The history of urology in Cleveland, Ohio

Urology in Cleveland, as in the rest of the country, has evolved greatly over the past century. The recent passing of Resnick and Novick warrants a review of Cleveland's rich urological history.

We reviewed historical and scientific literature and interviewed Cleveland urologists.

Lower joined his cousin Crile as professor at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) before they cofounded the Cleveland Clinic (CC) in 1921. Goldblatt at CWRU discovered renovascular hypertension, leading Poutasse at CC to develop renovascular arteriography and bypass surgery. Kolff brought his greatest invention, dialysis, to the United States when he joined CC. Straffon put CC's renal transplant program on the map through his success with deceased donor transplants. Persky, renowned at radical prostatectomies, chaired urology at CWRU for nearly 30 years and trained 6 future university department chairpersons. Resnick succeeded him and became one of the eminent figures in urology; an authority on numerous subjects, president of the American Urological Association and American Board of Urology (ABU) and Editor of the Journal of Urology. Novick, who became chairman at CC in 1985, was the consummate renal surgeon; he was adept at renal revascularization and transplantation, but his greatest surgical innovation was the partial nephrectomy. He likewise held many positions, including president of the ABU.

Cleveland has been a driving force in the evolution of urology in the last century. Resnick and Novick led a golden age of urology for several decades until their recent untimely passings.