Jacques Calvé.

Abstract

Jacques Calvé was born August 18, 1875, In Paris, France, and died on March 10, 1954. His main interest in medicine was the treatment of tuberculosis of the spine. Therefore, he established a very differentiated plan for the treatment of the Pott's disease. Calvé was also one of the pioneers in the radiologic evaluation of the skeletal system. He was among the first to describe the osteonecrosis of the hip and its radiological features-with his name still a part of the disease name today: the Morbus Legg-Calvé-Perthes. Furthermore, he was the first to describe the radiologic image of histiocytosis X of the vertebral body, but he interpreted it as a special form of tuberculosis of the spine. It was years later that the correct diagnosis of this particular radiologic change was found. This paper provides a short account of Jacques Calvé's life as a medical scientist.