Main Entry: Char·cot–Ley·den crystals

Pronunciation: \ˌshär-ˌkō-ˈlī-d^ən-\

Function: noun plural

: minute colorless crystals that occur in various pathological discharges and especially in the sputum following an asthmatic attack and that are thought to be formed by the disintegration of eosinophils

Char·cot \shȧr-kō\ , Jean–Martin (1825–1893), French neurologist. One of the fathers of modern neurology, Charcot created the greatest neurological clinic of his time. An eminent clinician and pathologist as well as a neurologist, he practiced the method which correlates the moribund patient's symptoms with the lesions discovered during the autopsy. He was the first to describe the disintegration of ligaments and joint surfaces, the condition now known as Charcot's joint or Charcot's disease, caused by tabes dorsalis. He did pioneering work on the determination of the brain centers responsible for specific nervous functions. He demonstrated the clear relationship between psychology and physiology, and his work on hysteria and hypnosis stimulated Sigmund Freud, one of his students, to pursue the psychological origins of neurosis.

Leyden, Ernst Viktor von (1832–1910), German physician. Leyden was a professor of medicine at the University of Berlin and a renowned neurologist. In 1869 he described the crystals found in the sputum of bronchial asthma patients. The crystals had already been described by Charcot in 1853, and consequently they are associated with the names of both men.