The Contribution of Irish Urology to Clinical Practice
Received 8 April 2009; accepted 8 May 2009. published online 30 July 2009.
Purpose
Historically, Irish doctors have made significant contributions to Medicine and Surgery including Colles, Graves, and Corrigan. Herein, we detail the contribution of Irish people to Urology.
Materials and Methods
Internet, specific Medline database searches, and individual searches of medical history and urologic history texts and from individual institutions were performed.
Results
Sir Francis Cruise, in 1865, perfected the panendoscope using the principle of reflected light from a kerosene lamp, enabling high-quality cystoscopy for the first time. In 1901, Sir Peter Freyer described the suprapubic transvesical prostatectomy, dramatically reducing perioperative mortality for prostate surgery to 3% in 1912. Terence Millin developed a novel in situ rectus fascia pubovaginal sling for incontinence, and revolutionized open prostate surgery with one of the seminal articles in the history of urology. He reported the retropubic extravesical enucleation of the prostate in 20 cases in The Lancet in 1945. Future work on radical retropubic prostatectomy was based on his unique approach to the prostate. In 1956, the first dedicated urology unit was designed and opened in Ireland by Dr. Thomas JD Lane. He reported an overall mortality of 2.3%, in 1540 consecutive prostatectomies, thereby emphasizing the importance of a specialized unit. In the contemporary era, Ralph DeVere White, current president of the Society of Urological Oncology, and John M. Fitzpatrick the current editor of BJU International, the first Irish persons to hold these positions have contributed to the field of urology.
Conclusion
Irish urologists have made considerable contributions to urology throughout modern history, particularly in the areas of endoscopy and prostate surgery.
Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
Reprint requests: John P. Mulhall, M.D., M.Sc., Urology Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave, New York, NY 10065
This study was supported by The Sidney Kimmel Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers and the Boxer Family Fellowship (MFOB).
ABSTRACT