Ludwig Türck

Ludwig Türck (June 22, 1810 - February 25, 1868) was an Austrian neurologist who was a native of Vienna. In 1836 he received his medical doctorate from the University of Vienna, and was later a departmental head in neurology.

He is remembered for his pioneer investigations of the central nervous system, particularly his studies concerning nerve fiber degeneration. His name is lent to the eponymous "bundle of Türck", which are uncrossed fibers forming a small bundle in the pyramidal tract. Today this bundle of fibers is usually called by its clinical name: the anterior corticospinal tract. In medical literature, the terms "Türck's bundle", "Türck's column" and "Türck's tract" are also used for the anterior corticospinal tract.

In the latter part of the 1850s, Türck, along with physiologist Johann Nepomuk Czermak (1828-1873) introduced the laryngoscope into clinical medicine. Among Türck's assistants and students in Vienna were laryngologists Karl Stoerk (1832-1899), Leopold von Schrötter (1837-1908) and Johann Schnitzler (1835-1893).

Selected writings

* "Praktische Anleitung zur Laryngoskopie" (Practical Guide to Laryngoscopy); (1860)
* "Klinik der Krankheiten des Kehlkopfes und der Luftröhre, nebst einer Anleitung zum Gebrauche des Kehlkopfrachenspiegels und zur Lokalbehandlung der Kehlkopfkrankheiten" (1866)
* "Über Hautsensibilitätsbezirke der einzelnen Rückenmarksnervenpaare" (Investigations of the Cutaneous Distribution of the Separate Pairs of Spinal Nerves) (1869); with Carl Wedl (1815-1891)

References

* [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1486468&dopt=AbstractPlus National Library of Medicine article about the bundle of Türck]
* [http://www.ishm2006.hu/scientific/abstract.php?ID=173 Influence of Hungary and Central Europe upon the Development of Medicine]