Dr. Aladár Petz

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A Moment in History

Jean Louis Petit
(1674 – 1750)

French surgeon and anatomist, Jean Louis Petit was born in Paris in on March 13, 1674. His family rented an apartment at his house to Alexis Littre (1658 – 1726), a French anatomist. Petit became an apprentice of Littre at seven years of age, helping him in the dissections for his lectures and at an early age became the assistant in charge of the anatomic amphitheater.

Because of Petit’s dedication to anatomy and medicine, in 1690 at the age of sixteen, became a disciple of a famous Paris surgeon, Castel.

In 1692, Petit entered the French army and performed surgery in two military campaigns. By 1693 he started delivering lectures and was accepted as a great surgeon, being invited to the most difficult operations. In 1700 he was appointed Chief Surgeon of the Military School in Paris and in the same year he received the degree of Master of Surgery from the Faculty of Paris.

In 1715 he was made a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and an honorary member of the Royal Society of London. He was appointed by the King as the first Director General of the Royal Academy of Surgery when it was founded in 1731.

Petit’s written works are of historical importance. “Traite des Maladies des Os” ( A Treatise on Bone Diseases); “Traite des Maladies Chirurgicales et des Operation” (A Treatise on Surgical Diseases and their Operations” This last book was published posthumously in 1774. He also published a monograph on hemorrhage, another on lachrymal fistula, and others.

He was one of the first to perform choIecystotomy and mastoidotomy. His original tourniquet design for amputations saved many in the battlefield and the design of the same surgical instrument today has not changed much since its invention by him.

His name is remembered in the lumbar triangle, also called the "triangle of Petit", and the abdominal hernia that can ensue through that area of weakness, the lumbar hernia or "Petit's hernia".

Sources:
1. “Jean Louis Petit – A Sketch of his Life, Character, and Writings” Hayne, AP San Fran Western Lancet 1875 4: 446-454
2. “Oeuvres compl?tes de Jean-Louis Petit” 1837 Imprimerie de F. Chapoulaud
3. Extraits de l'eloge de Jean-Louis Petit Ius dans Ia seance publique de I' Academie royale de chirurgie du 26 mai 1750” Louis A. Chirurgie 2001: 126 : 475- 81

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Dr. Aladár Petz

Published: Monday, June 16, 2014 07:00 | Written by: Efrain A. Miranda, Ph.D. | Hits: 6448

This article is part of the series "A Moment in History" where we honor those who have contributed to the growth of medical knowledge in the areas of anatomy, medicine, surgery, and medical research.To search all the articles in this series, click here.
Dr. Aladár Petz (1888 – 1956) Hungarian surgeon, Aladár Petz was born in 1888 in the city of Gyôr. He studied medicine at the P?ter P?zm?ny University in Budapest. In 1922 he was appointed Chief of the Surgical Department at the Holy Trinity Hospital in Gyôr. During WWI Dr. Petz served as a military surgeon. In 1920 Dr. Petz created an improvement to the original surgical stapler developed by Dr. Húmer Húltl (1868 – 1940). The original Húltl instrument was very heavy and bulky. Petz’s instrument was lighter, easier to use and added mechanical improvements over the original. After obtaining the patent for the instrument, Petz’s device was commercialized under the instrument device company name “Aesculap”. Both Húltl and Petz called their devices “Magendarmnahtapparat” = gastrointestinal suture apparatus. This instrument was the basis of the surgical stapler research and development that happened later in the USSR in the early 1900's. Dr. Petz and his "Von Petz" stapler are an integral part of the history of surgical stapling. Although his Hungarian name was Alad?r Petz, his name is better known by the German version Aladár Von Petz. Because of his long tenure as Chief of Surgery, Hospital Manager, and his special dedication to saving the hospital during WWII, his name is remembered at the Alad?r Petz Teaching Hospital of Gyôr in Hungary.
Sources: 1. “Aladár Petz, the inventor of the modern surgical staplers” Ol?h, A. Surgery 2008;143:146-147 2. “Current Practice of Surgical Stapling" Ravitch, MM; Steichen, FM, 1991. 3. “Highlights of Twentieth Century Surgery in Hungary” Sandor, J et al. World J. Surg 2004; 28, 526–532 4. “Aladár Petz (1888–1956) and His World-Renowned Invention: The Gastric Stapler” (commentary by Dr. Felicien Steichen) Ol?h, A. Dig Surg 2002;19: 393-399.
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