William Broadbent

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Sir William Henry Broadbent, 1st Baronet (January 23, 1835 - July 10, 1907) was an English neurologist who was born in Lindley, West Yorkshire. He studied medicine at Owens College and the Royal School of Medicine in Manchester. For most of his career he was associated with St Mary's Hospital, London (1859-1896), and also the London Fever Hospital (1860-1879).

Broadbent was a leading British authority in the field of cardiology as well as neurology. He also performed research involving diseases such as tuberculosis and cancer. In 1876 he was the first to describe a type of stroke caused by a cerebral hemorrhage into the ventricular system, that was later to be named Broadbent apoplexy.

Broadbent was a Physician in Ordinary to Queen Victoria and King Edward VII, and was created a baronet in 1893.

Associated eponyms:

• Broadbent sign: Recession of the intercostal spaces (near the eleventh and twelfth ribs on the left side of the back) as a sign of adherent pericardium.
• Broadbent inverted sign: Pulsations synchronizing with ventricular systole on the posterior lateral wall of the chest in gross dilatation of the left atrium.
• Broadbent law: Medical law that states "lesions of the upper segment of the motor tract cause less marked paralysis of muscles that habitually produce bilateral movements than of those that commonly act independently of the opposite side".

Selected writings

• Cancer: A New Method of Treatment (London, 1866)
• The Practice of Medicine, (revised by Sir William Broadbent; 7th ed., London 1875)
• The Pulse (largely a reproduction of the Croonian Lectures, 1887), (London, 1890)
• Heart Disease, With Special Reference to Prognosis and Treatment, (with John Francis Harpin Broadbent), (London, 1897)

References

• Biography of Willam Henry Broadbent