Philip Allison

Biographical Timeline

• 1907 – Born June 2 in Selby, Yorkshire
• 1924 – Entered Leeds Medical School.
• 1927 – Graduated BSc in Physiology, First-Class Honours.
• 1931 – Graduated MB ChB, First-Class Honours, Leeds.
• 1932 – Awarded FRCS, aged 25.
• 1936 – Awarded ChM; appointed Consultant Surgeon, Leeds General Infirmary (LGI).
• 1941 – Specialised in thoracic surgery; appointed first Thoracic Surgeon at LGI.
• 1941–1945 – Thoracic Surgical Adviser to the Emergency Medical Service during WWII; led a mobile thoracic unit for air raid casualties.
• 1946–1948 – Published key papers on peptic ulcer of the oesophagus, introducing the terms “reflux oesophagitis” and “columnar-lined oesophagus”, and describing the role of hiatal hernia.
• 1947 – With Charles H. Wooler, performed first successful British operation for cyanotic congenital heart disease (after Alfred Blalock’s visit).
• 1949 – Appointed Surgeon in Charge, Thoracic Surgery Department, Leeds General Infirmary.
• 1953 – Expected to be appointed Professor of Surgery at Leeds, but instead moved to Oxford as successor to Sir Hugh Cairns as Nuffield Professor of Surgery, University of Oxford, and Fellow of Balliol College.
• 1953 – Published influential paper with Alan Johnstone on oesophagus lined with gastric mucosa, coining the phrase “Barrett’s ulcer”, and correcting Norman Barrett’s 1950 congenital short oesophagus theory.
• 1954–1974 – Head of Nuffield Department of Surgery; developed world-class thoracic surgery unit at Oxford, despite limited resources in early years (“Allison’s Wonderland”).
• 1960 – Co-authored seminal paper on pulmonary embolism (Thorax).
• 1969 – Awarded DSc, University of Leeds.
• 1974 – Died March 6, aged 66, survived by his wife Kathleen (m. 1937) and three children.

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Medical Eponyms

Barrett’s oesophagus (1946-1953)

Allison was the first to describe the columnar-lined oesophagus and to recognise that many cases previously thought to be “peptic ulcers of the oesophagus” were in fact due to reflux-associated mucosal change. In 1946 and 1948 he published seminal articles defining reflux oesophagitis and linking it with sliding hiatal hernia, noting that gastric contents damaged the oesophageal epithelium.

1953 – Allison and Alan Stewart Johnstone (1905–1990) reviewed cases of oesophagus lined with gastric mucous membrane, distinguishing reflux oesophagitis from true gastric-type ulcers within the oesophagus, and suggested the term “Barrett’s ulcer” for clarity.

…pathologists have been describing one thing and clinicians another, and they have had the same name. The clarification of this point has been so important, and the description of a gastric ulcer in the oesophagus so confusing, that it would seem to be justifiable to refer to the latter as Barrett’s ulcer. The use of the eponym does not imply agreement with Barrett’s description of an oesophagus lined with gastric mucous membrane as ‘stomach

Allison, Johnstone 1953

Allison and Johnstone provided a morphologic conclusion to identify the ‘organ’ involved in ulceration, but did not assert metaplastic transformation

…more careful examination… shows that it has no peritoneal covering, that the musculature is that of the normal oesophagus, that there may be islands of squamous epithelium within it, that there are no oxyntic cells in the mucosa, and that in addition to gastric glands there are present typical oesophageal mucous glands.

Allison, Johnstone 1953

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Key Medical Contributions

Cyanotic Congenital Heart Surgery

In 1948, after Alfred Blalock’s visit to Leeds, Allison and his colleague Charles H. Wooler performed the first successful British operation for cyanotic congenital heart disease. A landmark achievement which placed British cardiothoracic surgery on the international stage and marked Allison as a pioneer in congenital cardiac surgery.

The Nuffield Professorship at Oxford

In 1954, Allison succeeded Sir Hugh Cairns (1896–1952) as Nuffield Professor of Surgery at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Balliol College. His first years were marked by limited facilities and his team worked out of caravans dubbed “Allison’s Wonderland”. Despite this he went on to build a world-class thoracic surgery department.

Technically brilliant and especially renowned for oesophageal surgery, Allison combined boldness of conception with meticulous execution. He did his own postoperative dressings and trained his staff personally, creating a tightly knit surgical unit. His example set a high standard for the Oxford department and influenced a generation of surgeons.

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Major Publications

• Allison PR. Peptic ulcer of the esophagus. J Thorac Surg. 1946; 15: 308-17.
• Allison PR. Peptic ulcer of the oesophagus. Thorax. 1948; 3(1): 20-42 [Barrett’s oesophagus]
• Allison PR, Borrie J. The treatment of malignant obstruction of the cardia. Br J Surg. 1949 Jul;37(145):1-21. 
• Allison PR. Reflux esophagitis, sliding hiatal hernia, and the anatomy of repair. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1951 Apr;92(4):419-31.
• Allison PR, Johnstone AS. The oesophagus lined with gastric mucous membrane. Thorax. 1953; 8(2): 87-101.
• Allison PR, Dunnill MS, Marshall R. Pulmonary embolism. Thorax. 1960 Dec;15(4):273-83.

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References

Biography

• Obituary. P.R. Allison. Br Med J. 1974 Mar 23; 1(5907): 582–583
• Lodge JP. Philip Rowland Allison BSc ChM FRCS 1907-1974. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1988 Jul;70(4):189.
• Professor Philip Allison. Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences
• Biography: Allison, Philip Rowland (1907-1974). Plarr’s Lives of the Fellows Online. Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Eponymous terms

• Barrett NR. Chronic peptic ulcer of the oesophagus and ‘oesophagitis’. Br J Surg. 1950 Oct;38(150):175-82.
• Bremner CG, Lynch VP, Ellis FH. Barrett’s esophagus: Congenital or acquired? An experimental study of esophageal mucosal regeneration in the dog. Surgery. 1970 68, 209–216. [Confirmed Metaplasia]