Robert Wartenberg

Robert Wartenberg (June 19, 1887 – November 16, 1956)[1] was a German American neurologist and professor.[2]

Dr.

Robert Wartenberg
Born(1887-06-19)June 19, 1887[1]
Grodno, Russian Empire[3]
Died(1956-11-16)November 16, 1956[4]
San Francisco, U.S.A.[4]
Education
Known forContributions to clinical neurology, namesake of the Wartenberg wheel[5]
Spouse(s)
Baroness Isabelle von Sazenhofen
​
​
(m. after 1929)​
Scientific career
FieldsNeurology
Institutions
Influences

Early Life and Education

Wartenberg was born in 1887 in Grodno, Belarus, then in the Russian Empire.[3]

He studied at the Universities of Kiel, Munich, and Freiburg eventually graduating magna cum laude from the University of Rostock, Germany in 1919.[1][7][3][8] He worked with Max Nonne in Hamburg and Otfrid Foerster in Breslau.[6][3][5]

Wartenberg became a Travelling Fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1925 to 1926, visiting the U.S., U.K., and France.[3][1] During this time, he worked for Harvey Cushing in Boston.[5]

Career

Following his graduation, Wartenberg worked for a series of German universities.[3] In the early 1930s, he became head of the neurological clinic and professor in neurology and psychiatry at the University of Freiburg.[3][6][8] As a Jewish person, Wartenberg was persecuted by the Nazi regime.[6] He was removed from the position at the University of Freiburg's Clinical Department of Neurology due to the Nazi Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service.[6] Wartenberg left Nazi Germany as a refugee in 1935 or 1936.[3][1][6][4][8]

He settled in San Francisco and began working for the University of California in 1936.[1]. He was made clinical professor of neurology in 1952[1][5][8] and eventually became head of the Neurology Department.[6]

Over his career, Wartenberg authored more than 150 papers and four books. [4][1][5][3] His first book, "Examination of Reflexes," was translated into at least six languages.[4][5] He submitted his final book to his publisher two hours before his death.[4][1]

Wartenberg helped found the American Academy of Neurology,[3] and served on the editorial boards of Confina Neurologica and The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.[1]

Among his colleagues, he was considered to be a harsh, detail-oriented reviewer of his peers' writing.[3][9][5] One of his colleagues stated of him that "The perfectionist drive led him at times into trouble, for he became notorious as a trenchant and hypercritical reviewer whose strictures often caused serious offence. This was quite an unfortunate trait, for his verbal violence was really quite at variance with his warm and generous personality."[3] The same colleague described him as an excellent teacher, an opinion shared by Wartenberg's students.[3][1][5][9]

Wartenberg was an honorary member of neurological societies in Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Brazil, and Argentina.[1] He also helped found the American Academy of Neurology.[3] During his career, he served on dozens of medical school academic search committees.[6] He also sat of the editorial boards of Confina Neurologica and The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.[1]

The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders published a festschrift in honor of his 65th birthday titled "Neurological Problems in the World of 1953,"[1] and the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) awards an annual Robert Wartenberg Lecture in Wartenberg's honor.[10] According to the According to the AAN's website, "The Robert Wartenberg Lecture Award is awarded to a neurologist for excellence in clinically relevant research."[11]

Discoveries

Although Wartenberg participated in the early development of encephalography and myelography, he tended to favor clinical examinations and most of his accomplishments involved the identification new reflexes and signs that could be used to diagnose neurological problems from clinical examination of a patient.[12][1][5] These included such signs as:

  • A way to diagnose neurological diseases, including Parkinson's Disease, by observing how a patient swings their legs when seated on the examining table;[13]
  • The tendon palpation test, in which a lesion in a patient's lower motor neurons can be detected from the softness of their Achilles tendon when standing;[8]
  • The lid vibration test, in which detects early signs of facial palsy (or the final signs near the end of recover from it) from eyelid movement;[8] and
  • The accessory nerve test in which damage to a nerve along the trapezius is revealed by examining whether the patient's fingers hang lower on one side than the other when the patient is standing.[8]

He was also the first person to identify Cheiralgia paresthetica, also known as handcuff neuropathy or as Wartenberg’s syndrome.[5]

Eponyms

During his career, Wartenberg worked to replace eponymous neurological terms with more descriptive names.[8] However, he is now commemorated with several eponyms.[5] These include Wartenberg's migratory sensory neuropathy, Wartenberg's sign, and the Wartenberg wheel.[5] Wartenberg is sometimes incorrectly credited as the inventor of the Wartenberg wheel.[14]. According to Wartenberg, this device, used to test skin sensitivity, was in widespread use in Europe when he lived in Germany.[14] While he did not invent it, he found it "an indispensible part of the outfit for everyday neurologic practice," and recommended its use to his collegues in the US.[14]

