DEGIMBERNAT,ANTONIO, (1734-1816) - ANATOMIST AND SURGEON

While one of us (J.P.-L.) was completing his surgical internship at th e Henry Ford Hospital of Detroit, Mich, during 1954 to 1956, he found with surprise that, although surgeons at the hospital could speak of G imbernat's ligament with reference to the treatment of crural hernia, practically none was aware that Antonio de Gimbernat was Spanish-Catal an, to be exact. Others ventured he might be French. We also observed, while attending the celebration of the centennial publication of Bass ini's technique in Padua, Italy (1987), that a surprising number of Eu ropean university professors also believed that Gimbernat was French. Since then, we who have held the same chair for more than 20 years at the Santa Cruz and San Pablo Hospital of Barcelona, Spain, that Gimber nat held in the 18th century have endeavored to vindicate the name of Antonio de Gimbernat i Arbos as the Spanish-Catalan anatomist and surg eon for whom a ligament was named and a surgical technique defined. Wh en applied to the strangulated crural hernia, this surgical technique offers greater promise to the patient during surgery.