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J Neurol (2010) 257:12181220 DOI 10.1007/s00415-010-5529-0
PIONEERS IN NEUROLOGY
Hans Chiari (18511916)
R. Shane Tubbs Aaron A. Cohen-Gadol
Received: 19 February 2010 / Revised: 5 March 2010 / Accepted: 5 March 2010 / Published online: 26 March 2010 Springer-Verlag 2010
Hans Chiari will most be remembered for his 1891 paper, Ueber Veranderungen des Kleinhirns infolge von Hydro-cephalie des Grosshirns, that described what is now regarded as the Chiari malformations [5]. Chiari (Fig. 1) was born on 4 November 1851 in Vienna. He came from a family of physicians and his father, Johann Baptist Chiari (18171854) was a prominent gynecologist who worked in Vienna and Prague and is credited with describing prolactinomas [1]. Chiaris brother, Ottokar, was a rhino-laryngologist [2]. Chiari studied medicine in Vienna, assisting one of the most revered pathologists at the time, Karl Rokitansky (18041878), at the Vienna Institute of Pathology [1]. He was hired as a prosector [3] at the Vienna Institute, which was renowned for its knowledge and research under the control of Rokitansky. In 1875, he completed medical school and Rokitansky retired. Richard Ladislaus Heschl (18241881) succeeded Rokitansky as head of Pathological Anatomy in Vienna [1] and Chiari assisted him until Heschls death in 1881 [1]. In Vienna, Chiari developed a reputation for his teaching skills, his attention to detail and cataloging. In 1878, he habilitated in pathological anatomy in Vienna and 4 years later he
became extraordinarius at the German University in Prague. One year later, he was appointed ordinarius and superintendent of the pathologicalanatomical museum in Prague [3].
Most of Chiaris accomplishments occurred while he was in Prague. For example, in 1877, he was noted as the rst to describe the features of a choriocarcinoma [1]. In 1899 and in conjunction with British internist George Budd (18081882), Chiari provided a clinical and pathological explanation of hepatic vein thrombosis, the so-called BuddChiari syndrome [1]. Such a syndrome had been described before but never explained to any extent. Also he studied the relationship between carotid artery plaques and thrombosis and published on the classical history...