ASA January 2003 Newsletter

Maurice Albin, M.D., M.Sc. (Anes.)

Recently the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology received the largess of Maurice Albin, M.D., M.Sc. (Anes.), as he donated a portion of his historic collection of anesthesiology-related material. During a long, distinguished career as a neuroanesthesiologist, Dr. Albin worked not only in a well-funded basic science laboratory but continued his scholarship discovering the scientific foundations of anesthesiology. Dr. Albin’s medical career started in the U.S. Army, and he became a medic with the First Infantry Division as it crossed Europe fighting the Nazis during World War II. Trained in anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, during the last years of the presence of John S. Lundy, M.D., he developed a special interest in neuroanesthesia. Dr. Albin continued his work in neuroanesthesia at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. There he began his investigations into spinal cord injury, cerebral blood flow and venous air embolism, themes that continue to stimulate his research.

From Cleveland, Dr. Albin moved to Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he became chief of anesthesia service. After leaving Pittsburgh, Dr. Albin developed the neurosurgical anesthesia service at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His most recent move has been to the department of anesthesiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Together with A.J. Wright, M.L.S., and Mark G. Mandabach, M.D., he has been a driving force in the creation of the department’s Section on the History of Anesthesiology. Teaching neuroanesthesia and history is important to Dr. Albin. Recognized as a scholar on the American Civil War, his paper titled “The Use of Anesthetics During the Civil War 1861-1865” won the 2001 David M. Little Prize for the best historical publication in anesthesiology.

Recently Dr. Albin donated a substantial portion of his history of anesthesiology collection to the Wood Library-Museum, which can be broken into three major blocks that mirror his interests in anesthesiology. The first concerns the discovery and early use of anesthesia. Items that Dr. Albin collected include a letter written by James Young Simpson, M.D., the discoverer of chloroform and an early advocate of obstetrical anesthesia. Ten other items deal with the 1840s and 1850s and the major protagonists of early anesthesia. One of the most interesting items in the donation is volume IX of the Westminster Medical Society from 1849. This issue contains a synopsis of the discussion by John Snow, M.D., of deaths under chloroform anesthesia. There also are several articles dealing with the administration of chloroform.

The second major portion of Dr. Albin’s donation covers neuroanesthesia. There are more than 50 items relating to this area, and one of the most fascinating is an 1839 text by the French surgeon Jean Zulema Amussat. The book, Recherches sur L’Introduction Accidentelle de L’air dans Les Veines (Research Concerning the Accidental Introduction of Air Into the Veins), describes 150 cases of venous air embolism, describes the pathophysiology and symptoms of the event and portrays a method of removing the air via an intracardiac catheter! Other interesting items in the donation include an extensive collection of the works of neurosurgeon Harvey W. Cushing, including a paper with Loyal Davis, M.D., Ph.D., Nancy Reagan’s stepfather, on the salvaging of blood during intracranial operations. Also included is Dr. Cushing’s publication in the September 1901 issue of the Bulletin of Johns Hopkins Hospital in which he described the classic triad of elevated intracranial pressure: hypertension, bradycardia and depressed respiration. Dr. Cushing’s autographed 1936 book detailing his World War I experiences in France is included in the donation as well.

Other items of interest to the neurosurgical community include the 1948 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation in which Seymour S. Kety, M.D., and Carl F. Schmidt, M.D., defined and measured cerebral blood flow and the cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen. A 1931 paper by Walter E. Dandy, M.D., on the use of Avertin™ as opposed to ether for neurosurgical anesthesia is included as well as Dr. Dandy’s work on air for visualizing anatomic structures. Dr. Dandy was among the first to image the cerebral ventricles using air.

Dr. Albin’s ongoing interest with the American Civil War is reflected prominently in the third major portion of his donation. Valentine Mott, M.D., noted New York City surgeon and the first person to ligate the innominate artery, edited Surgical and Medical Essays, published in 1863, for the physicians of the Union Army. A letter by Silas Weir Mitchell, M.D., Civil War surgeon and founder of American neurology, is included in part of the donation. While treating Civil War veterans, Dr. Mitchell was one of the first to describe “causalgia” or what is now known as complex regional pain syndrome.

A Civil War photo of the staging of an operation involving the surgeon (right) examining the leg to be amputated, with his assistant preparing to anesthetize the patient by folding a cloth or towel in the shape of a cone onto which an anesthetic (usually chloroform) is dropped. In the background is a four-wheeled Autenrieth medicine wagon, which contained medicines, surgical instruments and surgical supplies. (Photo courtesy of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology)

The storied history of the Mayo Clinic also figures strongly into Dr. Albin’s donation, including the autographed farewell retirement dinner program given in honor of Dr. Lundy who, among numerous clinical contributions, first described the use of thiopental. Thus Dr. Albin’s generosity came full circle, covering his training and his professional interests.

From the battlefields of World War II to the operating rooms at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Maurice Albin’s career demonstrates his inquisitive mind. Teaching neuroanesthesia and investigating its underlying scientific principals gives Maurice great satisfaction. Understanding the historical roots of anesthesiology in general and neuroanesthesia in particular has given him a unique perspective on the specialty. His generous donation ensures that the beginnings of anesthesia and the foundations of neuroanesthesia are well-represented in the collection of the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology and will be accessible to scholars for many years to come. Dr. Albin’s legacy will be one of which every anesthesiologist, clinician, teacher and investigator can be proud.

Douglas R. Bacon, M.D., is Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and the History of Medicine, and Chair, Rochester Methodist Hospital South Division, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.

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