Richard Lewisohn (July 12, 1875 in Hamburg – August 11, 1961 in New York
) was a German-American surgeon. At
Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, he developed procedures that made
blood transfusion
Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but mo ...
practical.
Life and career
Lewisohn was born to
German-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...
parents in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
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and was educated at the local
Gymnasium from where he entered medical school in
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
in 1893.
As was typical for German medical students, he attended several different medical schools, before receiving his doctorate from 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 research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...
in 1899 with a thesis on malignant kidney tumors.
He then served for two years as an assistant to
Karl Weigert at the
Senckenberg Institute in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
. In 1904 he became an assistant to
Geheimrat Czerny in
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
.
In 1906 he emigrated to New York, where he became a gastroenterologist and surgeon; from 1928 to 1936 he was chief of the general surgical service at Mount Sinai.
Scientific career
Blood transfusion
Following early speculation and its use in animal
transfusion,
in April 1914 Belgian physician
Albert Hustin Albert Hustin (1882–1967) was a Belgian medical doctor.
Hustin was born in Ethe and died in Uccle (Uccle Brussels – Belgium).
In 1914, he was the first person to successfully practice non-direct blood transfusions with sodium citrate Sodium ...
used
sodium citrate Sodium citrate may refer to any of the sodium salts of citric acid (though most commonly the third):
* Monosodium citrate
* Disodium citrate
* Trisodium citrate
The three forms of salt are collectively known by the E number E331.
Applications ...
to prevent donated blood from clotting during transfusion.
Luis Agote
Luis Agote (September 22, 1868 – November 12, 1954) was an Argentine physician and researcher. He was the first to perform a non-direct blood transfusion using sodium citrate as an anticoagulant. The procedure took place in Rawson hospital in ...
had also used a citrate method at Buenos Aires on 14 November 1914.
Working independently, Lewisohn's contribution, in 1915, was to determine the optimal concentration of sodium citrate for preserving blood products without inducing toxicity (0.2% for transfusions not exceeding 5g).
Correct use of sodium citrate made it possible to preserve blood products for longer and longer periods of time allowing donor and donee to be geographically separate. His research was put into use during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
though it was only introduced to British medical services in 1917 (by
Oswald Robertson).
Surgery
In 1922, he convinced his colleague
Albert Berg to perform the first subtotal
gastrectomy
A gastrectomy is a partial or total surgical removal of the stomach.
Indications
Gastrectomies are performed to treat stomach cancer and perforations of the stomach wall.
In severe duodenal ulcers it may be necessary to remove the lower port ...
for
peptic ulcer
Peptic ulcer disease (PUD) is a break in the inner lining of the stomach, the first part of the small intestine, or sometimes the lower esophagus. An ulcer in the stomach is called a gastric ulcer, while one in the first part of the intestines ...
in the United States.
He had traveled previously to
Hans von Haberer in Innsbruck, Austria, where the method had already been applied and where he became familiar with the surgical techniques.
Following the successful application at Mount Sinai, the technique spread to the rest of the United States for ulcers resistant to other treatment.
Lewisohn was also a contemporary of Alexis Moschcowitz and his successor as chief of the general surgical service at Mount Sinai.
In 1937, Lewisohn retired from active surgery and became a consulting surgeon. He focused his time on cancer research,
and was "the first to define the significance of
folic acid
Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing and ...
in the biology of cancer" and was "among the first to use folic acid antagonists clinically".
He spent approximately ten years thus engaged, before retiring more completely, only to re-enter the world of medical research in 1954, to oversee and the creation of a new cell research laboratory at Mount Sinai, made possible by a large donation.
Honours
In 1955 he received the
American Association of Blood Banks
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
'
Karl Landsteiner Memorial Award.
In January 1959 he became an honorary fellow of the
Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. T ...
, having been a fellow of the
American College of Surgeons since 1916.
Lewisohn was also a Fellow of the
American Gastroenterological Association
The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) is a medical association of gastroenterologists. Approximately 16,000 scientists and physicians are members of the organization.
Overview
The American Gastroenterological Association is a pr ...
, and served on the
American Board of Surgery The American Board of Surgery (ABS) is an independent, non-profit organization located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded for the purpose of certifying surgeons who have met a defined standard of education, training and knowledge. Surgeons certi ...
.
Personal life
Lewisohn had multiple children with his life companion Constance.
Selected works
*
* (Reprinted from the original 1915 article.)
References
External links
Science Heroes: Lewisohn, Richard*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewisohn, Richard
1875 births
1961 deaths
American surgeons
Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States
19th-century German Jews
German surgeons
Blood donation
University of Freiburg alumni
Fellows of the American Gastroenterological Association