Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
Ba·ker's cyst Pronunciation:
'bA-k&rz- Function:
noun : a swelling behind the knee that is composed of a membrane-lined sac filledwith synovial fluid and is associated with certain joint disorders (as arthritis)
Baker, William Morrant (1839–1896) British physician. Baker spent the bulk of his careerat London's St. Bartholomew's Hospital, serving as lecturer in anatomy and physiology and rising to the rank of full surgeon there. He also served as examiner in surgery at St. Bart's as well as at theuniversities of London and Durham. In 1877 he published the first of two reports on synovial cysts of the knee joint. In an 1885 follow-up report he added six new cases and extended the affected sitesto other major joints. Baker's other major contribution consisted of an original description, published in 1873, of a kind of infective dermatitis now known as erysipeloid.
