Medical Terminology Daily (MTD) is a blog sponsored by Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. as a service to the medical community. We post anatomical, medical or surgical terms, their meaning and usage, as well as biographical notes on anatomists, surgeons, and researchers through the ages. Be warned that some of the images used depict human anatomical specimens.

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A Moment in History

Georg Eduard Von Rindfleisch

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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An incredible find in surgical stapling history

Published: Friday, December 20, 2024 07:00 | Written by: Efrain A. Miranda, Ph.D. | Hits: 618

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. Mark M. Ravitch
Dr. Mark M. Ravitch


Young surgeons today use surgical staplers without a thought as to the history of the development of these surgical devices. The same is true for many who work in the medical devices (surgical staplers) industry. I have worked as a consultant and a trainer for the stapler industry both with Ethicon Endosurgery (today Ethicon, stapling division) and the United States Surgical Corporation (today Medtronic, stapling division) and developed a special interest in the medical history related to the origin, research, and development of surgical staplers.

The history of surgical stapling is quite interesting and has many characters, starting with the early works of Humer Hutl. There are whole books dedicated to this topic.

It cannot be denied that one of the main drivers of surgical stapling in the United States was Dr. Mark M. Ravitch (1910-1989). History tells us that he saw these staplers in action being used by Dr. Nikolai Mikhailovich Amosov (1913–2002) during a visit to the Thoracic Surgical Institute in Kiev in September 1958. Kiev was then part of Russia (then called the USSR).

What I did not know is that Dr. Ravitch had his notes typewritten, and those loose leaf notes are now part of my library in a binder.

The notes in this binder are the carbon copies in onionskin paper of notes typewritten personally by Dr. Mark. M. Ravitch during his trip to the USSR in September 1958. According to his family, Dr, Ravitch had notoriously bad handwriting and he liked to maintain records of his work, so he was a very fast typewriter. He used his personal typewriter and he traveled everywhere with it even during his military service in WWII.

 

 

Dr. N. M. Amosov

Dr. Nikolai Mikhailovich Amosov

Cover of Dr. Ravitch's personal notes

Cover of Dr. Ravitch's personal notes

The original notes were bound in a book (also in my collection) and gifted by Dr. Ravitch to his parents. Unfortunately, the paper he used for the originals was not acid-free and the pages in this unique book are slowly crumbling and some of them are today unreadable. Thankfully, the carbon copies are acid-free, and the pages have been carefully scanned in TIF and PDF format by David M. Klein and then placed in separate plastic sleeves for preservation in a binder that is now in my library.

After Dr. Ravitch’s parents passing, both these notes were in the library of his son, Michael M. Ravitch, Ph.D. Michael lent these notes to Dr. Felicien Steichen (1926 – 2011) , who after a time returned the notes with a letter, also included in this binder. In this letter Dr. Steichen says that these notes should be preserved for future research, even mentioning Leon Hirsch (CEO of the United States Surgical Corporation) to support this endeavor.

Michael Ravitch’s widow, Myrnice Ravitch contacted me in 2017 because of my interest in medical history and the life and work of Dr. Ravitch. She donated some books that were in Dr. Ravitch’s library. In early 2024, and with the blessing of Dr. Ravitch’s daughter Binnie and the rest of the Ravitch family, they donated these notes that are now part of the history of surgical stapling and are today part of my library.

In a separate article I will present some of the actual notes regarding surgical stapling, although these notes also include invaluable observations on medicine and surgery in the USSR and Dr. Ravitch’s comments on the Russian culture and people at the time. Keep in mind that Dr. Ravitch’s parents where Russian immigrants and he was fluent in Russian.

In the future, and following Dr. Steichen’s suggestion, I will try to publish a book with these notes along with additional notes on Dr. Ravitch’s trip to China in 1983

Note: The photograph of Dr. Asomov was taken by Dr. Ravitch, but it has since degraded, so it was enhanced using Winxvideo AI.

Note: Dr. N.M. Amosov had an incredible surgical career and recognized with medals and honors. The Institute where Dr. Ravitch saw him operate with surgical staplers is today known as the Amosov National Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery in Kiev, Ukraine.

Sources:
1. "Current practice of surgical Stapling" Ravitch, MM; Steichen, FM; Welter,W.  1991 Lea & Ferbiger USA
2. "Stapling in Surgery" Ravitch, MM; Steichen, FM.1984 Year Book Medical Publishers USA.
3. "Surgical Rounds" Edition dedicated to Dr. M.M. Ravitch  May 1990
4. "Notes by Dr. Mark Ravitch on Trip to Russia - September 1958" Personal notes, unpublished.