Susan C. Dees

Biography

• 1909 – Born Susan Coons on 26 May in Hancock, Michigan.
• Married urologist Dr John Essary Dees (1910-1993).
• 1934 – MD, Johns Hopkins Hospital.
• 1939 – Joined faculty of Duke University Medical Center, one of the first female faculty physicians at Duke.
• 1948 – Served as the first female division chief in the medical center, in Pediatric Allergy.
• 1958 – First female to achieve the rank of full professor in Duke Medical Center.
• 2001 – Died 28 March.

Medical Eponyms

Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome

[Also known as: Aldrich Syndrome; Eczema-Thrombocytopenia-Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Aldrich-Huntley Syndrome; Aldrich-Dees Syndrome]

Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is an X-linked recessive immunodeficiency characterised by thrombocytopenia, eczema, and recurrent infections. [OMIM 301000]

The case histories of five male children, who had eczema, thrombocytopenic purpura, and purulent otitis media terminating with death, are reported. Four of the group lived about 2 years, one survived for 7% years. The role of allergy, infection, drug therapy including steroid hormones, and splenectomy is discussed. In three of the group a family history of this symptom complex is compatible with a sex-linked recessive character as was true in Aldrich’s case. The hereditary pattern and the combination of symptoms differentiate these patients from the majority of children with either eczema or purpura.

Carolyn Huntley, Susan Dees. 1957

Major Publications

• Dees SC. Some practical aspects of allergy. J Pediatr. 1950;37(5):685-696.
• Dees SC. Pediatric allergy. Med Ann Dist Columbia. 1955;24(5):225-232.
• Dees SC. Development and course of asthma in children. AMA J Dis Child. 1957;93(3):228-233.
• Huntley CC, Dees SC. Eczema associated with thrombocytopenic purpura and purulent otitis media; report of five fatal cases. Pediatrics. 1957;19(3):351-361.
• Dees SC, McCay HW Jr. Occurrence of pseudotumor cerebri (benign intracranial hypertension) during treatment of children with asthma by adrenal steroids; report of three cases. Pediatrics. 1959;23(6):1143-1151
• Dees SC. Asthma in infants and young children. JAMA. 1961;175:365-369.
• Dees SC. Some unsolved problems in clinical allergy: observations on milk and egg hemagglutinating antibody titers in allergic children. Pediatrics. 1972;50(3):420-428.
• Dees SC. Allergy. 1988

References

Biography

• Dr. Susan Dees. Women in Duke Medicine
• Elizabeth Pulley Interview on Dees. Women in Duke Medicine
• Bibliography. Dees, Susan C. WorldCat Identities
• In Memoriam. Susan Coons Dees, M.D., FAAP. AAP News June 2001; 18(6): 284
• Buckley RH. American Pediatric Society’s 2014 John Howland Award acceptance lecture: saving lives through early diagnosis. Pediatr Res. 2014;76(5):491-494.

Eponymous terms

• Wiskott A. Familiärer, angeborener Morbus Werlhoffi? Monatsschrift für Kinderheilkunde, 1937; 68: 212.
• Aldrich RA, Steinberg AG, Campbell DC. Pedigree demonstrating a sex-linked recessive condition characterized by draining ears, eczematoid dermatitis and bloody diarrhea. Pediatrics. 1954;13(2):133-139