page_title: Rudolph Nissen
section_title: Einstein's aneurysm repair
hierarchical_section_title: Rudolph Nissen / Surgical contributions / Einstein's aneurysm repair
caption_attribution_description: العربية: ألبرت أينشتاين English: Albert Einstein Español: Albert Einstein en 1947 Français&#160;: Portrait d'Albert Einstein
context_page_description: Rudolph Nissen was a surgeon who chaired surgery departments in Turkey, the United States and Switzerland. The Nissen fundoplication, a surgical procedure for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease, is named after him. Nissen completed the first pneumonectomy by a Western physician in 1931. In 1948, he performed an abdominal surgery that extended the life of Albert Einstein by several years. He trained under German physicians Ludwig Aschoff and Ferdinand Sauerbruch. Nissen wrote an autobiography published at Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt in 1969 called “Helle Blätter, dunkle Blätter. Erinnerungen eines Chirurgen.“ which was reviewed in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. A selection of his writings and lectures was published at Schattauer in 1997 under the title of “Fünfzig Jahre erlebter Chirurgie: Ausgewählte Vorträge und Schriften.“.
context_section_description: In December 1948, Nissen admitted Albert Einstein to Jewish Hospital for removal of intestinal cysts. However, the scientist was also suffering from an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). An aneurysm is a dilatation that occurs in a blood vessel. In the portion of the aorta that runs through the abdomen, aneurysms are typically asymptomatic until rupture is imminent. AAA rupture can cause immediate death from exsanguination. Definitive surgical treatment for AAA had not been devised in the 1940s. Beginning in 1943, reinforcement with cellophane had been used to induce fibrosis in the vessel, decreasing the risk of rupture. Nissen wrapped the aneurysm with cellophane and Einstein recovered from the surgery.
  Upon his hospital discharge, Einstein was surrounded by photographers and he was photographed with his tongue sticking out at them. He sent an autographed newspaper clipping of the photo to Nissen with the inscription "To Nissen my tummy / The world my tongue." Einstein lived for several years after Nissen wrapped his AAA in cellophane. Einstein died in a Princeton, New Jersey hospital in 1955. Initial news reports listed gallbladder inflammation as the cause of death. However, his medical team had suspected gallbladder irritation resulting from a leaking AAA. An autopsy conducted by pathologist Thomas Harvey showed that he died of a leaking AAA.
  By the time of Einstein's death, surgical AAA repair was technically possible but still very uncertain. The surgeon who saw Einstein in Princeton, Frank Glenn of New York Hospital, proposed surgery. Einstein was in his seventies and he elected to die peacefully rather than undergo surgery. "I want to go when I want," Einstein told his physicians. He told his secretary Helen Dukas, "I can die without the help of the doctors." He also told her that it was "tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share. It is time to go. I will do it elegantly."
caption: Albert Einstein in 1947
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