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She is named for Curth’s angle, one form of assessing [[nail clubbing|clubbed fingers]], which she published in 1961 in a description of a familial case.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baran |first1=Robert |last2=Dawber |first2=Rodney P. R. |last3=Berker |first3=David A. R. de |last4=Haneke |first4=Ekhart |last5=Tosti |first5=Antonella |title=Baran and Dawber's Diseases of the Nails and their Management |date=30 April 2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-69483-1 |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=B0fU5R3UBbYC |language=en}}</ref>
She is named for Curth’s angle, one form of assessing [[nail clubbing|clubbed fingers]], which she published in 1961 in a description of a familial case.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baran |first1=Robert |last2=Dawber |first2=Rodney P. R. |last3=Berker |first3=David A. R. de |last4=Haneke |first4=Ekhart |last5=Tosti |first5=Antonella |title=Baran and Dawber's Diseases of the Nails and their Management |date=30 April 2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-69483-1 |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=B0fU5R3UBbYC |language=en}}</ref>


She wrote many papers on acanthosis nigricans and diseases that resulted from [[keratinization|abnormal skin development]].<ref name=Davies2014/> Her definitions and classifications of acanthosis nigricans helped to distinguish between types associated with cancer (malignant acanthosis nigricans) from benign types, which she noted typically began at a younger age and ran in families.<ref name=Guzman2018/> She also wrote in ''[[Fitzpatrick's Dermatology]]''.<ref name=Davies2014/> In New York she introduced patch testing for industrial employees.<ref name=Jacob2013/> At the invitation of [[Heinrich Adolf Gottron]] and {{interlanguage link|Urs Walter Schnyder|de}}, she contributed a chapter to ''[[Jadassohn's Handbook of Skin and Venereal Diseases]]'' (1966).<ref name=Burg.corr2004/><ref name=Handbook1969>{{cite book |title=Vererbung von Hautkrankheiten |date=1966 |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-662-28637-1 |language=en}}</ref>
She wrote many papers on acanthosis nigricans and diseases that resulted from [[keratinization|abnormal skin development]].<ref name=Davies2014/><ref name=Braun1991>{{cite book |last1=Braun-Falco |first1=Otto |last2=Plewig |first2=Gerd |last3=Wolff |first3=Helmut H. |last4=Winkelmann |first4=Richard K. |title=Dermatology |date=1991 |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-662-00181-3 |pages=455-456 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Xn1CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA455 |language=en |chapter=14. Erythematous and erythematosquamous skin diseases}}</ref>
Her definitions and classifications of acanthosis nigricans helped to distinguish between types associated with cancer (malignant acanthosis nigricans) from benign types, which she noted typically began at a younger age and ran in families.<ref name=Guzman2018/> She also wrote in ''[[Fitzpatrick's Dermatology]]''.<ref name=Davies2014/> In New York she introduced patch testing for industrial employees.<ref name=Jacob2013/> At the invitation of [[Heinrich Adolf Gottron]] and {{interlanguage link|Urs Walter Schnyder|de}}, she contributed a chapter to ''[[Jadassohn's Handbook of Skin and Venereal Diseases]]'' (1966).<ref name=Burg.corr2004/><ref name=Handbook1969>{{cite book |title=Vererbung von Hautkrankheiten |date=1966 |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-662-28637-1 |language=en}}</ref>


==Death==
==Death==

Revision as of 15:13, 3 August 2023

Helene Ollendorff Curth
Born28 February 1899
Died17 June 1982
OccupationPhysician
Known for
ParentPaula Ollendorff (mother}
Academic background
Education
Thesis (1924)
Doctoral advisorJosef Jadassohn
Other advisorsAbraham Buschke
Academic work
DisciplineDermatology
Sub-disciplineGenodermatosis
Institutions
Main interestsAcanthosis nigricans
Notable ideasSkin signs associated with internal cancer

Helene Ollendorff Curth (28 February 1899 - 17 June 1982), was a German-American dermatologist named in two rare hereditary skin diseases, the Buschke–Ollendorff syndrome and Ichthyosis Hystrix, Curth-Macklin Type. She described a medical sign in secondary syphilis, later known as the Ollendorff probe sign, defined the "Curth criteria" for associating skin signs as markers for internal cancers, and is named for Curth’s angle, one form of measuring clubbed fingers.

