Otto C. Brantigan, MD

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A Moment in History

Georg Eduard Von Rindfleisch
(1836 – 1908)

German pathologist and histologist of Bavarian nobility ancestry. Rindfleisch studied medicine in Würzburg, Berlin, and Heidelberg, earning his MD in 1859 with the thesis “De Vasorum Genesi” (on the generation of vessels) under the tutelage of Rudolf Virchow (1821 - 1902). He then continued as a assistant to Virchow in a newly founded institute in Berlin. He then moved to Breslau in 1861 as an assistant to Rudolf Heidenhain (1834–1897), becoming a professor of pathological anatomy. In 1865 he became full professor in Bonn and in 1874 in Würzburg, where a new pathological institute was built according to his design (completed in 1878), where he worked until his retirement in 1906.

He was the first to describe the inflammatory background of multiple sclerosis in 1863, when he noted that demyelinated lesions have in their center small vessels that are surrounded by a leukocyte inflammatory infiltrate.

After extensive investigations, he suspected an infectious origin of tuberculosis - even before Robert Koch's detection of the tuberculosis bacillus in 1892. Rindfleisch 's special achievement is the description of the morphologically conspicuous macrophages in typhoid inflammation. His distinction between myocardial infarction and myocarditis in 1890 is also of lasting importance.

Associated eponyms

"Rindfleisch's folds": Usually a single semilunar fold of the serous surface of the pericardium around the origin of the aorta. Also known as the plica semilunaris aortæ.

"Rindfleisch's cells": Historical (and obsolete) name for eosinophilic leukocytes.

Personal note: G. Rindfleisch’s book “Traité D' Histologie Pathologique” 2nd edition (1873) is now part of my library. This book was translated from German to French by Dr. Frédéric Gross (1844-1927) , Associate Professor of the Medicine Faculty in Nancy, France. The book is dedicated to Dr. Theodore Billroth (1829-1894), an important surgeon whose pioneering work on subtotal gastrectomies paved the way for today’s robotic bariatric surgery. Dr. Miranda.

Sources:
1. "Stedmans Medical Eponyms" Forbis, P.; Bartolucci, SL; 1998 Williams and Wilkins
2. "Rindfleisch, Georg Eduard von (bayerischer Adel?)" Deutsche Biographie
3. "The pathology of multiple sclerosis and its evolution" Lassmann H. (1999) Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 354 (1390): 1635–40.
4. “Traité D' Histologie Pathologique” G.E.
Rindfleisch 2nd Ed (1873) Ballieres et Fils. Paris, Translated by F Gross

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Details: Written by: Efrain A. Miranda, Ph.D.; Published: June 24, 2013; Hits: 6914

This article is part of the series "A Moment in History" where we honor those who have contributed to the growth of medical knowledge in the areas of anatomy, medicine, surgery, and medical research.

Dr. Otto C. Brantigan

Otto C. Brantigan, MD. (1904-1981) An American surgeon and anatomist, Otto Charles Brantigan was born in Chattanooga, TN in 1904. Having dropped out of high school to help his family and working as a first class machinist, he decided to continue with graduate school. He studied at the Northwestern University in Chicago, where he graduated from the Medical School in 1933. In 1948 he became Chief of Surgery, and eventually became Professor of Surgery, Professor of Thoracic Surgery, and Professor of Anatomy at the Maryland School of Medicine. He retired in 1976 having earned many accolades for his profuse surgical work and publications.

As a surgeon of the times, Dr. Brantigan had a wide area of interest. His over 110 publications and surgical work range from thoracoscopy to vascular, plastic, cardiac, and orthopedic surgery. He is most remembered for the pioneer work he did on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema and lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS), which he presented in 1958. The procedure had (at the time) a very high mortality rate (16 -20%) and Brantigan's work was not readily accepted.

It was not until J. Cooper and his team, revisited the operation proposed by Brantigan that the operation was accepted, now with new surgical stapling and staple line buttressing technology. Dr. Brantigan's name was recognized as a pioneer in lung emphysema surgery, unfortunately 14 years after his death. In 1994 his son, Dr Charles O. Brantigan delivered a beautiful biography of Dr. Otto Brantigan in the same meeting where Cooper presented his results with LVRS.

Personal note: I am proud to own one of the copies of Dr. O.C. Brantigan;s "Clinical Anatomy", a book that I use quite frequently. It is listed in my library catalog. Dr. Miranda.

Sources:
1. "Biography of Otto C Brantigan" C.O. Brantigan 1994 Meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery
2. "LVRS in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease" Davies, L; Calverley, P. Thorax 1996;51(Suppl 2):S29-S34
3. ""Bilateral pneumectomy (volume reduction) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease" Cooper, J.,The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Volume 109, Number 1:106-119
4. "The Surgical Approach to Pulmonary Emphysema" Brantigan, OC; Kress, MB; Mueller, EA. Chest. 1961; 39(5):485-499
5. "History of Emphysema Surgery" Naef, AP. Ann Thorac Surg 1997;64:1506-1508
Original image courtesy of National Institutes of Health.Biography of Dr. Otto Brantigan courtesy of Dr. Charles O. Brantigan.

Otto C. Brantigan, MD

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