[Posthumous tribute to Héctor Ducci, MD]

Hector Ducci, MD (1915-1959) was a bright and energetic young physician who became one of the best known Chilean physicians abroad. Trained with Cecil Watson, MD, they both devised a method to measure conjugated bilirubin in serum ("direct-reacting bilirubin") and Dr. Ducci developed several laboratory techniques, mainly liver function tests, and proposed a practical clinical classification of jaundice. Probably one of his major contributions in hepatology was the use of high doses of cortisone in fulminant hepatic failure due to viral hepatitis, that standard worldwide for at least two decades as the life-saving alternative. He modernized medical care in the Internal Medicine wards, at the Hospital del Salvador in Santiago, Chile, becoming an example soon followed by other hospitals and specialties. Medical Residencies and Nurses School were also organized or modernized under his leadership. His unexpected and premature death shocked the medical environment not only in Chile but also in other countries.