Prof. Dr. Eric Mühe  (1938 - 2005) Much has been written about who gets the glory of having performed the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Many famous names are in the annals of Surgery listed as pioneers in this field: Perissat, Berci, Mouret, Dubois, Sepulveda, Reddick, McKernan, Saye, Lizana, and others. Prof. Dr. Eric Mühe was usually not mentioned, but there is no doubt that on September 12, 1985, Dr. Mühe performed a laparoscopic cholecystectomy using a device of his own design (Galloscope) which lifted the anterior abdominal wall, maintained pneumoperitoneum, and doubled as a laparoscope. 

Dr. Mühe was an avid cyclist and built and repaired his own bycicles. He once  told me that he was looking at bicycle metal tube, and when looking through it, he thought that he could obtain access to the abdomen and the gallbladder with minimal changes. I am privileged to have known him and  I was sad to learn that he passed in 2005. Dr. Miranda

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