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Václav Treitz

Václav Treitz (also Wenzel Treitz) (1819-1872) was an Austrian pathologist who was a native of Hostomice, Bohemia. He studied medicine in Prague, and performed post-graduate studies in Vienna with Joseph Hyrtl (1810-1894). Subsequently he practiced medicine at the Jagellonian University in Krakow, and in 1855 returned to Prague where he became a professor and director of the Pathologic Anatomy Institute.

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Throughout his career, Treitz was a figure in the struggle for Czech nationalism. In 1872, at the age of 52, he committed suicide by ingesting potassium cyanide.

Named structures

Treitz is remembered for his 1853 discovery of the suspensory muscle of the duodenum (musculus suspensorius duodeni), which was later named the ligament of Treitz. This muscle is a fibrous structure by which the duodenojejunal junction is fixed to the posterior wall of the abdominal cavity. His name is attached to several other anatomical terms, all of which are still valid today:

Angle of Treitz: sharp curve at the duodenojejenal junction.
Treitz's arch: {plica paraduodenalis): A fold of peritoneum that arches between the left side of the duodenojejunal flexure and the medial border of the left kidney.
Treitz's fascia: Fascia behind the head of the pancreas.
Treitz's fossa: subcaecal fossa, a depression in the peritoneum extending posterior to the caecum.
Treitz's hernia: A duodenojejunal hernia; also known as a retroperitoneal hernia.