 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in German. (May 2018)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Werner Forßmann | |
|---|---|
 Werner Forßmann | |
| Born | Werner Theodor Otto Forßmann (1904-08-29)29 August 1904 |
| Died | 1 June 1979(1979-06-01) (aged 74) |
| Nationality | German |
| Alma mater | University of Berlin |
| Known for | Cardiac catheterization |
| Awards | Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1956) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Medicine |
Werner Theodor Otto Forßmann (Forssmann in English;German pronunciation:[ˈvɛʁnɐˈfɔʁsˌman]ⓘ; 29 August 1904 – 1 June 1979) was a German researcher andphysician from Germany who shared the 1956Nobel Prize in Medicine (withAndre Frederic Cournand andDickinson W. Richards) for developing a procedure that allowedcardiac catheterization. In 1929, he put himself under local anesthesia and inserted a catheter into a vein of his arm. Not knowing if the catheter might pierce a vein, he put his life at risk. Forssmann was nevertheless successful; he safely passed the catheter into his heart.
Forssmann was born in Berlin on 29 August 1904. Upon graduating fromAskanisches Gymnasium [de], he entered theUniversity of Berlin to study medicine, passing the State Examination in 1929.[1]
He hypothesized that acatheter could be inserted directly into the heart, for such applications as directly delivering drugs, injectingradiopaque dyes, or measuring blood pressure. The fear at the time was that such an intrusion into the heart would be fatal.[2] To prove his point, he decided to try the experiment on himself.
In 1929, while working inEberswalde, he performed the first humancardiac catheterization. He ignored his department chief and persuaded theoperating-room nurse in charge of the sterile supplies, Gerda Ditzen, to assist him. She agreed, but only on the promise that he would do it on her rather than on himself. However, Forssmann tricked her by restraining her to the operating table and pretending to locally anaesthetise and cut her arm whilst actually doing it on himself.[3] He anesthetized his own lower arm in the cubital region and inserted aurinary catheter into hisantecubital vein, threading it partly along before releasing Ditzen (who at this point realised the catheter was not in her arm) and telling her to call the X-ray department. They walked some distance to the X-ray department on the floor below where under the guidance of a fluoroscope he advanced the catheter the full 60 cm into his right ventricular cavity. This was then recorded on X-ray film showing the catheter lying in hisright atrium.[3]
The head clinician at Eberswalde, although initially very annoyed, recognized Werner's discovery when shown the X-rays; he allowed Forssmann to carry out another catheterization on a terminally ill woman whose condition improved after being given drugs in this way.[3] An unpaid position was created for Forssmann at theBerliner Charité Hospital, working underFerdinand Sauerbruch, although once Sauerbruch saw his paper, he was dismissed for continuing without his approval. Sauerbruch commented, "You certainly can't begin surgery in that manner".[4] Facing such disciplinary action for self-experimentation, he was initially forced to leave the Charité, but was later reinstated until again being forced to leave in 1932 for not meeting scientific expectations.[3] His surgical skills were noted, however, and he was recommended to another hospital where he worked for a while before leaving in 1933 after marrying Dr. Elsbet Engel, a specialist in urology there. Finding it difficult to get a job with his reputation, he quitcardiology and took upurology. He then went on to study urology under Karl Heusch at theRudolf Virchow Hospital [de] in Berlin. Later, he was appointed chief of the surgical clinic at both the City Hospital atDresden-Friedrichstadt and theRobert Koch Hospital [de] in Berlin.[1]
From 1932 to 1945, he was a member of theNazi Party. At the start of World War II, he became a medical officer. In the course of his service, he rose to the rank ofmajor, until he was captured and put into a U.S.POW camp. Upon his release in 1945, he worked as a lumberjack and then as a country medic in theBlack Forest with his wife. In 1950, he began practice as a urologist inBad Kreuznach.[1][2]
During the time of his imprisonment, his paper was read byAndré Frédéric Cournand andDickinson W. Richards. They developed ways of applying his technique to heart disease diagnosis and research. In 1954, he was given theLeibniz Medal of theGerman Academy of Sciences. In 1956, theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Cournand, Richards, and Forßmann.[1]
After winning the Nobel Prize, he was given the position ofhonorary professor of surgery and urology at theUniversity of Mainz.[1] In 1961, he became an honorary professor at theNational University of Córdoba.[1] In 1962, he became a member of the executive board of theGerman Society of Surgery. He also became a member of theAmerican College of Chest Physicians, honorary member of the Swedish Society of Cardiology, theGerman Society of Urology [de], and the German Child Welfare Association.[1]
He and Elsbet had six children: Klaus Forßmann in 1934, Knut Forßmann in 1936, Jörg Forßmann in 1938, Wolf Forßmann in 1939 (who was first to isolate theatrial natriuretic peptide), Bernd Forßmann in 1940 (who helped develop the first clinicallithotriptor), and Renate Forßmann in 1943.[1][2]
He died inSchopfheim, Germany, of heart failure on 1 June 1979.[2] His wife died in 1993.
including the Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1956The Role of Heart Catheterization and Angiocardiography in the Development of Modern Medicine
