its only justification is usage.
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