Robert Abbe and Wilms' Tumor

Robert Abbe (1851-1928), a true polymath of American surgery who made seminal contributions to Wilms' tumor (WT), is largely unknown to pediatric surgeons. The long list of his achievements is formidable. Although Abbe was principally a general surgeon, he was a pioneer of neurological, transplant, vascular, colorectal and plastic surgeries, besides being an innovative radiotherapist. In an era when antibiotics, safe anesthesia, blood transfusion, anticancer drugs, radiotherapy and intensive care units were non-existent, Abbe successfully performed pediatric nephron-sparing surgery (partial nephrectomy) for WT and achieved the longest reported survival of his times. Soon after the discovery of radium, Abbe was also the first person to introduce after-loading interstitial brachytherapy to WT. His contributions to WT actually exceed those of Max Wilms. He devised innovative surgical operations to correct congenital malformations such as cleft lip (Abbe-Estlander flap), vaginal agenesis (Abbe-McIndoe vaginoplasty), temporomandibular ankylosis, meningocele, and syringomyelia. This article recounts Abbe's achievements pertinent to WT and pediatric surgery.