The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 46, 472-474, Copyright © 1988 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Hugh Morriston Davies and lobectomy for cancer, 1912
JA Meyer
Department of Surgery, State University of New York College of Medicine, Syracuse.
The report of a lobectomy for bronchogenic carcinoma in 1912, by Hugh
Morriston Davies of London, and without precedent, describes a surgical
technique strikingly similar to that of today. Unfortunately, Davies'
patient died because postoperative management of the pleural space was not
yet well understood. The tumor had been identified by radiographic
examination and the diagnosis confirmed by cytological examination of the
sputum. The operative technique included individual ligation of hilar
vessels and suture closure of the bronchus, neither of which was to be
reported again for more than 20 years. More effective management of the
pleural space was described, without special emphasis, by Harold Brunn of
San Francisco 17 years later.