Charles Jacques Bouchard (1837–1915) and the Charcot-Bouchard aneurysm

Abstract

Charles Jacques Bouchard was a distinguished French physician and scientist of the early 19th century. Despite his humble beginnings, Bouchard was able to achieve meteoric success within the scientific and medical fields, establishing himself as one of the most influential physician-scientists of his time. This was in part due to his superb commitment, as well as the prosperity engendered by the strong influence of his teachers, which can be seen as a testament to the importance of mentorship in medicine. Besides his myriad contributions, Bouchard is most well known for describing the Charcot-Bouchard aneurysm in 1866 alongside his mentor Jean-Martin Charcot, linking them for the first time to intracranial hemorrhage. Bouchard’s thesis entitled “A Study of Some Points in the Pathology of Cerebral Hemorrhage” was regarded by some as the most original and important of all recent works on the subject of cerebral hemorrhage at the time of publication. Sadly, the great relationship Bouchard shared with his mentor Charcot would later deteriorate into perhaps one of the most well-known student-mentor quarrels in the history of medicine. Herein, the authors present a historical recollection of Bouchard’s life, career, and contributions to medicine, as well as the famous controversy with Jean-Martin Charcot.

Senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease arise from Aβ‐ and Cathepsin D‐enriched mixtures leaking out during intravascular haemolysis and microaneurysm rupture

“…We were astonished to find that some of our microaneurysm images (For example, a microaneurysm image in Fig. 9H) were strikingly similar to early descriptions of Charcot-Bouchard aneurysm by Charles Jacques Bouchard, who pioneered the works that linked Charcot-Bouchard aneurysm to cerebral microhaemorrhage [30,34]. Apparently, Charcot-Bouchard aneurysm is mostly linked to a chronic form of cerebral microhaemorrhage.…”

“…It came as a complete surprise that this type of microaneurysm and microhaemorrhage links to AD senile plaque development. Interestingly, Bouchard originally described the aneurysms as “small spots of a violaceous, blackish, or ochre color, globular in form, and varying in size from that of a millet seed to that of a pin's head.” [30,34]. Although the microaneurysms we measured here probably were even smaller, we also detected a type of “blackish” material in the microaneurysms.…”

Senile plaques in Alzheimer’s disease arise from Aβ and Cathepsin D-enriched amyloidogenic mixtures out of intravascular hemolysis and Charcot-Bouchard aneurysm-related vascular degeneration

“…Interestingly, Bouchard originally described the aneurysms as "small spots of a violaceous, blackish, or ochre color, globular in form, and varying in size from that of a millet seed to that of a pin's head." 30,38 . Although the microaneurysms we measured here probably were even smaller, we also detected a type of "blackish"materials in the microaneurysms.…”

“…It came as a complete surprise that this type of aneurysm and microhemorrhage links to AD senile plaque development, so that we put “Charcot-Bouchard aneurysm” in the article title to show our respect for their ground-breaking work. Interestingly, Bouchard originally described the aneurysms as “small spots of a violaceous, blackish, or ochre color, globular in form, and varying in size from that of a millet seed to that of a pin’s head.” 30,38 . Although the microaneurysms we measured here probably were even smaller, we also detected a type of “blackish” materials in the microaneurysms.…”

Jean-Martin Charcot: the polymath

“…In collaboration with Charles Joseph Bouchard (1837–1915), Charcot made significant contributions to the understanding of strokes, particularly cerebral hemorrhages. Their study led to the discovery of “aneurysms that developed on intracerebral arterioles.” 53 During the autopsy, Bouchard identified ruptured and intact aneurysms, providing evidence for this pathology, which was later named “Charcot-Bouchard's aneurysms.” 53 54…”