Emergency Medical Minute Podcast 695: Einstein and Cellophane
Jul 20, 2021
03:01
Educational Pearls:
- Albert Einstein had chronic abdominal pain as a middle-aged man
- Dr. Rudolph Nissen, founder of the Nissen fundoplication, performed exploratory surgery for this pain and found an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA)
- The only treatment for an AAA at that time was to wrap the vessel in cellophane, causing a fibrotic response to prevent rupture
- Einstein died 7 years after this surgery, likely from his leaking abdominal aortic aneurysm
References
Cervantes Castro J. Albert Einstein y su aneurisma de la aorta [Albert Einstein and his abdominal aortic aneurysm]. Gac Med Mex. 2011;147(1):74-76.
Summarized by John Spartz, MS4 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD
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