Gertrud Schachenmann

Biography

• Born December 18, 1910 in Schaffhausen
• 1938 – MD, University of Zurich
• 1938 – First assistant at the Kinderspital in Zürich to Guido Fanconi (1892-1979)
• 1939 – Returned home to lead the medical department Kantonsspital Schaffhausen as the male physicians were deployed into military service
• 1943 – Assistant physician Kinderspital, Zürich
• 1945-1949 – Paediatrician in Schaffhausen
• 1950 – Chief physician at the nursing school in Zürich
• 1961 – First president of the Paediatric Society of Zürich, and physician-in-chief to all nursing schools in Switzerland
• 1971 – Resigned from the position of chief physician and decided to take 2 years to specialise in managing children with developmental problems such as cerebral palsy.
• 1973 – Private specialist practice in Oberhellau
• Died January 12, 1997

Medical Eponyms

Smith-Theiler-Schachenmann syndrome (1966)

A developmental disorder affecting both sexes, characterized by severe costovertebral malformations (segmentation of the ribs and fusion of their dorsal ends to the vertebral bodies with a bell-shaped thorax), mental deficiency; and orofacial defects, mainly micrognathia. Inheritance is autosomal recessive. First described by David Weyhe Smith (1926-1981), Karl Theiler (1920–2007), and Schachenmann

A unique pattern of developmental defects of supporting structures was found in a male who died of respiratory insufficiency 8 hours after birth. Besides redundant skin, severe micrognathia, and malformed tracheal cartilages, there was a most unusual rib-gap defect. No organized rib tissue was present between the posterior ossified rib and the ventral cartilaginous portion. The posterior rib is considered to be o/somite origin, but there is uncertainty whether the ventral rib is a direct extension of the posterior rib or arises in situ from mesenchyme of lateral plate origin. The rib-gap defect favors the latter hypothesis.

Smith, Theiler, and Schachenmann 1966

Major Publications

• Schachenmann G. Vier Fälle von primärer Hauttuberkulose im Säuglings- und Kleinkindesalter sekundäre Lupusbildung. Diss. Universiẗat Zürich, 1938
• Schachenmann G. Ueber die früh-infantile, maligne Form der Marmorknochenkrankheit mit einfach-recessivem Erbgang. Helv Paediatr Acta. 1948;3(2):126-152.
• Schachenmann G. Über den Verlauf primärer Hauttuberkulosen. Tuberkulose 1951;8:302–310
• Schachenmann G et al. Chromosomes in coloboma and anal atresia. Lancet. 1965;2(7406):290
• Smith DW, Theiler K, Schachenmann G. Rib-gap defect with micrognathia, malformed tracheal cartilages, and redundant skin: a new pattern of defective development. J Pediatr. 1966;69(5):799-803 [Smith-Theiler-Schachenmann syndrome]
• Fanconi A, Schachenmann G, Nüssli R, Prader A. Chronic hypokalaemia with growth retardation, normotensive hyperrenin-hyperaldosteronism (“Bartter’s syndrome”), and hypercalciuria. Report of two cases with emphasis on natural history and on catch-up growth during treatment. Helv Paediatr Acta. 1971;26(2):144-163.

References

• Greutmann S. Gertrud Schachenmann Dr. med. *1910, Kinderärztin. In: Frauenpfade: auf den Spuren bekannter Schaffhauser Frauen. 1994: 90-95
• Gertrud Dina Schachenmann. Portrait Archiv
• Schachenmann, Gertrud (1910-1997). Stadtarchiv Schaffhausen
• Bibliography. Schachenmann, Gertrud. WorldCat Identities