Charles Rob

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For the American politician from Virginia, see Chuck Robb. For the American jurist, see Charles Henry Robb.

Charles Rob
MC FRCS
Weybridge, England, United Kingdom
Died26 July 2001(2001-07-26) (aged 88)
Berlin, Germany
NationalityBritish
EducationSt John's College, Cambridge
Known for
Medical career
ProfessionSurgeon
FieldTransplant surgeon
Sub-specialtiesVascular surgery
AwardsRené Leriche prize

Charles Granville Rob

aortic aneurysms
.

After graduating from

Tunisian Campaign, where he received the Military Cross
.

After the

kidney transplant. His contributions paved the way for St Mary's in becoming a pioneering centre in vascular surgery and transplant surgery
.

In 1960, he moved to the United States and continued developing techniques in vascular surgery including vein by-pass grafting.

Early life and education

Charles Rob was born on 4 May 1913 in Weybridge, England. His father was Joseph William Rob, a family physician, who came from the farming and landowning family in Catton near Thirsk, Yorkshire. The Robs traced their ancestry from Loch Lomond, Scotland where they owned a successful cattle droving business, which continued after they settled in Yorkshire in the 1680s. [2][3] and his mother was a descendant of Edward "Grog" Vernon, the British Admiral who introduced diluted rum for Royal Navy sailors in the 18th century.[2][4]

He was educated at

MB from Cambridge University.[3]

He became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1937 and, after two years of surgical training at St Thomas's, he gained his FRCS.[2]

Second World War

At the onset of the Second World War in 1939, Rob was at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, but shortly returned to St Thomas's hospital to work throughout the Blitz (1940–1941).[2] Here, he met Mary Dorothy Elaine Beazley, who had worked as secretary and secret courier to Royal Air Force officer William Wedgwood Benn, and had subsequently enrolled in the Florence Nightingale School. They married six weeks later and later had two sons and two daughters. Joseph William Rob, Peter James Rob, Caroline Rob Zaleski and Rebecca Rob Podore.[2][6]

He was later made resident assistant surgeon at Hydestile Hospital, close to Godalming[2] and had also operated in bunkered operating rooms at St. Mary's hospital.[6]

He joined the

Tunisian Campaign. Here, he performed more than 150 operations after converting the French garrison school into a hospital. He suffered a left tibia and kneecap fracture when a bomb fell, and was reported to have used his own blood to transfuse a wounded person. After 24 days, he had treated over 200 people.[2]

He was awarded the Military Cross for his efforts. After leaving Tunisia he took up command of a field surgical unit in Sicily and Italy and became lieutenant colonel.[2][3]

Surgical career in England

Upon return to London after the Second World War, Rob resumed duties at St Thomas' Hospital and later became professor of surgery at the University of London and St. Mary's Hospital in 1950.[3] During his time as professor of surgery, he was involved in the vascular surgery programme and also became advisor to royalty and Winston Churchill, and in 1959 several times assessed the blood clot in Churchill's little finger.[3][7]

aortic aneurysms.[2][12] In 1955, he presented his experiences of over 30 abdominal aortic aneurysms to the Royal College of Surgeons.[13]

In 1955, Rob performed the UK's first recorded deceased donor kidney transplant with Hammersmith hospital's surgeon Jim Dempster, at St Mary's Hospital.[14] The recipient had developed acute renal failure following a septic abortion and was considered by Dempster as not ideal for transplant[15] and an unnecessary fatal disaster. However, it instilled an interest in further transplantation developments at St Mary's, which became regarded as pioneers in this field.[16][17]

Surgical career in the United States

In 1960[2] Rob accepted the position of chief of the Department of Surgery at the University of Rochester, Strong Memorial Hospital and moved to the United States.[6] Here, he continued to develop the technique of vein by-pass grafting.[2]

In 1961, after recalling that cloth grafts had been used in the aortas of pigs, he used his

resecting the aneurysm, the two open ends of the aorta needed to be rejoined with a graft, but the surgeons found that no graft was available to complete the procedure. To the surprise of his colleagues in theatre, Rob called for the shirt in his locker, cut out a rectangle and stitched it into a tube to be used as a graft, possibly the first use of a synthetic vascular graft in a human. The patient survived and the assistant recalled meeting the patient again eight years later.[18]

After retiring[6] in 1978, he moved to East Carolina University, taking an appointment as professor of surgery. Five years later he joined the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences at Bethesda, near Washington DC.[2] He was a past president of the International Society of Cardiovascular Surgery and the North American Chapter of the International Cardiovascular Society.[10] He was awarded the René Leriche prize of the International Society of Surgery.[2] In 1994, he required a carotid endarterectomy himself.[9]

Death and legacy

Rob died of heart disease while visiting relatives[10] on 26 July 2001 in Montpellier, Vt.[3] Apart from his medical innovations, he has been remembered for his saying on the treatment of a gangrenous limb: "The best treatment for the condition is rest. The best way to rest is sleep. The best way to get sleep is to relieve pain, and the best way to relieve pain is to give whiskey."[3][4]

Selected publications

Rob published more than 200 papers. His book publications included:[3]

  • Operative Surgery. 8 vols. Butterworths, London, 1956. (edited with Rodney Smith)

References

  1. ^ "Vascular trauma: A 40-year experience with extremity vascular emphasis". ResearchGate. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Rob, Charles Granville (1913–2001)". livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Saxon, Wolfgang (29 July 2001). "Dr. Charles Granville Rob, 88, Surgeon Who Aided Churchill". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  4. ^
    ISSN 0307-1235
    . Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  5. ^ Pearson-Chisman, Tom (2017). Remembrance: The biographies of the nineteen boys and men of Hordle House School who gave their lives in the service of their country. Lymington: Walhampton School.
  6. ^ a b c d "Mary Dorothy Elaine White Beazley Rob". www.obits.democratandchronicle.com. 3 June 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  7. PMC 6613274
    .
  8. ISBN 978-1-4051-2522-2
    .
  9. ^
    ISSN 0741-5214
    .
  10. ^ a b c Estrada, Louie (29 July 2001). "Surgeon Charles Rob, 88, Dies". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 November 2018.(subscription required)
  11. PMID 15319725
    .
  12. PMID 23977509
    .
  13. PMID 13275887
    .
  14. ^ "Renal Medicine: History Of". www.renalmed.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  15. ^ Hopewell, John (2016). "The Early History of the Treatment of Renal Failure by Haemodialysis and Transplantation in the UK" (PDF). British Transplantation Society. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  16. ^ England, Royal College of Surgeons of. "Dempster, William James – Biographical entry – Plarr's Lives of the Fellows Online". livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  17. ISBN 978-085484-122-6
    .
  18. ^
    PMID 26506277
    .
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