Personal Life

Wartenberg was born June 19, 1887.[3]

In 1929, he married Baroness Isabelle von Sazenhofen.[5] After establishing his career in Germany, he left due to persecution by the Nazi regime and reestablished his career in San Francisco, California, USA.[3][6][8]

He eventually retired in 1954,[1] to the status of emeritus professor of neurology.[3][4]

Following a period of poor health in his final years,[3] Wartenberg died of a "heart ailment" at Herbert C. Moffitt Hospital on Nov. 16, 1956 at age 69.[4][1][3][6] He was survived by his wife and his father-in-law, Baron Karl von Sazenhofen, with whom he lived.[1]

Selected publications
  • Wartenberg, R. (1932). "Cheiralgia paraesthetica.(Isolierte neuritis des Ramus superficialis nervi radialis.)" (PDF). Zeitschrift für die gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie (in German). 141 (1): 145–155. doi:10.1007/BF02909851.
  • Wartenberg, R. (1945). Examination of Reflexes A Simplification. Chicago: Year Book Publishers, Incorporated.
  • Wartenberg, Robert (1952). Hemifacial Spasm A Clinical and Pathophysiological Study. Oxford University Press.
  • Wartenberg, Robert (1953). Diagnostic Tests in Neurology: A Selection for Office Use. Year Book Publishers. ISBN 0598523138.
  • Wartenberg, Robert (1958). Neuritis, sensory neuritis, neuralgia: a clinical study with review of the literature. Oxford University Press.

See also

References
  1. Aird, M.D., Robert B. (May 1957). "Robert Wartenberg, M.D. 1887-1956". AMA Arch NeurPsych. 77 (5): 490–1. doi:10.1001/archneurpsyc.1957.02330350056005. PMID 13410204. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  2. Rowland, Lewis P. (1983-09-01). "Molecular genetics, pseudogenetics, and clinical neurology: The Robert Wartenberg Lecture". Neurology. 33 (9): 1179–95. doi:10.1212/WNL.33.9.1179. ISSN 0028-3878. PMID 6193458. S2CID 27738558.
  3. "Obituary: Robert Wartenberg, M.D." British Medical Journal: 1550. December 29, 1956. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  4. "Dr. Wartenberg, Neurologist, 69 Ex-Professor at University of California Medical Dies —Was Widely Published". New York Times. November 17, 1956. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  5. Pearce, John M.S. (March 29, 2018). "Robert Wartenberg, MD (1887–1956)". European Neurology. 79 (3–4): 211–213. doi:10.1159/000487634. PMID 29597201. S2CID 4469174. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  6. Koehler, Peter J.; Stanisch, Frank W. (2014). "Three Twentieth-Century Multiauthored Neurological Handbooks – A Historical Analysis and Bibliometric Comparison". Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. 23 (1): 1–30. doi:10.1080/0964704X.2013.774246. PMC 3933202. PMID 24083680. Archived from the original on 2020-12-29. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  7. "Immatrikulation von Robert Wartenberg". matrikel.uni-rostock.de. Universität Rostock. Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  8. Maranhão-Filho, Péricles; Gonik, Renato (October 2016). "855DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X20160110 ARTICLEHISTORICAL NOTEA tribute to Wartenberg's refined neurological examination". Arquivos de Neuro-psiquiatria. 74 (10): 855–857. doi:10.1590/0004-282X20160110. PMID 27759813. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  9. Boshes, L. D. (1996). "Memories of famous neuroscientists Robert Wartenberg: Stormy Petrel of neurology; Rebel of book reviewers". Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. 5 (3): 288–306. doi:10.1080/09647049609525678. PMID 11618749.
  10. "Plenary History". aan.com. American Academy of Neurology. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  11. "Massachusetts General Hospital Neurologist Honored by AAN for ALS Research". aan.com. American Academy of Neurology. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  12. Ehrlich, Walter; Dellon, A. Lee; Mackinnon, Susan E. (1986). "Cheiralgia paresthetica (entrapment of the radial sensory nerve)". The Journal of Hand Surgery. 11A (2): 196–199. doi:10.1016/S0363-5023(86)80050-8. PMID 3514740.
  13. K., W. "Notes on Science: Diagnoses Made Without Using Instruments—Cancer Grants". New York Times. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  14. Wartenberg, Robert (October 16, 1937). "A Pinwheel for Neurological Examination". Journal of the American Medical Association: 1294.
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