Meckel, Johann Friedrich

(German anatomist (October 17, 1781 - October 31, 1833), Halle, Prussia)

Epoch-making discoveries in comparative anatomy

Johann Friedrich Meckel, known as the "Younger", was destined to become a physician. He was born in a family of prominent physicians. His father, Philipp Friedrich Theodore Meckel (1756-1803) was professor of anatomy and surgical obstetrics at the University of Halle and his grandfather, Johann Friedrich Meckel the "Elder" (1724-1774) was one of Haller’s most brilliant disciples and both had occupied the same prestigious chair.

Meckel's younger brother, August Albrecht Meckel (1790-1892), also had the family's academic attributes and became professor of anatomy and forensic medicine at the University of Bonn in 1821. Johann Friedrich, Jr., however, as a child had an outspoken aversion to medicine in general, and anatomy in particular, maybe as a consequence of his having to help his father perform dissections.

  • Still he did become a physician; in fact, the greatest of his family, and one of the greatest anatomists of his time.
  • His painstaking observations in comparative and pathological anatomy furnished a wealth of new knowledge, which Meckel attempted to organize along certain evolutionary schemes popular in his day.
  • Meckel's father was summoned to St. Petersburg in 1797 to deliver the Czarina's child and Meckel, who was then sixteen years old, had the privilege of accompanying him on this journey.
  • In the following year he started his medical studies at Halle, then a bastion of academic freedom and objective scientific inquiry.
  • Among his most lasting and impressive contributions was the study of the abnormalities occurring during the embryological development.
  • Meckel’s teratology was the first comprehensive description of birth defects, a detailed and sober analysis of a topic which had hitherto been approached with a great deal of fantasy and moral bias.

    • Meckel medical terms used in modern medicine

Meckel cartilage
Mandibular cartilage, a cartilage bar in the mandibular arch that forms a temporary supporting structure in the embryonic mandible; the cartilagenous primordia of the malleus and incus develop from its proximal end, and it also gives rise to the sphenomandibular and anterior malleolar ligaments.
Meckel cavity
Trigeminal cave, the cleft in the meningeal layer of dura of the middle cranial fossa near the tip of the petrous part of the temporal bone; it encloses the roots of the trigeminal nerve and the trigeminal ganglion.
Meckel diverticulum
The remains of the yolk stalk of the embryo, which, when persisting abnormally as a blind sac or pouch in the adult, is located on the ileum a short distance above the cecum; it may be attached to the umbilicus and, if the lining includes gastric mucosa, peptic ulceration and bleeding may result.
Meckel ganglion
Pterygopalatine ganglion, a small parasympathetic ganglion in the upper part of the pterygopalatine fossa whose secretomotor postsynaptic fibers supply the lacrimal, nasal, palatine, and pharyngeal glands.
Meckel ligament
Meckel band, the portion of the anterior ligament of the malleus that extends from the base of the anterior process through the petrotympanic fissure, to attach to the spine of the sphenoid.
Meckel plane
A craniometric plane cutting the alveolar and the auricular points.
Meckel scan
A radiological scan of the gastric mucosa that is used to detect ectopic gastric mucosa in Meckel's diverticulum.

Meckel's diverticulum is an outpouching of the small bowel. About one in every fifty people has a Meckel's diverticulum. It is usually located about two feet before the junction of the small bowel with the colon (the large intestine) in the right lower abdomen.

The diverticulum can become inflamed, ulcerate and perforate (break open or rupture). This can cause obstruction of the small bowel.

If it is inflamed or perforated, Meckel's diverticulum is usually removed by surgery.

Meckel space
Trigeminal cave, the cleft in the meningeal layer of dura of the middle cranial fossa near the tip of the petrous part of the temporal bone; it encloses the roots of the trigeminal nerve and the trigeminal ganglion.
Meckel syndrome
Dysencephalia splanchnocystica, a malformation syndrome, lethal in the perinatal period, and characterized by intrauterine growth retardation, sloping forehead, occipital encephalocele, ocular anomalies, cleft palate, polydactyly, polycystic kidneys, and other malformations; autosomal recessive inheritance.
Meckel-Gruber syndrome
Dysencephalia splanchnocystica, malformation syndrome, lethal in the perinatal period, and characterized by intrauterine growth retardation, sloping forehead, occipital encephalocele, ocular anomalies, cleft palate, polydactyly, polycystic kidneys, and other malformations; autosomal recessive inheritance.

Pointing to a page fetus in fetu Meckel coined the term, fetus in fetu which is described here.