Werner Fritz Isler, Professor Dr med (6 March 1919–30 January 2002), Küsnacht, Switzerland
2002; Elsevier BV; Volume: 24; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/s0387-7604(02)00073-6
ISSN1872-7131
Autores Tópico(s)Neonatal and fetal brain pathology
ResumoDr Werner Fritz Isler, former Professor of Pediatric Neurology at Universitäts-Kinderklinik Zürich and an honorary member of Gesellschaft für Neuropädiatrie, died suddenly on 30 January 2002 at the age of 82. As one of the pioneers in the newly emerging field of child neurology, he made great contributions to the care of neurologically affected children. He was also enthusiastically involved in the training and education of those who aspired to specialize in child neurology and in the establishment of specialized organizations for child neurology amongst both regional and international communities.Dr Isler trained initially as a neurosurgeon at Zürich University under Professor Hugo Krayenbühl, a famous pioneer in neurosurgery, and received a specialist degree in this field (Board Switzerland). Although he subsequently did not pursue this, he always thought of himself as a neurosurgeon, too. In the early 1950s he moved to the Children's Hospital Zürich to work under Professor Guido Fanconi who suggested that Werner Isler start performing EEG recordings on children. Isler learned EEG techniques from Rudolf Hess, an experienced epileptologist, and recorded the first EEG at Kinderspital in 1953. Later, the EEG division was fostered by Guido Dumermuth, while Werner Isler focused more on clinical child neurology. In the 1960s, Werner Isler was skillfully performing neuroradiologic examinations such as pneumoencephalography and cerebral angiography, which were rarely performed in pediatric clinics at that time. By employing these techniques in 116 cases of ‘acute infantile hemiplegia of obscure origin’ (Ford), in addition to precise clinical neurological examination, he demonstrated 24 different causes, and further, the dynamic course of processes such as cerebral edema, the appearance of mycotic and dissecting aneurysms, spontaneous thrombolysis and progressive thrombosis. His study on childhood hemiplegias was so extensive and original that the collective data were published as his habilitation thesis in German by Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, in 1969. Subsequently the English version was published in a series of Clinics in Developmental Medicine Nos. 41/42 by Spastics International Medical Publications in 1971 as ‘Acute Hemiplegias and Hemisyndromes in Childhood’. In Chapter 8 of this publication, he presented two personal cases of moyamoya disease with a wide-ranging literature review. I believe that this is one of the earliest publications on Caucasian children in whom moyamoya disease was demonstrated.Dr Isler was appointed as Professor of Pediatric Neurology at Kinderspital Zürich in 1973, and retired from this position in 1986. In September 1975, he organized the second meeting of the European Study Group of Child Neurologists in Zürich, and I was invited to participate in this meeting. For his contribution to the field, he was awarded the title of Honorary Member by the Gesellschaft für Neuropädiatrie. He served as Treasurer of the International Child Neurology Association (ICNA) from 1982 to 1986 during which time, in my capacity as President, I had the honor and pleasure of working with him in a combined commitment to the ICNA.I still vividly recall the mutual visits between Werner and myself. Accompanied by Ursula, his charming wife, Werner visited us for the first time in 1980 on the occasion of the 2nd International Symposium of Developmental Disabilities, which I organized in Tokyo. Then, in 1990, he accepted our invitation to deliver a lecture on dynamic peculiarities of cerebral arterial occlusions in childhood at Tokyo Women's Medical College; here we participated in a lively discussion on a topic of mutual interest, that is, moyamoya disease. In return, I was warmly welcomed at Kinderspital and his home in Zürich a couple of times.His death brings us great sorrow, and he shall be remembered for his great contributions to patients, colleagues, society and child neurology as a whole. (Note: Professor Eugen Boltshauser helped in the preparation of this manuscript.). Dr Werner Fritz Isler, former Professor of Pediatric Neurology at Universitäts-Kinderklinik Zürich and an honorary member of Gesellschaft für Neuropädiatrie, died suddenly on 30 January 2002 at the age of 82. As one of the pioneers in the newly emerging field of child neurology, he made great contributions to the care of neurologically affected children. He was also enthusiastically involved in the training and education of those who aspired to specialize in child neurology and in the establishment of specialized organizations for child neurology amongst both regional and international communities. Dr Isler trained initially as a neurosurgeon at Zürich University under Professor Hugo Krayenbühl, a famous pioneer in neurosurgery, and received a specialist degree in this field (Board Switzerland). Although he subsequently did not pursue this, he always thought of himself as a neurosurgeon, too. In the early 1950s he moved to the Children's Hospital Zürich to work under Professor Guido Fanconi who suggested that Werner Isler start performing EEG recordings on children. Isler learned EEG techniques from Rudolf Hess, an experienced epileptologist, and recorded the first EEG at Kinderspital in 1953. Later, the EEG division was fostered by Guido Dumermuth, while Werner Isler focused more on clinical child neurology. In the 1960s, Werner Isler was skillfully performing neuroradiologic examinations such as pneumoencephalography and cerebral angiography, which were rarely performed in pediatric clinics at that time. By employing these techniques in 116 cases of ‘acute infantile hemiplegia of obscure origin’ (Ford), in addition to precise clinical neurological examination, he demonstrated 24 different causes, and further, the dynamic course of processes such as cerebral edema, the appearance of mycotic and dissecting aneurysms, spontaneous thrombolysis and progressive thrombosis. His study on childhood hemiplegias was so extensive and original that the collective data were published as his habilitation thesis in German by Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, in 1969. Subsequently the English version was published in a series of Clinics in Developmental Medicine Nos. 41/42 by Spastics International Medical Publications in 1971 as ‘Acute Hemiplegias and Hemisyndromes in Childhood’. In Chapter 8 of this publication, he presented two personal cases of moyamoya disease with a wide-ranging literature review. I believe that this is one of the earliest publications on Caucasian children in whom moyamoya disease was demonstrated. Dr Isler was appointed as Professor of Pediatric Neurology at Kinderspital Zürich in 1973, and retired from this position in 1986. In September 1975, he organized the second meeting of the European Study Group of Child Neurologists in Zürich, and I was invited to participate in this meeting. For his contribution to the field, he was awarded the title of Honorary Member by the Gesellschaft für Neuropädiatrie. He served as Treasurer of the International Child Neurology Association (ICNA) from 1982 to 1986 during which time, in my capacity as President, I had the honor and pleasure of working with him in a combined commitment to the ICNA. I still vividly recall the mutual visits between Werner and myself. Accompanied by Ursula, his charming wife, Werner visited us for the first time in 1980 on the occasion of the 2nd International Symposium of Developmental Disabilities, which I organized in Tokyo. Then, in 1990, he accepted our invitation to deliver a lecture on dynamic peculiarities of cerebral arterial occlusions in childhood at Tokyo Women's Medical College; here we participated in a lively discussion on a topic of mutual interest, that is, moyamoya disease. In return, I was warmly welcomed at Kinderspital and his home in Zürich a couple of times. His death brings us great sorrow, and he shall be remembered for his great contributions to patients, colleagues, society and child neurology as a whole. (Note: Professor Eugen Boltshauser helped in the preparation of this manuscript.).
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