Dittel

DITTEL, Leopold (1815-98), a renowned surgeon, founder of the Vienna school of urology. From 1848, Dittel worked as an assistant to the Vienna professor of surgery, Duremberger. In 1860, Dittel became head of the surgical department at Wiener Allgemeines Krankenhaus as a docent, and in 1867, he became a professor. The first half of D.'s activities had an orthopedic focus (monographs on flatfoot and coxitis). From 1860, D. devoted himself to the study of urology, and as a result, a series of works appeared, one of which, "Die Stricturen der Harnrohre" (Handbook of General and Special Surgery, ed. by F. Pitha and Th. Billroth, Vol. III, Part 2, Erlangen-Stuttgart, 1872; also in Deutsche Chirurgie, edited by Th. Billroth and G. Luecke, No. 49, Stuttgart, 1880), remains a classic to this day. Further mention should be made of D.'s works on the treatment of urinary fistulas, urethral diverticula, and on the treatment of prostate hypertrophy by resection of its lateral lobes. D.'s personal statistics of lithotomies performed reached 800 operations. At the same time, D. was a staunch advocate of lithotripsy, which he also performed a tremendous number of times. After Billroth's death, D. was elected chairman of the Vienna Medical Society.