Gabriel Falloppius (1523–1562) and the facial canal

Abstract

Gabriel Falloppius is known for his contributions to anatomy. Indeed, many anatomic structures bear his name, such as the Fallopian tubes, and his descriptions often contradicted those of other notable anatomists, such as Galen and Andreas Vesalius. In his textbook "Observationes Anatomicae," he described for the first time the structures of the ear, eye, and female reproductive organs, and elucidated the development of the teeth. Furthermore, Falloppius described the facial canal. The objectives of this paper are to provide an overview of Falloppius's life and to discuss the clinical relevance of the facial canal as understood from his description of this anatomic structure.

Physician‐anatomists of Italy in Şānīzāde Mehmed Atāullah Efendi's work Mir'āt al‐Abdān (mirror of bodies)

“…Another famous anatomist of the 16th century who taught in Padua was Gabriele Falloppio, who both corrected and added to Vesalius' Fabrica (Ongaro, ) with his most important work, the Observationes anatomicae (1561). He is credited with many anatomical discoveries and descriptions of the human body such as the Fallopian hiatus (hiatus of the greater petrosal nerve), the Fallopian (ileocecal) valve, the Fallopian (pyramydalis) muscle and the Fallopian tube (uterine tube) (Mortazavi et al, ), and also the Fallopian (facial) canal (Mortazavi et al, 2013; Macchi, ). The inguinal band known as Poupart's ligament should be named the Fallopian ligament because Fallopius had identified it a half century before Poupart (Macchi, 2014), as Şānīzāde did in his book Mir'āt al‐Abdān .…”

One of the Great Pioneers of Anatomy: Gabriele Falloppio (1523-1562)

“…He is the first to competently describe the round and oval windows, semicircular canals, cochlea, and scala vestibuli. He described the tympanic cavity, "Cavum tympani" (5,6).…”

“…He died on October 9, 1562; his disease was probably tuberculosis. He was buried in the Saint Anthony Church of Padua (4)(5)(6)(7)(8).…”

An unwritten anatomy lesson: The influence of Roman clothing on neuroanatomical terminology: In memoriam Albert L. Rhoton, Jr. (1932–2016)

“…The fimbriated extremity of the uterine tubes was first briefly described by Herophilus of Alexandria, Eudemus, and Rufus of Ephesus (Buck and Stedman, ). They were followed by the Italian anatomist Gabrielle Fallopius (1523–1562), who in his work Observationes Anatomicae (1561) offered a wonderfully eloquent and correct description of the fimbriated extremity of the uterine tube, which came to be known as the Fallopian tube (Macchi et al, ). Fallopius was the first to introduce the term fimbriae to anatomical terminology (Herrlinger and Feine, ).…”