- Ruggero Oddi
Ruggero Oddi (
July 20 ,1864 -March 22 ,1913 ) was an Italianphysiologist andanatomist who was a native ofPerugia . He studied medicine at Perugia,Bologna andFlorence , and in 1894 was appointed head of the Physiology Institute at theUniversity of Genoa . In 1900 he was relieved of his position at Genoa because ofnarcotic s usage and fiscal improprieties. Later, he sought employment as a doctor with the Belgian colonial medical service, and spent some time working in theBelgian Congo . Oddi died on March 22, 1913 inTunis ,Tunisia .While still a student, Oddi described a small group of circular and longitudinal muscle fibers that wrapped around the end of the bile and pancreatic ducts. This structure was later to be known as the eponymous
Sphincter of Oddi . Oddi was not the original discoverer of thesphincter , English physicianFrancis Glisson initially identified it two centuries earlier, however it was Oddi who was first able to characterize its physiological properties.Inflammation of the junction of the
duodenum andcommon bile duct at the Sphincter of Oddi is referred to as "odditis".References
* [http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/2328.html Who Named It?, Ruggero Oddi]
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