Hermann Schloffer (May 13, 1868 in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

- January 21, 1937) was an Austrian

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 ...

. He studied medicine at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

and

University of Graz The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria. History The unive ...

, where in 1892 he earned his medical doctorate. He spent several years in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

as a surgical assistant and associate professor, and in 1903-1911 was a surgeon and professor at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (german: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck; la, Universitas Leopoldino Franciscea) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. ...

. Afterwards he was a professor at

Charles University in Prague Charles University ( cs, Univerzita Karlova, UK; la, Universitas Carolina; german: Karls-Universität), also known as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague ( la, Universitas Pragensis, links=no), is the oldest an ...

. On March 16, 1907 Schloffer performed the first

transsphenoidal surgery Transsphenoidal surgery is a type of surgery in which an endoscope or surgical instruments are inserted into part of the brain by going through the nose and the sphenoid bone (a butterfly-shaped bone forming the anterior inferior portion of the brai ...

for removal of a

pituitary In vertebrate anatomy, the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland, about the size of a chickpea and weighing, on average, in humans. It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain. The hypop ...

adenoma An adenoma is a benign tumor of epithelial tissue with glandular origin, glandular characteristics, or both. Adenomas can grow from many glandular organs, including the adrenal glands, pituitary gland, thyroid, prostate, and others. Some adenom ...

at the

. Unfortunately, the patient died several weeks afterwards from a residual

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

. His name is lent to the eponymous "Schloffer tumor", described as an uncommon pseudo-tumor of the

abdominal wall In anatomy, the abdominal wall represents the boundaries of the abdominal cavity. The abdominal wall is split into the anterolateral and posterior walls. There is a common set of layers covering and forming all the walls: the deepest being the v ...

that usually appears several years after

abdominal surgery The term abdominal surgery broadly covers Surgery, surgical procedures that involve opening the abdomen (laparotomy). Surgery of each abdominal organ is dealt with separately in connection with the description of that organ (see stomach, kidney, l ...

. In 1916 Schloffer became the first to remove a

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

for

idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), also known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or immune thrombocytopenia, is a type of thrombocytopenic purpura defined as an isolated low platelet count with a normal bone marrow in the absence of oth ...

(ITP). His student Paul Kaznelson (1898-1959) hypothesized - in analogy with hemolytic anemia - that the excessive destruction of platelets in ITP would occur in the spleen and suggested to his tutor Schloffer to perform a

splenectomy A splenectomy is the surgical procedure that partially or completely removes the spleen. The spleen is an important organ in regard to immunological function due to its ability to efficiently destroy encapsulated bacteria. Therefore, removal of ...

on a patient with chronic ITP. Schloffer followed Kaznelson's suggestion. Their first patient so treated showed a dramatic improvement.Kaznelson P (1916). "Verschwinden der hämorrhagische Diathese bei einem Falle von essentieller Thrombopenie (Frank) nach Milzextirpation. Splenogene thrombolytische Purpura." ''Wien Klin Wochenschr.'' 29: 1451–4. In 1933 he joined the fascist Fatherland Front in which he remained a member until his death in 1937.

External links

Neurosurgery Online
A Century Of Pituitary Surgery: Schloffer's Legacy
Vita Nostra Servis
(biography)

References

Austrian surgeons Physicians from Graz Academic staff of the University of Innsbruck Academic staff of Charles University 1868 births 1937 deaths {{austria-med-bio-stub