Josef Rösch (April 27, 1925 – January 17, 2016) was a researcher and pioneer in vascular and interventional radiology. Rösch was the first director of the Dotter Interventional Institute and served until 1995. He is credited with developing the TIPS procedure in 1969 and the incorporation of embolization into the treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding in 1971. Dr. Rösch's work in the field of interventional radiology spans half a century and has resulted in over 470 scientific papers, multiple book chapters and dozens of scientific exhibits.

Biography

Early life and training

Josef Rösch was born in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, in 1925. He credits his mother for inspiring him to help others and become a physician. Rösch attended medical school at

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in Prague and graduated in 1950. Initially, Rösch aspired to be an internist but decided to pursue radiology after working on splenoportography. After publishing a book on splenoportography, Rösch become friends with

Charles Dotter Charles Theodore Dotter (14 June 1920 – 15 February 1985) was a pioneering US vascular radiologist who is credited with developing interventional radiology. Dotter, with his trainee Dr Melvin P. Judkins, described angioplasty in 1964. Dotte ...

. They would meet in 1963 at the Czechoslovak Radiologic Congress in

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, where Dotter gave his famous lecture on angiography, effectively creating the field of interventional radiology. Dotter recruited Rösch to do a one-year fellowship at Oregon Health and Science University. After the fellowship, Rösch spent two years at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

before returning to Oregon in 1970.

Interventional radiology career

While Josef Rösch helped advance many aspects of interventional radiology, his crowning achievements were the development of the TIPS procedure and the incorporation of embolization into the treatment of gastrointestinal hemorrhage. The invention of the TIPS procedure, which creates a shunt between the portal and systemic venous circulation, revolutionized the treatment for

portal hypertension Portal hypertension is abnormally increased portal venous pressure – blood pressure in the portal vein and its branches, that drain from most of the intestine to the liver. Portal hypertension is defined as a hepatic venous pressure gradient gr ...

. Similarly, arterial embolization for gastrointestinal bleeds became a powerful tool for life-threatening hemorrhages. Other techniques Rösch worked on include super-selective catheterization, expandable stents, thrombolysis and visceral angiography. Rösch would become the chief of vascular and interventional radiology at

Oregon Health & Science University Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public research university focusing primarily on health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland, Oregon. The institution was founded in 1887 as the University of Oregon Medi ...

. During the late 1980s, his work helped found the Dotter Interventional Institute. Rösch retired from clinical practice in 1995 and has since served in a research faculty role at the Dotter Institute.

Awards

Some of Rösch's notable awards include: * SCVIR Gold Medal * Japanese Society of Angiography and Interventional Radiology Gold Medal * European Radiological Congress and Western Angiographic and Interventional Society Gold Medal * The Interventional Radiology Lifetime Achievement Award from Cardiovascular Interventional Radiology Society of Europe * 600 Year Anniversary Medal of Charles University in Prague * The AHA Scientific Council Distinguished Achievement and Distinguished Scientist Awards

References

Sources

*Greene and Linton (2005). The History of Dotter Interventonal Institute: 15 Years of Education, Research, Patient Care 1990-2005. .

External links

Josef Rösch - Dotter Interventional Institute

obit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosch, Josef American radiologists 1925 births Physicians from Portland, Oregon Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Scientists from Plzeň 2016 deaths Oregon Health & Science University faculty Physicians from Plzeň