Burrill Bernard Crohn

Biography

• Born 13 June 1884 in New York, United States of America
• 1902 – Obtained B.A. degree from City College of New York
• 1907 – Obtained medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
• 1907 – Commenced internship in pathology at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
• 1917 – Member of the American Gastroenterological Association
• 1920 – Appointed the first gastroenterology head of department at Mount Sinai Hospital
• 1946 – Consultant in gastroenterology at Columbia University
• Died 29 July 1983 in New Milford, Connecticut

Medical Eponyms

Crohn’s disease (1932)

1932 – Crohn et al delivered a classic paper with the first clear and comprehensive description of regional ileitis, which the authors segregated from the heterogeneous group of ‘benign granulomas of the intestine’.

Crohn himself referred to the disease as terminal ileitis and was reluctant to accept the eponymous association.

Burrill B. Crohn Research Foundation

Key Medical Attributions

Major Publications

• Crohn BB. The Psychoneuroses Affecting the Gastro-Intestinal Tract. Bull N Y Acad Med. 1930;6(3):155‐178.
• Crohn BB, Ginzburg L, Oppenheimer GD. Regional ileitis; a pathologic and clinical entity. JAMA. 1932; 99:1323-1329. [Crohn disease]
• Penner A, Crohn BB. Perianal fistulae as a complication of regional ileitis. Ann Surg. 1938; 108(5): 867‐873.
• Crohn BB. Chronic Gastritis: Clinical Aspects. Bull N Y Acad Med. 1939; 15(6): 392‐405.
• Crohn BB, Ginzburg L, Oppenheimer GD. Regional ileitis; a pathologic and clinical entity. Am J Med. 1952; 13(5): 583‐590. [Reprint with one figure omitted]
• Notes on the evolution of a medical specialist, 1907-1963.

Controversies

References

Biography

• Waggoner WH. Dr. Burrill B. Crohn, 99, An Expert on Diseases of the Intestinal Tract. The New York Times. 1983 30th July
• Janowitz HD. Burrill B. Crohn (1884-1983). Mt. Sinai J Med 2000; 67: 12-3
• Ellis H. Burrill Bernard Crohn. J Perioper Pract. 2012;22(6):207.
• de Campos FG, Kotze PG. Burrill Bernard Crohn (1884-1983): the man behind the disease. Arq Bras Cir Dig. 2013;26(4):253‐255.
• Bibliography. Crohn, Burrill B. WorldCat Identities

Eponymous terms

• Arawattigi SD. Regional Entero-Colitis (Crohn’s Disease). Ind Med Gaz. 1943;78(5):238‐241.