Jefferson Urology History

Urological Jeffersonisms

• First report of renal pedicle tourniquet applied around renal artery and vein while closing after partial nephrectomy by Dr. T. C. Stellwagen.
• Careful staging of bladder cancer by depth of invasion. Dr. George Strong coauthored the historic “Jewett-Strong” classification with Dr. Jewett in 1946.
• Female urethras were dilated for a variety of indications, including bladder emptying, irritable bladder syndrome with or without incontinence, and urethral discomfort, investigated and widely promoted by Dr. T.R. Fetter.
• Controlled decompression of chronically distended bladders by slowly lowering the pressure over intervals up to 24 hours, pioneered by Dr David M. Davis.
• “Intubated ureterotomy: Experimental work and clinical results” won the first prize at the AUA and was published in the May 1948 Journal of Urology. It was co-authored by Drs. D.M. Davis and Willard Drake.
• The modern uroflowmeter was invented by Willard M. Drake, Jr., MD, in 1946. The original manuscript, entitled "The Uroflometer: an aid to the study of the lower urinary tract," appeared in Journal of Urology in 1948. Dr. Drake obtained a U.S. patent for the device, entitled "Uroflometer" in 1953. Dr. Willard Drake was the first to use the word “urodynamics.”
• Development and use of Lewis Cystometer to measure bladder pressure rising during bladder filling, as a diagnostic tool of incontinence or retention.
• First report of ureteroscopic ultrasonic lithotripsy, by Dr. Bagley in 1983.
• First report of endoscopic recanalization of the obliterated upper urinary tract, by Dr. Bagley in 1985.
• First report of ureteroscopy performed under local anesthesia, by Dr. Bagley in 1987.
• First report of electroejaculatory stimulation of a quadriplegic man resulting in pregnancy, by Dr. Hirsch in 1990.
• First formal Urological Laparoscopy Programs in Philadelphia in 1991.
• First use of RT-PCR to identify circulating cells in prostate cancer patients, 1992, by Drs. Moreno, Mulholland and Gomella. Three U.S. patents were awarded to Jefferson for this discovery.
• Board of Trustees appointed Dr. L. G. Gomella the first Bernard W. Godwin Associate Professor in Prostate Cancer in 1994, the first prostate cancer specific chair in the U.S.
• First report of endoluminal ultrasound of the ureter, by Dr. Bagley in 1995.
• First applications of ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy of upper ureteral calculi (1995) and renal calculi (1998), by Dr. Bagley
• First Multidisciplinary GU Cancer Center, Kimmel Cancer Center, established in 1996, by Dr. Gomella and associates.
• First Microwave Thermotherapy Unit in the Delaware Valley at the Pennsylvania Prostate Center at Jefferson in 1997.
• First Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy in Delaware Valley, by Drs. McGinnis and Strup in 2000.