Vittorio Marchi

Vittorio Marchi (1851-1908)

Vittorio Marchi (30 May 1851, Novellara – 12 May 1908, Iesi) was an Italian neurologist and histologist.

He studied pharmaceutical chemistry and medicine at the University of Modena, earning his doctorate in 1882.[1] He was head of the histology laboratory at the psychiatric hospital of Reggio Emilia, and later director of the primary medical hospital in Iesi.[2]

He was the creator of a popular osmium-based staining method ("Marchi stain") for the demonstration of degenerating nerve fibers.[3][4] In the late 1890s, he was a pioneer of meningioma surgery.[4]

Additional eponyms

• Marchi fixative: A substance used to demonstrate degenerating myelin.
• Marchi reaction: The failure of a nerve's myelin sheath to blacken when submitted to the processes of osmic acid.
• Marchi tract: Synonym for the tectospinal tract.[3]

Selected writings

• Nota preventiva sulla fina anatomia dei corpi striati. Communicata all'Academia di Medicina di Torino, 1883 - Nota preventiva on fine anatomy of the corpus striatum. Communication of the Academy of Medicine of Turin.
• Sulle degenerazioni discendenti consecutive a lesioni sperimentali in diverse zone della corteccia cerebrale. (with Giovanni Algeri), 1888 - On degenerative descending consecutive lesions of the cerebral cortex.
• Sull' origine e decorso dei peduncoli cerebellari e sui loro rapporti cogli altri centri nervosi, 1891 - The origin and paths of cerebellar peduncles and their relationships with other nerve centers.[5]

References

1. Vittorio Marchi in Dizionario Biografico – Treccani (biography)
2. Treccani.it Vittorio Marchi nell'Enciclopedia Treccani
3. Medical Dictionary - The Free Dictionary (definition of eponyms)
4. Talamonti G, D'Aliberti G, Debernardi A, Innocenti G (November 2013). "Vittorio Marchi, MD (1851-1908): an unsung pioneer of neuroscience". Neurosurgery. 73 (5): 887–93, discussion 893. doi:10.1227/NEU.0000000000000003. PMID 23728450.
5. OCLC WorldCat (publications)