Lambl Excrescences

Excerpt

Lambl excrescences, a histological term describing rare cardiac growths that develop at the valvular coaptation sites of the heart which are seen as a thin, hypermobile, and filiform strand on an echocardiogram. These filiform strands can be noted on an echocardiogram either incidentally or in association with serious complications such as embolic stroke or acute coronary syndromes after they break off and embolize to distant organs.

Lambl excrescences are named after a Bohemian physician-scientist, Vilem Dusan Lambl (1824–1895) who first described these filiform growths on the aortic valve in 1856 in a paper titled, Papillare exkreszenzen an der semilunar-klappe der aorta (Weiner medicinische Wochenschrift). Approximately a century later, F. Margarey further described and differentiated these structures histopathologically.

Of note, Vilem Dusan Lambl also takes credit for the first original description of the parasite which is named after him, Giardia lamblia. He scientifically described this parasite in microscopic drawings. He is also credited for giving an initial description of the morphology of bladder cancer cells and spondylosis.