Otto Klein (doctor)

Otto Klein (born on August 23, 1891 in Pilsen , Bohemia ; died on April 19, 1968 in Buenos Aires ) was a doctor and university professor who, due to his use of the right heart catheterization developed by Werner Forßmann , to measure blood pressure and the oxygen content of the heart blood Patients with lung diseases were among the pioneers of this technology. As a Jew, after the Munich Agreement in 1938 , Klein had to resign from his chair at the Karl Ferdinand University in Prague following the takeover of power by the National Socialists . After the " smashing of the rest of the Czech Republic " by the National Socialists, Klein fled to Argentina in 1939 .

life and work

Otto Klein was born in Pilsen in 1891, where he attended the Premonstratensian grammar school after primary school and graduated from high school in 1910 . He then studied medicine at the German University in Prague , today's Charles University in Prague, where he received his doctorate in 1915. med. PhD . During the First World War he served as a doctor in the Austrian Army for two and a half years on the Eastern Front until he went to the Italian Front in Piave as head of the military hospital . In 1919 he began his academic career at the 2nd Clinic of the University Hospital in Prague.

In 1930, Klein published just a few months after the physician Werner Forßmann's self-experiment on right heart catheterization under the title To determine the circulatory minute volume in humans according to Fick's principle . (Obtaining the mixed venous blood by means of cardiac sounding ) his results of clinical investigations in which he determined the cardiac blood pressure and the oxygen concentration in the heart blood in lung patients using the method published by Forßmann. At that time, Klein was working as a private lecturer in Wilhelm Nonnenbruch's group , who was skeptical of Klein's work and did not allow her to continue. Among other things, Klein traveled to Boston , where he wanted to convince American doctors of the advantages of his method, but was unsuccessful.

In addition to his work on cardiac catheter examinations, Klein worked and published on the water balance , blood sugar regulation , diabetes mellitus , kidney diseases and other areas. In 1933 he became a full professor at Karl Ferdinand University. After the National Socialists came to power , Klein had to resign from his chair in 1938 because he was Jewish. After the "smashing of the rest of the Czech Republic" by the National Socialists , Klein fled to Argentina in 1939 .

In Argentina, Klein worked at Durand Hospital in Buenos Aires. In 1951 he retired due to health problems caused by a rheumatic illness. He then visited Vienna and studied the composer Johannes Brahms . In 1964 he visited Prague and took part in the European Cardiology Congress there. In 1968 Klein died in Buenos Aires. He was married to Frieda de Klein, the marriage remained childless.

Publications

For determining the circulatory minute volume in humans according to Fick's principle. (Collection of the mixed venous blood by cardiac sounding). Munich Medical Weekly , Volume 77, August 1, 1930; Pp. 1310-1352.

literature

Shlomo Stern: Dr. Otto Klein, Letter to the Editor. European Heart Journal , 22, 2001; Pp. 2131-2132.
Shlomo Stern: A note on the history of cardiology: Dr. Otto Klein, 1881 to 1968. Journal of the American College of Cardiology , 45 (3), 2005; Pp. 446-447. doi : 10.1016 / j.jacc.2004.09.071

Individual evidence

↑ Communications of the Sudetendeutsches Archiv , issues 90–93, 1988, p. 45
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Shlomo Stern: A note on the history of cardiology: Dr. Otto Klein, 1881 to 1968. Journal of the American College of Cardiology , 45 (3), 2005; Pp. 446-447. doi : 10.1016 / j.jacc.2004.09.071
↑ Otto Klein: To determine the circulatory minute volume in humans according to Fick's principle. (Collection of the mixed venous blood by cardiac sounding). Munich Medical Weekly , 77th year, 1930; Pp. 1310-1352.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Shlomo Stern: Dr. Otto Klein, Letter to the Editor. European Heart Journal 22, 2001; Pp. 2131-2132.
↑ Werner Forßmann : Nobel Lecture: The Role of Heart Catheterization and Angiocardiography in the Development of Modern Medicine. , published in: Nobel Lectures, Physiology or Medicine 1942–1962, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam 1964. Retrieved from nobelprize.org on February 16, 2014.

personal data
SURNAME	Klein, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Czechoslovak cardiologist
DATE OF BIRTH	August 23, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH	Pilsen
DATE OF DEATH	April 19, 1968
Place of death	Buenos Aires

[1] Communications of the Sudetendeutsches Archiv , issues 90–93, 1988, p. 45

[Stern_2005-2] Shlomo Stern: A note on the history of cardiology: Dr. Otto Klein, 1881 to 1968. Journal of the American College of Cardiology , 45 (3), 2005; Pp. 446-447. doi : 10.1016 / j.jacc.2004.09.071

[Klein_1930-3] Otto Klein: To determine the circulatory minute volume in humans according to Fick's principle. (Collection of the mixed venous blood by cardiac sounding). Munich Medical Weekly , 77th year, 1930; Pp. 1310-1352.

[Stern_2001-4] Shlomo Stern: Dr. Otto Klein, Letter to the Editor. European Heart Journal 22, 2001; Pp. 2131-2132.

[Forßmann_1956-5] Werner Forßmann : Nobel Lecture: The Role of Heart Catheterization and Angiocardiography in the Development of Modern Medicine. , published in: Nobel Lectures, Physiology or Medicine 1942–1962, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam 1964. Retrieved from nobelprize.org on February 16, 2014.