Caroli Disease

Jacques Caroli, a gastroenterologist, first described a rare congenital condition in 1958 in Paris, France. He described it as "nonobstructive saccular or fusiform multi-focal segmental dilatation of the intrahepatic bile ducts"; basically, he observed cavernous ectasia in the biliary tree causing a chronic, often lifethreatening hepatobiliary disease. Caroli, born in France in 1902, learned and practiced medicine in Angers. After World War II he was chief of service for 30 years at Saint-Antoine in Paris. Before dying in 1979, he was honored with the rank of commander in the Legion of Honour in 1976.