Jacob Henle--a pioneer of dermatopathology

Wolfgang Weyers1

  • 1Center for Dermatopathology, Freiburg, Germany. ww@zdpf.de

Jacob Henle was one of the most important anatomists of all times. He was the founder of modern histology and discovered numerous anatomic structures, such as Henle's loop in the kidneys and Henle's gland in the conjunctiva of the eyelids. Dermatologists know him chiefly for his description of Henle's layer of the inner root sheath of the hair follicle. Only few, however, are aware of other contributions of Henle to dermatology, such as the first description of Demodex folliculorum and, more importantly, the first book devoted to the histopathology of the skin. Henle's contributions were significant enough to qualify him as one of the foremost pioneers of dermatopathology.

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