Rudolph Nissen
Rudolph Nissen was born on the 5th of September 1896 in Neisse, Silesia. He grew up in a Jewish-German family where his father Franz worked as a well-known surgeon. Young Rudolph pursued medical studies across Munich, Marburg and Breslau before training under Ludwig Aschoff at Freiburg. His path changed during the First World War when he served in a medical corps unit. A gunshot wound struck his lung and caused severe injury that plagued him for life. This physical trauma shaped his future approach to chest surgery while forcing him to finish his medical studies after the war ended.
The political landscape shifted violently in 1933 when Hitler rose to power. Nissen became the surgery department head at Istanbul University despite being an active World War I front soldier who initially escaped direct anti-Jewish legislation. The boycott against Jews forced him to leave Germany eventually. He departed Turkey for the United States in 1939 seeking safety from rising persecution. Nissen spent two years as a surgery research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital. He later held chair positions at Jewish Hospital and Maimonides Medical Center in New York before moving to Switzerland.
Nissen developed unique skills in thoracic surgery through his mentorship under Ferdinand Sauerbruch. Sauerbruch had learned techniques using pressure chambers before anesthesia via breathing tubes existed. In 1931 Nissen treated a twelve-year-old girl suffering from chronic pus production in her left lung. She had sustained a crush injury to her chest earlier. The surgeon elected to perform a left pneumonectomy which meant removing the entire organ. The first attempt halted when the patient experienced asystole or flatline on the monitor. He stabilized her and completed the second phase of the operation two weeks later. This child survived for several years making Nissen the first Western physician to complete such a procedure successfully.
Albert Einstein arrived at Jewish Hospital in December 1948 for removal of intestinal cysts. The famous scientist also suffered from an abdominal aortic aneurysm that threatened immediate death if it ruptured. Definitive surgical treatment for this condition did not exist in the 1940s. Beginning in 1943 doctors used cellophane reinforcement to induce fibrosis in the vessel wall. Nissen wrapped the aneurysm with cellophane to decrease rupture risk. Einstein recovered from the surgery and lived for several more years after the procedure. Upon discharge he posed for photographers sticking his tongue out at them. He sent an autographed newspaper clipping to Nissen with the inscription To Nissen my tummy / The world my tongue.
While working in Istanbul during 1936 Nissen excised an esophageal ulcer from a twenty-eight-year-old patient. The operation required removing part of the lower esophagus and joining the remaining section to the stomach. He wrapped folds of the upper stomach around the lower esophagus to prevent backflow of contents. Following up on this case showed heartburn improved significantly after the surgery. By 1955 Nissen began thinking about that successful Istanbul procedure while based in Basel. He operated on two patients with reflux esophagitis using the same wrapping method. He published results of these cases in 1956 establishing what became known as the Nissen fundoplication.
Nissen served as department head at institutions across three continents throughout his career. He held positions at Istanbul University before moving to New York hospitals. His tenure at the University of Basel lasted from 1952 until retirement in 1967. He died on the 22nd of January 1981 in Riehen near Basel. During his later years he wrote an autobiography titled Helle Blätter, dunkle Blätter which appeared in 1969. A selection of his writings and lectures was published by Schattauer in 1997 under the title Fünfzig Jahre erlebter Chirurgie.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Allgemein- und Viszeralchirurgie awards the Rudolf Nissen Prize to recognize surgeons advancing gastroenterological surgery. In 1996 a scientific publication dedicated to him marked his one hundredth birthday. The International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus honored his contributions that year. The Charité hospital opened a new building for emergency admissions named after him in 2016. This structure bears the name Rudolf-Nissen-Haus to commemorate his legacy. Initial news reports listed gallbladder inflammation as Einstein's cause of death but pathologist Thomas Harvey proved otherwise during autopsy.
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Common questions
When was Rudolph Nissen born and where did he grow up?
Rudolph Nissen was born on the 5th of September 1896 in Neisse, Silesia. He grew up in a Jewish-German family where his father Franz worked as a well-known surgeon.
Why did Rudolph Nissen leave Germany and move to Turkey?
The political landscape shifted violently in 1933 when Hitler rose to power and forced him to leave Germany due to anti-Jewish legislation. Nissen became the surgery department head at Istanbul University despite being an active World War I front soldier who initially escaped direct persecution.
What major surgical procedure did Rudolph Nissen perform successfully for the first time in Western medicine?
In 1931 Nissen treated a twelve-year-old girl suffering from chronic pus production in her left lung by performing a left pneumonectomy which meant removing the entire organ. This child survived for several years making Nissen the first Western physician to complete such a procedure successfully.
How did Rudolph Nissen treat Albert Einstein's abdominal aortic aneurysm in 1948?
Beginning in 1943 doctors used cellophane reinforcement to induce fibrosis in the vessel wall so Nissen wrapped the aneurysm with cellophane to decrease rupture risk. Einstein recovered from the surgery and lived for several more years after the procedure.
When was the Nissen fundoplication operation developed and what condition does it treat?
By 1955 Nissen began thinking about that successful Istanbul procedure while based in Basel and operated on two patients with reflux esophagitis using the same wrapping method. He published results of these cases in 1956 establishing what became known as the Nissen fundoplication.
Where and when did Rudolph Nissen die and what legacy honors remain today?
He died on the 22nd of January 1981 in Riehen near Basel. The Charité hospital opened a new building for emergency admissions named after him in 2016 called Rudolf-Nissen-Haus to commemorate his legacy.