Draft:Anatomicoclinical method

René Laennec (1781-1826) defined the anatomoclinical method as a "method of studying pathological states based on the analysis of the observation of symptoms or alterations of functions that coincide with each type of organ alteration." It is used notably in the study of anatomopathology, a branch of anatomy dedicated to studying the lesions of diseases on the human body.

For Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893), the anatomoclinical principle consisted of "careful study of symptoms associated with the observation of the anatomical site of lesions after death."

• Creation of the anatomoclinical method: Giovanni B. Morgagni in the 18th century."
• Development of the anatomoclinical method: Xavier Bichat 1771-1802, then R. Laennec 1781-1826.
• The systematic use of the Charcot method.

Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771), a professor of medicine in Padua and an anatomist, can be considered as the first modern anatomopathologist. He undertook to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the lesions observed in cadavers and clinical symptomatology. In this regard, he founded the "anatomoclinical method."

Contrary to Boerhaave, who sought only confirmation of clinical diagnosis through autopsies, Morgagni constructed a true system of thought around pathological anatomy, intended to lead to a rational classification of diseases (nosology). Morgagni thus published in 1761, in Venice, the first work on pathological anatomy titled "De sedibus et causis morborum per anatomen indagatis." However, Morgagni limited himself to a macroscopic analysis of lesions; he did not use the microscope, which had been utilized in the previous century by Leeuwenhoek and was very likely known to Morgagni.

The anatomoclinical method experienced its main expansion in Paris at the beginning of the 19th century. The spirit of independence that prevailed there after the Revolution allowed for the emergence of an original school liberated from the principles of Hippocrates. Xavier Bichat (1771-1802), a surgeon at the Hôtel-Dieu, recognized and analyzed the concept of "tissue." Following in Morgagni's footsteps, Bichat developed the anatomoclinical method. According to him, "Dissecting in anatomy, conducting experiments in physiology, following patients, and dissecting corpses in medicine, these are the three paths without which one cannot be an anatomist, physiologist, or physician." After Bichat, the anatomoclinical method allowed the French School of Medicine to take the first step in the evolution that led to contemporary medicine.