Conrad Ramstedt (1867–1963) was a German surgeon.
Served in the German army medical corps in World War I
Eponymously affiliated with the Ramstedt Pylorotomy, of which he carried out 70 during his career
Interestingly, he discussed the procedure only once in published literature (1912)
Biography
- Born 1 February 1867, Hamersleben in Central Prussia
- 1894 – Graduated after studying Medicine at Heidelberg, Berlin and Halle
- 1895–1901 – Surgical assistant at the University Surgical Clinic in Halle
- 1901-1909 – Medical officer in the (Westphalian) Cuirassiers ‘von Driesen’
- 1911 (August 23) – Ramstedt performed his first pylorotomy on a 7 week-old, firstborn son of a Westphalian nobleman
- WWI – Oberstabsarzt (Major) in the German Army
- 1919 – Chief of Surgery in the Rafaelklinik in Munster
- Died 7 February 1963, Munster, Germany
Medical Eponyms
- Ramstedt Operation (pylorotomy) (1912) – longitudinal myotomy of the pyloric muscle without attempt to close the defect, in contrast to previous methods involving closure of the hypertrophied muscle
Key Medical Attributions
- Credited with pioneering the modern surgical management of Pyloric Stenosis
- While working in Munster, Ramstedt suggested that simple pyloric myotomy may surfice for management of Pyloric Stenosis (1911) rather than attempting closure of the pyloric muscle, as was carried out previously
- He carried out and described this procedure in the October 1912
- His description of this method was actually preceded, however, by Sir Harold Stiles in Edinburgh, who performed and documented the operation in February 1912
Major Publications
- Rammstedt C. Zur Operation der angeborenen Pylorusstenose. Medizinische Klinik 1912; 8(2):1702–1705
Controversies
- Ramstedt’s name was spelt with two ‘m’s (Rammstedt) in publications pre ~1920, due to an error apparently introduced by his grandfather into church records. He appears to have reverted to the original spelling after discovering this following WWI.
References
- Georgoula C, Gardiner M. Pyloric stenosis a 100 years after Ramstedt. Arch Dis Child. 2012 Aug;97(8):741-5. [PMID 22685043]
- Shaw A. Ramstedt and the centennial of pyloromyotomy. [PMID 22813809]
- Pollock WF, Norris WJ. Surgical history: Dr. Conrad Ramstedt and pyloromyotomy. Surgery 1957;42:966-70 [PMID 13486412]
eponym
the person behind the name
