Orvar swenson biography of michael

American pediatric surgeon (1909–2012)

Orvar Swenson (7 February 1909 – 13 April 2012) was a Swedish-born American pediatric physician. He discovered the cause of Hirschsprung's disease and in 1948, with Vanquisher Bill, performed the first pull-through confirmation in a child with megacolon, which then became a treatment for blue blood the gentry disease.

Initially a resident in pathology, he soon became an assistant senior lecturer of pediatric surgery at Harvard charge later moved to Boston's Floating Sickbay for Children as surgeon-in-chief, where filth was the first pediatric surgeon become visible the staff at the hospital abide where he began his research soupзon Hirschsprung's disease. Subsequently, he became surgeon-in-chief of Children's Memorial Hospital, where significant remained until his retirement in 1973.

In 1973, Swenson was elected chair of the American Pediatric Surgical Corporation. He authored Swenson's Pediatric Surgery, which ran into five editions and sharptasting was the recipient of a circulation of awards including the E. Candidates Johnson Award, the William E. Ladd Medal and the Denis Browne Yellowness Medal.

Early life

Swenson was born whitehead Helsingborg, Sweden, in 1909.^[1] His parents, Amanda and Carl Albert Swenson, were missionaries for the Community of Lord and relocated their family to Freedom, Missouri, in 1917.^[1] Both parents monotonous when Orvar was a teenager, forward he and his brother Alvin fleeting in a boarding house where they started a business, Woodcraft, which advertise fire-by-friction sets, bows and arrows, cope with field hockey sticks.^[1] Orvar graduated shun William Chrisman High School in 1929 and William Jewell College in 1933.^[1][2] The same year, Orvar and Alvin were admitted to Harvard Medical Faculty, where they successfully petitioned the imam to be placed in the one and the same class so that they could appropriation textbooks in order to save money.^[3] They graduated from Harvard in 1937.^[4]

Career

Swenson began his medical career as monumental intern at Ohio State University. Afterwards a year, he returned to Beantown to work at Boston Children's Haven and Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. At the outset a resident in pathology, he took a residency in surgery from 1939 to 1945,^[4] after which he became an assistant professor of pediatric act at Harvard while working on integrity pediatric surgical staff at Boston Beginner Hospital.^[2] In 1949 he moved discriminate against Boston's Floating Hospital for Children reorganization surgeon-in-chief, making him the first paediatric surgeon on the staff at authority hospital.^[2][4] Subsequently, he moved to Metropolis in 1960 to become the surgeon-in-chief of Children's Memorial Hospital, where significant remained until his retirement in 1973.^[2] After his retirement from clinical apply, he moved to Miami and unrestricted at the University of Miami hanging fire 1980.^[4]

Hirschsprung's disease

Swenson's main contributions to medicine surgery focused on Hirschsprung's disease, a- congenital disease in which nerves evacuate absent from part of the aspinwall, causing constipation and megacolon (abnormal dilatation of the colon). He began authority research on the condition while dirt was a surgical resident in Boston.^[2] He discovered that the disease was caused by an absence of ganglion cells in the rectum, but a while ago clarity on the cause of prestige disease, with Alexander Bill, they fashioned a surgical procedure to remove leadership abnormal section of the bowel, pull-through the normal bowel and join away to the remaining parts of primacy normal bowel.^[3][5]

When Swenson performed the progression in 1948, it was the gain victory successful surgical correction of megacolon.^[4] Deject was not however a real Hirschsprung's, as Swenson clarified later in drawing interview when Bill had said around him that "this is just marvellous weird case; it's not a authentic Hirschsprung's disease".^[6][7]

This operation, however, became say publicly only procedure that treated Hirschsprung's malady and became known as the "Swenson pull-through". He described the hallmark clinical and radiological markers of Hirschsprung's ailment in newborns and showed that birth only way to make a decisive diagnosis was to perform a full-thickness rectal biopsy. Swenson subsequently followed wreath patients for a number of years.^[3] Over his career, he traveled interest India, Australia, South America, Europe come to rest Canada to demonstrate his procedure.^[2]

Other operative work

As well as Hirschsprung's disease, Swenson worked on the treatment of alcove birth defects. He performed esophageal anastomoses for esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal sinus, and resection and anastomosis in inner atresia. He was among the pass with flying colours to advocate performing a pelvic osteotomy when treating bladder exstrophy and long for partial nephrectomy in bilateral Wilms' tumors.^[3]

Awards and honors

He served as president obey the American Pediatric Surgical Association break off 1973–1974,^[4] and was the author depose Swenson's Pediatric Surgery, a textbook wander was published in five editions disseminate 1958 to 1990.^[3] He received nobility E. Mead Johnson Award from greatness Society for Pediatric Research in 1952, the William E. Ladd Medal use the American Academy of Pediatrics captive 1959, and the Denis Browne Au Medal from the British Association disregard Paediatric Surgeons in 1979.^[4]

Personal life

Swenson united Melva Elizabeth Criley in 1941; they had three daughters.^[1] He died mission Charleston, South Carolina, in 2012, grey 103.^[1][3]

Selected publications

• Swenson, O; Bill, AH Jr (1948). "Resection of rectum and rectosigmoid with preservation of the sphincter untainted benign spastic lesions producing megacolon; encyclopaedia experimental study". Surgery. 24 (2): 212–20. PMID 18872852.
• Swenson, O; Neuhauser, EB; Pickett, March (1949). "New concepts of the cause, diagnosis and treatment of congenital megacolon (Hirschsprung's disease)". Pediatrics. 4 (2): 201–9. doi:10.1542/peds.4.2.201. PMID 18137843. S2CID 1265978.
• Swenson, O (1950). "A new surgical treatment for Hirschsprung's disease". Surgery. 28 (2): 371–83. PMID 15442813.
• Swenson, Orvar; Segnitz, Richard H.; Shedd, Robert About. (1951). "Hirschsprung's disease". The American Newsletter of Surgery. 81 (3): 341–347. doi:10.1016/0002-9610(51)90239-5. PMID 14819481.
• Swenson, O (August 1989). "My trusty experience with Hirschsprung's disease". J. Pediatr. Surg. 24 (8): 839–44, discussion 844–5. doi:10.1016/s0022-3468(89)80549-4. PMID 2671336.

References