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Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at the University of Chicago‐Early Experiences: a Personal Historical Account

INTRODUCTION Few human illnesses today are more challenging medically, scientifically, and socio-economically than the world-wide ‘‘nonspecific’’ inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs): ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. They did occur several centuries ago, but they are essentially diseases of the 20th century. They affect men and women, children and young adults, and all ethnic groups, and involve virtually all bodily systems in addition to the gastrointestinal tract. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease have emerged as major biomedical problems. Prevailing etiologic concepts, often originating in 20th century clinical observation, today provide exciting opportunities for meaningful research. More physicians and scientists now are involved in the study of IBDs and, like Ariadne of Greek mythology, are endeavoring to negotiate the complex biomedical maze of IBDs. As the story goes, Ariadne, daughter of Pasiphae and King Minos of Crete, fell in love with the Athenian hero Theseus, and with a ‘‘thread of glittering jewels’’ helped him escape the imprisoning Labyrinth after he had slain the evil Minotaur (half bull, half human). Metaphorically, our hope for the 21st century is conquest of the ‘‘IBD Minotaur.’’ This report retraces my initial interest in IBDs and my earliest observations; more details are provided in Kirsner’s Origins and Directions of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (published by the Kluwer Academic Press, 2002), including a clarification of the pivotal early Mt. Sinai (New York) experience with Crohn’s disease. In particular, it recognizes the contributions of Eli Moschowitz and A. O. Wilensky, Surgeons L. Ginzburg and G. Oppenheimer, all of the Mt. Sinai Hospital, and B. B. Crohn and Surgeon A. A. Berg to the 1932 presentation in New Orleans.