Main Entry: Lib·man–Sacks endocarditis

Pronunciation: \ˈlib-mən-ˈsaks-\

Function: noun

: a noninfectious form of verrucous endocarditis associated with systemic lupus erythematosus—called also Libman-Sacks disease, Libman-Sacks syndrome

Libman, Emanuel (1872–1946), and Sacks, Benjamin (1896–1939), American physicians. Libman spent almost all of his medical career at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital, which during his tenure became a center for cardiology. He began studying infant diarrheas, and while visiting the laboratory of the noted bacteriologist Theodor Escherich in 1898, he discovered a causative bacterium. He continued research in this area, studying streptococci, pneumococci, meningococci, typhoid, paracolitis, and pyocyaneus infections. Also interested in blood cultures, he did the first extensive clinical studies on blood transfusions. In 1923–24 Libman and Sacks recognized a form of endocarditis now known as Libman-Sacks endocarditis.