Il mixedema pretibiale o segno di Osler
摘要
Physical signs for diagnosis of autoimmune hyperthyroidism are generally eponimics, i.e. they are identified by the name of the person who first described them. Among these, we can now include pretibial myxoedema, which is present in a minority of clinical cases (3–5%). Since the middle of the 19th century, incomplete and fragmented references to this peripheral dermopathy can be found in European medical literature. However, the currently accepted description was only provided in 1898, by Sir William Osler and, since then, pretibial myxoedema can be defined as Osler’s sign.