Ernst Wertheim

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Ernst Wertheim

Ernst Wertheim (born February 21, 1864 in Graz , † February 15, 1920 in Vienna ) was an Austrian gynecologist .

Life

Ernst Wertheim was the son of Theodor Wertheim , a chemistry professor at the University of Pest and Graz. He studied medicine in Graz and received his doctorate on February 29, 1888, after which he was an assistant at the Graz Department of General and Experimental Pathology . Under Rudolf Klemensiewicz he learned microbiological techniques, which he later used in his research on gonorrhea in women.

On April 30, 1889, Wertheim left Graz to work at the Vienna University Clinic. There he worked with Theodor Billroth at the II. Surgical Clinic and discovered his interest in gynecology at the II. University Women's Clinic . Until September 30, 1890 he learned gynecology and obstetrics at the gynecological clinic in Vienna under Rudolf Chrobak . He then moved to Prague to assist Friedrich Schauta there from 1891 . When he was appointed head of the Vienna University Clinic, Wertheim followed him back to Vienna.

His research focus was initially on female gonorrhea, for example, Wertheim succeeded for the first time in providing an explanation for the path of infection of the disease.

Ernst Wertheim during an operation in 1907 (painting by John Quincy Adams )
Grave of Ernst Wertheim

In 1892 Wertheim completed his habilitation with a thesis on ascending gonorrhea in women and in 1897 became the chief surgeon in the gynecological department of the Kaiserin-Elisabeth-Spital . There he developed new surgical techniques . His greatest achievement was the development of an operation for cervical cancer , a malignant disease of the cervix . At that time it was enough to remove only the diseased uterus . At that time, surgery using an abdominal incision was rarely performed due to the high mortality rate (up to 72%); instead, the uterus was removed through the vagina. This technique, however, had long-term consequences.

The Wertheim and their subsequent further developer Joe Vincent Meigs designated operation comprises a removal of the uterus through an abdominal incision, the retaining bands, and adjacent lymph nodes with special reference to the ureter . He performed this operation for the first time on November 16, 1898. In its original form, the operation does not include the ovaries , which are now also removed in older patients usually have a vaginal cuff (the upper third of the vagina ), which for the prevention of a recurrence is performed in the vaginal stump of the cancer. Ernst Wertheim conducted a scientific discussion with Friedrich Schauta about better surgical techniques for cervical cancer. While up to 74 percent of patients died in Wertheim's radical surgery at that time, due to the size and duration of the operation, this was less the case with Schauta's surgery immediately after the operation. However, due to the difficult access, the procedure was rarely radical enough that only a few women could be cured of their cancer.

Wertheim was appointed professor at the University of Vienna in 1899 . In 1910, after Alfons von Rosthorn's death in 1909, he was appointed head of the II. University Women's Clinic in Vienna, which in the meantime had been headed on an interim basis by Fritz Kermauner (1872–1931). There he devoted himself to surgical techniques for treating uterine prolapse .

Ernst Wertheim died on February 15, 1920 in Vienna. He was given a grave of honor in the Vienna Central Cemetery . (Group 0, Row 1, No. 87). Fritz Kermauner was entrusted with the management of the clinic. In memory of Ernst Wertheim and the radical surgical method he developed for uterine cancer, the Working Group for Gynecological Oncology (AGO) of the OEGGG awards the Ernst Wertheim Prize.

Fonts

  • The operative treatment of the prolapse by means of interposition and suspension of the uterus. Springer, Berlin 1919.

literature

  • Susanne Blumesberger, Michael Doppelhofer, Gabriele Mauthe: Handbook of Austrian authors of Jewish origin from the 18th to the 20th century. Volume 3: S – Z, Register. Edited by the Austrian National Library. Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-11545-8 , p. 1468.
  • G. Köhler: 100 years of the Wertheim operation - Ernst Wertheim between myth and reality. In: Zentralblatt für Gynäkologie. Volume 121, 1999, pp. 121-125.
  • Anton Schaller: The Wertheim Clinic. A history of the II. University Women's Clinic in Vienna. Vienna, Munich and Bern 1992.
  • Barbara I. Tshisuaka: Wertheim, Ernst. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 1475.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ernst Wertheim's grave of honor at the Vienna Central Cemetery - viennatouristguide.at
  2. ↑ Ernst Wertheim - founder of modern surgical therapy in gynecological oncology, Ernst Wertheim Prize 2012 to Harald zur Hausen ( Memento of the original from December 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on SpringerMedizin.at April 23, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.springermedizin.at

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wertheim, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian gynecologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Graz
DATE OF DEATH February 15, 1920
Place of death Vienna