Cemil Topuzlu

Professor Cemil Topuzlu (1868-1958)also known as Cemil Pasha, was a leading surgeon in Turkey who was internationally recognized for his pioneering work in several areas, including open chest cardiac massage [ [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=16378670&dopt=Abstract The resuscitation greats. Cemil Topuzlu Pasha: one... [Resuscitation. 2006 - PubMed Result ] ] ,and described in several papers published in Ottoman Turkish, French and German. On 27 August 1903 one of his patients undergoing external urethrotomy under chloroform anaesthesia developed cardiac arrest and Cemil Topuzlu performed open chest cardiac massage. He also defined the "Do Not Resuscitate" code in cases involving serious heart disease and other diseases where life expectancy is very short. He introduced novel vascular suture techniques [ [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=2077375 Cat.Inist ] ] which he presented at the International Medical Congress in Moscow in August 1897 and at the annual Congress of the Societe de Chirurgie de Paris in July 1904, where he reported two cases of arterial tear during breast carcinoma resection and repair within the same session. He also reported the removal of a pen cover from the right main bronchus of a 7-year-old girl through a tracheotomy in 1903. Early in his career, he worked for three years as an assistant of the French surgeon Jules Pean and then became a preferred surgeon of the Ottoman Imperial family in Istanbul. He later served as Mayor of Istanbul and Construction Minister in the late Ottoman period at the beginning of the 20th century, returning to his main specialty, surgery, in the latter part of his life. In recognition for his contributions as an eminent citizen and mayor, an avenue in Istanbul carries his name. A major open air theatre in Istanbul, the Cemil Topuzlu Harbiye Amphitheatre (Turkish: Cemil Topuzlu Harbiye Açık Hava Tiyatrosu) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemil_Topuzlu_Harbiye_Amphitheatre] with a 3,975 seat capacity was completed in 1947 and is located across from the Lütfi Kırdar Congress Center and Exhibition Palace, and behind the Istanbul Hilton Hotel in the European side of the city.

Notes and References

* Cemil Topuzlu Amphitheatre [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemil_Topuzlu_Harbiye_Amphitheatre]

* Batirel, H.F., Yuksel, M., "Cemil Topuzlu Pacha and his arterial suture technique", The Annals of thoracic surgery, ISSN 0003-4975, 64(4): 1201-1203, 1997. [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=2077375]

* Karatepe M, Tomatir E, Bozkurt P., "The resuscitation greats. Cemil Topuzlu Pasha: one of the forgotten pioneers in the history of open chest cardiac massage", Resuscitation 68(2):179-183, 2006. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=16378670&dopt=Abstract]

References