Paul Georges Dieulafoy was a French internist and pathologist, known for his detailed description of what is now called the Dieulafoy lesion.
Born in Toulouse during a time of political unrest in France, Dr. Dieulafoy began his medical studies in his hometown before moving to Paris, where he completed his education and spent his entire professional career.
In 1887, he joined the HÔtel-Dieu Hospital as a professor of internal pathology and later became the chief of medicine. Dr. Dieulafoy’s precise documentation of the lesion, published in 1898, highlighted an abnormally large submucosal artery prone to causing gastrointestinal bleeding. His description distinguished the lesion from typical peptic ulcers and introduced the term “Exulceratio simplex.”
Beyond this contribution, Dr. Dieulafoy was an innovator in medical instrumentation, developing an aspiration device that was known as the Dieulafoy aspirator. His “Manual of Internal Pathology” was widely read and went through 16 editions during his lifetime. Renowned as a brilliant lecturer, his weekly histology lectures at HÔtel-Dieu attracted large audiences.
Dr. Dieulafoy retired in 1910 and passed away in 1911 from postoperative complications. He is buried in Montmartre Cemetery, in Paris, alongside notable figures such as Jacques Offenbach, Hector Berlioz and Heinrich Heine.
—Klaus Mergener, MD, PhD, MBA, MASGE
This article is from the June 2025 print issue.