Armand Trousseau

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Armand Trousseau (October 14, 1801 — June 27, 1867) was a notable French internist who first described the Trousseau sign. The Trousseau sign is an indicator of hypocalcaemia. To induce the sign a patient's arm is compressed with a blood pressure cuff at 300 mmHg for three minutes; if within the three minute period the patient's hand undergoes painful carpal spasm then hypocalcaemia should be suspected. Trousseau also described Trousseau's Syndrome. Trousseau's Syndrome consists of migratory thrombophlebitis and an underlying pancreatic, lung, colon, or gastric carcinoma. Armand Trousseau diagnosed his own fatal pancreatic carcinoma using the finding of migratory thrombophlebitis. The physician's truism, "Use new drugs quickly, while they still work" is attributed to Trousseau.