LAUSR

Harvey Williams Cushing, MD, was born on April 8, 1869, in Cleveland, Ohio, as the youngest of 10 siblings. He attended Cleveland Manual Training School as a child, where he learned carpentry, metal work, and machinery skills that would later help him develop his technical abilities as a surgeon. Cushing came from a family with 3 generations of physicians, and he began his medical career at Harvard Medical School in 1891. Cushing trained at numerous institutions, including Massachusetts General Hospital, where he trained under John Wheelock Elliot, MD, who directed his attention to surgery of the brain. Through these experiences Cushing helped establish neurological surgery over the length of his career as a viable medical specialty and earned the title of “the father of modern neurosurgery.” He faced adversity from critics who did not believe in the viability of brain surgery; however, he found constant encouragement from William Osler, MD (1849-1919), whose mentorship helped him push the boundaries of surgical innovation. During his training at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1910, Cushing encountered a 23-year-old woman who presented with an enlarged abdomen, mimicking that of a full-term pregnancy; she also had supraclavicular fat pads, a rounded face, and abnormal hair growth on the face, hips, and back. Cushing’s case report stated that her “skin during the past few years has become rough and dry and has a blue and dusky appearance. The body and extremities show an especial degree of cyanosis. There are a number of large subcutaneous ecchymoses over the lower extremities. The lineae atrophicae over the abdomen are of a deep brownish-purple color. There is considerable pigmentation, particularly of eyelids, groins, pubes, and areolae.” Although prior accounts had reported similar symptoms of adrenal etiology, Cushing was the first to connect the symptomatology to a pituitary basophil adenoma, grouping the findings as “polyglandular syndrome.” Suprasellar surgical techniques were still primitive, but Cushing performed a decompressive craniectomy with some symptomatic relief 1 month after the operation. His meticulous characterization brought new connections between endocrine pathology and cutaneous manifestations. Outside of medicine, one of Cushing’s long-standing hobbies was collecting and writing books. His book collection included a broad range of subjects, including books on herbalism, astronomy, general surgery, and anesthesia. He eventually donated his book collection, including a Brain Tumor Registry describing his interactions with his patients, to his alma mater, Yale University. In 1940, the university built the Harvey Cushing/ John Hay Whitney Medical Library to honor him. In appreciation for his mentor, Cushing wrote a Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Dr Osler called The Life of Sir William Osler. Cushing died at the age of 70 years on October 7, 1939, as the result of a posterior coronary myocardial infarction.