Walter Wynter

Dr Walter Essex Wynter (1860–1949) was essentially the first person to perform the technique of lumbar puncture. In 4 patients with meningitis, starting in 1889, he performed an open technique of cutting down to the dura and inserting a Southey's tube to drain off CSF. All four patients died from their meningitis. 1

1 Wynter WE. Four cases of tubercular meningitis in which paracentesis was performed for the relief of fluid pressure. Lancet 1891;1:981-2.

One year after Wynter performed his technique of LP, Dr Heinrich Irenaeus Quincke (1842-1922) performed a series of lumbar puntures (LPs). The first using a technique of piercing the dura was done in 1890 for a case of TB meningitis. 2,3

2 Quincke HI. Ueber hydrocephalus. Verhandlung des Congress Innere Medizin (X), 189 1;321-39. 3 Quincke HI. Die lumbalpunction des Hydrocephalus. Berl Kin Wochenschr 1891;28:929-33