Pediatr. Radiol. 8, 124-125 (1979) Pediatric. Radiology �9 by Springer-Verlag 1979

In memoriam

John P. Caffey 1895-1978

In Chapter XVIII of the first book of his essays, Mi- chel de Montaigne recalls the story of King Croesus who, at the time of his execution, first appreciated the statement given him by Solon, namely, "that men, however fortune may smile upon them, could never be said to be happy till they had been seen to pass over the last day of their lives." Truly, it can be said of John Caffey that he was a happy man - al- though I would have expected him to argue this state- ment with a mixture of overwhelming logic and irre- futable dogma. To have embarked in a field which did not exist as such at the time, to have made of it an intellectual, scientific and humanistic career, to have launched dozens of disciples through personal con- tact and stimulated and supported thousands of col- leagues through his publications, to have seen the birth, development and flowering of national and in- ternational societies devoted to his specialty, to have been looked upon by so many as the high priest of the field with his monumental treatise its bible, and to have retained his intellectual and physical faculties intact to the end - these are attributes that would designate John Caffey as a happy man in spite of his objections.

John P. Caffey was born in Castle Gate, Utah and completed his primary and secondary schooling in Salt Lake City. He received the B. A. degree from the University of Michigan in 1916, and in 1919, the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Following an intern- ship in Medicine at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, he went with the American Red Cross to Europe then recovering from the ravages of World War I. He sub- sequently joined the Hoover Commission in Eastern Europe, an action perhaps more meaningful to col- leagues on that side of the Atlantic than to those here. Following a tour of duty as Chief Resident Phy- sician at the University of Michigan, Dr. Caffey in- terned in Pediatrics at Babies Hospital in New York

and then engaged for a short time in the private prac- tice of Pediatrics. During those private practice years he began his activity in teaching and research at Ba- bies Hospital, Columbia University. His entry into the field of Pediatric Radiology was, he felt, strictly a matter of chance, a factor that he recurringly stated played a big role in everyone's life. Walking out from a conference one day at which an explanation of x- ray films seemed to him to be particularly inept, he remarked to a colleague, "Well, there goes another wasted hour." Dr. Herbert C. Wilcox, who was then Professor of Diseases of Children, was walking be- hind him and overheard the remark. "Do you think you can do any better?", asked Dr. Wilcox. When Dr. Caffey responded, "I can try", he was appointed Radiologist on the spot. With his strong clinical back- ground and an unusual critical attitude, he taught himself the nature of radiologic signs of health and disease in children, the fascinating variations and similarities, and he formulated a philosophy of the role of x-ray diagnosis in Pediatrics. He shared his self generated knowledge in numerous publications and in 1939 contributed a section on Pediatric Ra- diology in Golden's Diagnostic Radiology which set the stage for more definitive treatment of the subject.

In September 1945, the first edition of Pediatric X-Ray Diagnosis appeared. This was the first book on Radiology in Pediatrics in English since the 1910 publication of Dr. Thomas Morgan Rotch, Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard. The initial impact of Dr. Caffey's book on Pediatrics and Radiology can be likened to that of computed tomography on Diag- nostic Radiology today. A whole new dimension of diagnosis was defined, waiting only to be exploited (in the best sense of the word). Institutions responsi- ble for the care of infants and children recognized an immediate need for physicians conversant with the information recorded in Dr. Caffey's book and with

In memoriam 125

the explosion of information that was bound to fol- low. Other institutions, of course, had physicians ac- tive in Pediatric Radiology, but Dr. Caffey's expe- rience at Babies Hospital was the first to be recorded as "A Textbook for Students and Practitioners of Pediatrics, Surgery and Radiology" which was the subtitle of the book. Dr. Caffey acknowledged his debt to his predecessors and his esteem for his con- temporaries in a review entitled "The first 60 years of Pediatric Radiology in the United States, 1896 to 1956 ''1 in which can be found the same scholarship, attention to detail and clarity of expression that mark his scientific publications. The 7th edition of Pedi- atric X-ray Diagnosis became available shortly after his death, 33 years after the appearance of the first edition.

Dr. Caffey was retired from his post at Babies Hospital when he attained the statutory age limit in 1960, but he did not retire. After 3 productive years at the Children's Hospital in Denver and at the Pri- mary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, he joined his former student, Dr. Bertram Girdany, at the Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh where he found not only a cordial and stimulating environment in which to continue his work, but also a loving, ready-made

1 [Am. J. Roentgenol. 76, 437 (1956)]

family in the persons of Bert and Ula Girdany and their children. The more than filial devotion of Bert and Ula supported Dr. Caffey through the years of "retirement" he spent in Pittsburgh and especially during the trying times after the sudden death of his wife, Barbara in 1973. Meanwhile, he also enjoyed (and dominated) the John Caffey Society, an organi- zation of his students and their students who met with Dr. Caffey annually to present their triumphs, prob- lems and disasters for general discussion. He was harsh, kind, autocratic, tolerant, and always stimu- lating at these meetings. He maintained his interest in both the American and the European Societies for Pediatric Radiology with which he was affiliated, par- ticipating in their meetings whenever possible.

Dr. Caffey's long list of publications, member- ships, honors, etc. are not included because Dr. Caf- fey would not want them to be. In fact, he would even have objected to any kind of obituary. But he might not have objected to a relation of what can be done with a keen mind, a healthy curiosity, a willingness to take sides, and as he remarked " . . . chance - and perhaps something a little more."

Dr. Caffey is survived by a sister, Mary Caffey, in Salt Lake City and a brother, Paul Caffey, in Phila- delphia.

F. N. Silverman (Stanford)

Lutz Schall 1894-1978

Dr. Lutz Schall, honorary professor in the University of Hamburg and previously director of the Municipal Children's Hospital of Bremen (FRG) died on Octo- ber 17, 1978, aged 84 years. He was a honorary member of the Gesellschaft fiir P/idiatrische Radiolo- gie and of the European Society of Pediatric Radio- logy.

In addition to his pediatric work, Lutz Schall worked in radiology throughout his medical career. This is reflected in many of his 90 publications, espe- cially in the book written together with Birk on "Strahlenbehandlung von Kinderkrankheiten", and the "Handbuch der R6ntgendiagnostik und -therapie im Kindesalter" edited in 1932 with Stefan Engel. From 1940 to 1960, Dr. Schall was, with some inter- ruptions, the Head of the Children's Hospital of Bre-

men, where a department of radiology was built up on his initiative. Papers on radiation biology, X-ray protection, history of pediatric radiology and the construction of special X-ray apparatus for children mark his interest in his specialty. He also construct- ed the motor-driven "Paidoskop". His pupils were stimulated by the richness of his ideas. Beyond the field of medicine he was an extraordinarily gifted and artistic man, full of original ideas. With his determi- nation and humour he was a model of creative energy. German pediatric radiology has lost its doyen, European pediatric radiology has lost a pioneer.

E. Willich (Heidelberg)