LETTER
Thrombopoietin: Platelets on Demand
Richard L. Golden, MD
1 November 1997 | Volume 127 Issue 9 | Page 847
TO THE EDITOR:
In his incisive editorial on the identification and cloning of thrombopoietin [1], Dr. Kaushansky implies that James H. Wright first observed blood plates (platelets) in 1906. This discovery is usually attributed to Alexandre Donne, distinguished French microscopist, who in 1842 described platelets as a third blood particle. Later investigators who more fully described the platelets and their function include Max Schultze (1865), William Osler (1873), Georges Hayem1875, and Giulio Bizzozero (1883). To James H. Wright goes the distinction of the 1906 discovery of the role of the megakaryocyte in the production of platelets.
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Author and Article Information
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State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine Stony Brook, NY 11794
1. Kaushansky K. Thrombopoietin: platelets on demand? [Editorial] Ann Intern Med. 1997; 126:731-3.
2. Donne A. De l'origine des globules du sang, de leur mode de formation et de leur fin. C R Acad Sci (Paris). 1842; 14:366-8.
3. Castiglioni A. A History of Medicine. 2d ed. New York: Alfred A Knopf; 1947:773, 777.
4. Garrison FH. An Introduction to the History of Medicine. 4th ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 1929:445, 524.
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