[Research contributions of Eskil Kylin]

Eskil Kylin (1889-1975), a Swedish physician, started his career in medical research by studying arterial hypertension. In his thesis in 1920 (5) the significance of small-vessel pressure is especially discussed. Kylin also made important observations with regard to the influence on blood pressure from autonomous nervous system, and calcium metabolism. In 1923 he described a syndrome characterized by hypertension, hyperglycemia, obesity, and hyperuricemia (6), today well-known as the metabolic syndrome (15). In the thirties Kylin turned his interest to endocrinology, especially to implantation and injection of pituitary extracts from the calf. In a summarizing report 1943 (10) he describes treatment of some 200 patients with a remarkable success in 75% of the cases. In fifty cases with anorexia nervosa more than 80% were helped; half of them recovering menstruation within one year. Kylin summarized his studies in extensive monographs published in German on arterial hypertension (8), blood proteins (1), and treatment with pituitary extracts (10). During the post-war era with a general neglect of medical literature written in German, Kylin's articles were mostly forgotten. In 1926 Kylin was appointed head of the medical department of Jönköping's hospital. Successively, the hot-tempered Kylin got into conflict with the hospital board, with colleagues, and also with some of his patients. These conflicts gave in 1943 rise to intervention from the supervising authority, Medicinalstyrelsen. After a protracted judicial process, Kylin was forced to resign. The court proceedings, with a massive coverage from the press, provide interesting insight into the situation of Swedish medical directors in a time when they had official governmental letters of appointment and therefore hard to dismiss.