Max Grob (1901-1976)

Max Grob's first appointment in 1928 was as a first-year resident at the cantonal infants' hospital of his native town, Zurich. He then worked with Monnier in the surgical department of the same hospital and was so fascinated by his task that he decided to devote himself exclusively to paediatric surgery and completed his training with P. Clairmont at the University Hospital of Zurich in 1936. This was followed by a 6-month course in the surgical department directed by L. Ombredanne at the Hôpital des Enfants Malades, Paris, where he studied the techniques used in paediatric surgery and in particular in paediatric urology. With Veau, he familiarized himself with the treatment of cleft lip, jaw and palate. Back in Zurich in late 1936, he opened a private practice as a specialist in paediatrics and surgery. Two years later he was elected to be Monnier's successor at the children's hospital. It was wartime, and there was no exchange of experience on an international level. His main interest was in surgical correction of congenital malformations and cardiac surgery. He carried out the first heart operation in a child in Switzerland and was successful. He operated on a wide variety of congenital heart defects and introduced artificial hypothermia. He was the first to use a heart-lung machine and also did pioneering work in the field of surgical treatment of cleft lip, jaw and palate. He was the first surgeon in Switzerland to perform a pull-through operation for Hirschsprung's disease and to undertake correction of a "short oesophagus".(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)