The quest for Luschka's duct: an eponym leading a life of its own?

BACKGROUND: The German anatomist Hubert von Luschka gave name to several structures in the human body. One of great discussion is the duct of Luschka, part of the biliary system. There are different descriptions of the duct of Luschka. This might lead to confusion in the debate and as to what therapy should best be provided in case of an injured duct of Luschka.

METHODS: We reviewed the literature on descriptions of Luschka's duct and studied the original German descriptions by Hubert von Luschka.

RESULTS: While reading the original work by von Luschka on the hepatobiliary system, we were not able to find a description of either one of the two structures that are nowadays referred to as 'the duct of Luschka'.

CONCLUSIONS: von Luschka maybe never described the so-called duct of Luschka. He did, however, describe the peribiliary glands in the intra- and extrahepatic bile ducts and gallbladder wall. These might have been misinterpreted as a duct running along the gallbladder fossa. The lack of a clear definition is the reason for the development of rather confusing and sometimes misleading eponyms as the duct of Luschka. The eponym 'duct of Luschka' should, therefore, better not be used.