Friedrich Stelzner

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Friedrich Stelzner

Friedrich Stelzner (4 November 1921 – 5 June 2020) was a German academic surgeon, scientist and educator with specialization in gastrointestinal surgery. He served consecutively as Professor and Chairman of three university departments and was inducted as President of the German Society for Surgery in 1985. Stelzner contributed more than 80 books and book chapters to the literature and authored over 450 publications and presentations.[1] Throughout his scientific career, Stelzner investigated questions of functional anatomy and its impact on surgical operative methods.

Childhood and education

Friedrich Stelzner was born in Františkovy Lázně, Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, on 4 November 1921, the only son of the railway official Georg Stelzner (1889–1959) and his wife Helene Brandner (1895–1969). Stelzner's mother Helene came from the nearby town of Cheb, where her father was a master craftsman.[2]

Friedrich Stelzner spent the first years of his life in

Private docent based on a thesis that focused on the radical removal of rectal cancer with preservation of anal continence function.[1]

1955–1967: Member of the Surgical Faculty at the University of Hamburg

Following advice from his mentor

hemorrhoids are not enlarged venous structures, but rather arteriovenous cushions for which he coined the term corpus cavernosum recti.[4] These cushions have great importance for the anal continence. Stelzner also developed the concept of anorectal continence organ.[5] He pointed out that this organ shows significant differences in males and females.[6] This has bearing on the details and the outcome of anorectal surgical procedures.[7] Further studies revealed the spiral structure of the esophageal wall muscles. Stelzner worked with the anatomist Werner Lierse in these studies and made use of translucent muscular preparations and serial sections of esophagi,[8]
which were processed in situ. Knowledge of the exact structure of the muscular wall of the esophagus forms the basis of surgical procedures for treatment of
achalasia and gastroesophageal reflux disease.[9]

1967–1987: Professor and Chairman of Surgery

In 1967, Stelzner was offered to head the surgical department of the

pilonidal sinus disease and of tract-forming suppurative hidradenitis as well the embryology and function of the pelvic structures. In 1985, Stelzner became President of the German Society for Surgery
.

From 1987: Professor Emeritus

Stelzner announced his retirement in 1987, but he led the university hospital for another two years until his successor took office in 1989. In the following years, Stelzner continued to perform minor surgical operations. After 1995, he was no longer active as a clinical surgeon.

epithelia and deeply in the mesenchyme.[1]

He died in June 2020 at the age of 98.[10]

Awards and honors

Books (selection)

Autobiography

References

  1. ^
    PMID 17384958
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 3-609-51630-5
  3. ISBN 3-540-10775-4
  4. S2CID 2181534
    .
  5. PMID 5674223
    .
  6. ISBN 3-13-107521-X
    , S. 56ff.
  7. PMID 1251035
    .
  8. S2CID 33430509
    .
  9. S2CID 23631557
    .
  10. ^ "Friedrich Stelzner : Traueranzeige". Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
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