Ernst Georg Ferdinand Küster (2 November 1839 – 19 April 1930) was a German

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

born in

Wollin Wolin (; formerly german: Wollin ) is the name both of a Polish island in the Baltic Sea, just off the Polish coast, and a town on that island. Administratively, the island belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Wolin is separated from th ...

. He studied medicine in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, and following graduation worked as an assistant to Robert Ferdinand Wilms (1824–1880) at the Bethanien Hospital in Berlin. In 1875, he became habilitated for

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

, and from 1879 was chief physician and an associate professor at Berlin's Augusta Hospital. In 1890 he was appointed professor of surgery at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

, later returning as a surgeon to Berlin (1907). In 1872 Küster was a founding member of the

German Society of Surgery The German Society of Surgery (german: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chirurgie) is a German medical organization. It was founded in 1872 and is one of the oldest medical-scientific learned societies. It is headquartered in Berlin and is headed by pre ...

, being chosen as its chairman in 1903. He is credited for developing the foundation of modern radical

mastoidectomy A mastoidectomy is a procedure performed to remove the mastoid air cells, air bubbles in the skull, near the inner ears. This can be done as part of treatment for mastoiditis, chronic suppurative otitis media or cholesteatoma. In addition, it is s ...

for treatment of chronic ear disease. Küster's radical mastoid operation is described as an extension of the simple mastoidectomy introduced by

otologist Otology is a branch of medicine which studies normal and pathological anatomy and physiology of the ear (hearing and vestibular sensory systems and related structures and functions) as well as their diseases, diagnosis and treatment. Otologic ...

Hermann Schwartze (1837–1910).

Selected publications

* ''Die Chirurgie der Nieren, der Harnleiter und der Nebennieren''. (Surgery of the

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

ureter The ureters are tubes made of smooth muscle that propel urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder. In a human adult, the ureters are usually long and around in diameter. The ureter is lined by urothelial cells, a type of transitional epit ...

and the

adrenal gland The adrenal glands (also known as suprarenal glands) are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol. They are found above the kidneys. Each gland has an outer cortex which ...

s); Enke,

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

1896–1902, 2.Bd. * ''Geschichte der neueren deutschen Chirurgie''. (History of modern German surgery); Enke, Stuttgart 1915. * Note: He is not to be confused with Ernst Küster (1874-1953), a professor of

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von L ...

References

* ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of an article from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

.''
A brief history of otorhinolaryngolgy: otology, laryngology and rhinology
*

External links

* * 1839 births 1930 deaths People from Wolin (town) German surgeons People from the Province of Pomerania University of Bonn alumni University of Würzburg alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Marburg faculty Members of the Prussian House of Lords Burials at the Invalids' Cemetery {{Germany-med-bio-stub