- H. Houston Merritt
H. Houston Merritt (1902-1979) was one of the pre-eminent academic neurologists of his day. As the Chair of the
Neurological Institute of New York from 1948 to 1967, he oversaw the training of hundreds ofneurologist s; 35 of his former students have become chairs ofacademic neurology departments across theUnited States . He was also the Dean of theColumbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1958 to 1969.His contributions to neurology were countless. Among the most important was the discovery of the anticonvulsant properties of
phenytoin (Dilantin ); the technique he used, along withTracy Putnam , to identify this compound ushered in the modern era of drug therapy forepilepsy . He also was the sole author of the first five editions of "Merritt's Neurology"; this popular textbook is as of this writing (2005) in its tenth edition. His early work on the normal properties of thecerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was updated and published by one of his students,Robert Fishman , in a text that is the acknowledged standard on the topic.Merritt was also known in his day as an expert on neurosyphilis; his 1946 monograph on the topic provided an overview of this condition, which almost disappeared from the medical eye shortly thereafter owing to the advent of
penicillin .He died in 1979 from complications of
cerebrovascular disease andnormal pressure hydrocephalus ; ironically, the latter condition was a syndrome whose existence he had never fully accepted during his career. His students who were treating him in New York disagreed over the proper course of action; eventually, he was taken to theMassachusetts General Hospital , where he succumbed to the after-effects of a neurosurgical operation.External links
* [http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/news/review/archives/medrev_v2n2_0006.html Columbia P&S Medical Review article by Rowland and Stefanis]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20051107085109/http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/neurology/ni/faculty/merritt.htm Neurological Institute of New York's official biography]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.