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Astley CooperEnglish physician, surgeon.
Date of Birth: 23.08.1768
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
Early Life and Education
Born into a family of clergymen, Astley Cooper's medical education began at St. Thomas's Hospital, where his uncle, William Cooper, served as chief surgeon. Cooper became a demonstrator in anatomy at the hospital's theater in 1798 and later lectured on anatomy for the Society of Surgeons.
Career at Guy's Hospital
In 1800, Cooper succeeded his uncle as chief surgeon at Guy's Hospital in London. He also presented a groundbreaking paper on Eustachian tube dysfunction to the Royal Medical Society, proposing a surgical treatment involving the incision of the eardrum, for which he received the Copley Medal.
Contributions to Surgery
Cooper made significant advancements in vascular surgery. Through experiments on dogs, he demonstrated the brain's ability to receive blood flow through vertebral arteries. In 1805, he successfully ligated the common carotid artery in a patient, though the individual died 48 hours later.
Cooper also developed innovative approaches to abdominal hernia surgery and performed the first ligation of the iliac artery for a femoral artery aneurysm in 1808. He later ligated the aorta for an iliac artery aneurysm in 1817.
Royal Surgeon and Legacy
Sir Astley Cooper served as royal surgeon for three monarchs: George IV, William IV, and Victoria. Notably, he performed a surgery to remove an abscess from George IV's head. In his honor, the ligament supporting the breast is named after him.
