Pierre Potain

Pierre Carle Édouard Potain[1] (19 July 1825 – 5 January 1901) was a French cardiologist born in Paris.

In 1853 he earned his doctorate from the University of Paris, and later worked as an assistant to Jules Baillarger (1809-1890) at the mental asylum in Ivry-sur-Seine.

In 1856 he began work in the clinic of Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud (1796-1881), whom Potain regarded as a major influence to his career.

In 1889 he was credited for making modifications to the sphygmomanometer, a device used to measure blood pressure that had been recently invented by Samuel Siegfried Carl von Basch (1837-1905).

The term "Potain's sign" is an extension of percussion dullness over the aortic arch from the manubrium to the third costal cartilage on the right-hand side of the body.