Seward G R
Royal London Hospital Medical College.
Br Dent J. 1990 Sep 22;169(6):173-5. doi: 10.1038/sj.bdj.4807301.
Joseph Merrick was one of three children. His mother and younger sister were cripples, but their disease is unknown. Joseph's own swellings began to appear in early childhood and he rapidly became so grotesque, that he eventually sought a living as a freak. After an unhappy continental tour, he was given asylum in The London Hospital at the instigation of Mr Frederick Treves, and stayed there until he died. Books, a play and a film have featured his unique story, but each presented it with varying degrees of artistic license. However, contemporary accounts of his condition survive. Both bony abnormalities and substantial soft tissue masses contributed to his deformity. Features of these considered separately suggest neurofibromatosis as a diagnosis, but because the presentation is more extreme than seen in any other recorded patient, other diagnoses have been entertained. In the following three papers, the evidence which supports this diagnosis is reviewed, together with a consideration of the disease affecting his left hip and the manner of his death. This first article reviews the Elephant Man's life story.
约瑟夫·梅里克是家中三个孩子之一。他的母亲和妹妹都是残疾人，但她们所患疾病不明。约瑟夫自身的肿块在幼年时就开始出现，他很快变得奇形怪状，最终以畸形人的身份谋生。在经历了一段不愉快的欧洲大陆巡演后，在弗雷德里克·特里夫斯先生的鼓动下，他被收容到伦敦医院，并一直住在那里直至去世。书籍、一部戏剧和一部电影都讲述了他的独特故事，但每一个版本都有不同程度的艺术加工。然而，关于他病情的当代记录留存了下来。骨骼异常和大量软组织肿块都导致了他的畸形。分别来看这些特征，提示诊断为神经纤维瘤病，但由于其表现比其他任何有记录的患者都更为极端，所以也考虑过其他诊断。在接下来的三篇论文中，回顾了支持这一诊断的证据，同时也考虑了影响他左髋部的疾病以及他的死因。第一篇文章回顾了象人的生平故事。
