Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with December 2.

Events

1982 – Barney Clark (61), a retired dentist with end-stage cardiomyopathy, became the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart when surgeon William Castle DeVries implanted the Jarvik-7 at the University of Utah Medical Center. Clark survived 112 days.

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Births

1833 – Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen (1833-1910), German pathologist; described von Recklinghausen disease (1882) [Neurofibromatosis type I (NF-1]

1838 – Heinrich Koebner (1838-1904), German dermatologist; described Köbner (Koebner) phenomenon (1872), and Köbner syndrome: Epidermolysis bullosa simplex (1876)

1856 – Louis Auguste Queyrat (1856-1933), French Dermatologist; described Erythroplasia de Queyrat (1911)

1893 – Cicely Delphine Williams (1893–1992), Jamaican born, English paediatrician, nutritionist and child health advocate; defined Kwashiorkor (1933)

1911 – George Smith Phalen (1911-1998), American Orthopedic Surgeon; described Phalen’s test [Phalen’s maneuver] (1951)

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Deaths

1957 – Manfred Joshua Sakel (1900-1957), Austrian neuropsychiatrist; developed Insulin Coma Therapy (ICT) as a precursor to Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

1989 – Gustav Asboe-Hansen (1917-1989), Danish dermatologist; described Asboe-Hansen sign (1960), and Asboe-Hansen disease (1953)

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Further reading

• The first artificial heart, 30 years later. University of Utah
• Treasure T, Davies MK, Hollman A. Stamps in cardiology. Artificial heart. Heart. 2006 May;92(5):584.