Ollendorff Curth completed her early training under Josef Jadassohn at the University of Breslau. She moved to Berlin in 1924 and was appointed assistant to Abraham Buschke. In 1931 she moved to New York where she established a dermatology practice with her husband and became associated with Columbia University. During her career in the US, she published the first description of cases of Behçet's disease there, introduced patch testing for industrial employees in New York, worked with Madge Thurlow Macklin, and wrote many papers on acanthosis nigricans.

Early life and education

Helene Ollendorff Curth, affectionately referred to as "Lene", was born on 28 February 1899 into a Jewish family in Wroclaw, Poland, then Breslau, Germany.[1][2] Her father Isodor Ollendorf, was a lawyer and counsillor who died in 1911, and her mother Paula spent much of her life working to improve women's rights.[3] The youngest of four siblings, her sister and one brother died young.[3] She was educated at the universities of Freiburg, Munich, and Breslau.[1]

Early career

Ollendorff Curth completed her early medical training under Josef Jadassohn, pioneer of patch testing at the University of Breslau.[4][5] Together they investigated the sensitivity of secondary syphilitic lesions.[4] It was described in her doctoral thesis, for which she was awarded top class honours.[6] Later named the Ollendorff probe sign, the phenomenon referred to deep pain when a syphilitic bump was gently prodded, and was used to help distinguish the lesions of secondary syphilis from similarly looking non-syphilitic ones.[4][6][a]

In 1924 Ollendorff Curth moved to Berlin to join the department of dermatology at the Rudolf-Virchow-Krankenhaus [de], where she was appointed assistant to Abraham Buschke.[6] At the same unit she met her future husband, Rudolf Wilhelm Paul Curth, a dermatologist who had arrived in the department in 1925 as another of Buschke's assistant; they married in 1927.[6]

In 1928, with Buschke, she described in one 41-year-old female the connective tissue condition "disseminated dermatofibrosis lenticularis", which later came to be known as Buschke–Ollendorff syndrome.[9] Rare and hereditary, the disease presents with widespread painless small bumps in the skin, sometimes associated with bone involvement.[6][10][b]

During her time in Berlin, she conducted her early studies on the skin sign acanthosis nigricans and described the "Curth criteria" for associating skin signs as markers for internal cancers.[6][c]

Later career

In 1931, after witnessing the removal of Jewish looking people by men in uniform, Ollendorff Curth, her husband and child moved to New York City, where they anglicized their names; she removed the final e from Helene and became Helen, and he became William.[4][2][d] There, they established a private dermatology practice and worked alongside Columbia University.[6]

In 1946, in two articles, she published the first description of cases of Behçet's disease in New York, following which this eponymous term became popular.[13] She described the "triple symptom complex" of ulcers of the mouth and genitals (genital ulcer and mouth ulcer), and eye inflammation with hypopyonas, as described by Hulusi Behçet in 1937.[14] Several medical professionals have debated whether the disease name should include Benediktos Adamantiades.[13][14] Ollendorff Curth did not use his name in her title but cites him.[13][14]

In 1954, with Madge Thurlow Macklin, she gave the first description of a rare type of ichthyosis hystrix.[2] The condition presents with thick warty skin, horn-like skin of palms and soles, and scales.[2]

She is named for Curth’s angle, one form of assessing clubbed fingers, which she published in 1961 in a description of a familial case.[15]

She wrote many papers on acanthosis nigricans and diseases that resulted from abnormal skin development.[4][16] 

Her definitions and classifications of acanthosis nigricans helped to distinguish between types associated with cancer (malignant acanthosis nigricans) from benign types, which she noted typically began at a younger age and ran in families.[6] She also wrote in Fitzpatrick's Dermatology.[4] In New York she introduced patch testing for industrial employees.[5] At the invitation of Heinrich Adolf Gottron and Urs Walter Schnyder [de], she contributed a chapter to Jadassohn's Handbook of Skin and Venereal Diseases (1966).[11][17]

Death

Ollendorff Curth died on 17 June 1982 from Alzheimer's disease.[2]

Selected publications

  • "Ein Fall von Dermatofibrosis lenticularis disseminata und Osteopathia condensans disseminata". Dermatologische Wochenschrift, Hamburg, 1928, 86: 257–262. (Co-author)
  • "Dermatofibrosis lenticularis disseminata and osteopoikilosis". Archives of Dermatology. 30 (4): 552. 1 October 1934. doi:10.1001/archderm.1934.01460160066009.
  • "Benign type of acanthosis nigricans: etiology". Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology. 34 (3): 353–366. 1 September 1936. doi:10.1001/archderm.1936.01470150003001. ISSN 0096-6029.
  • "Recurrent genito-oral aphthosis and uveitis with hypopyon (Behcet's syndrome)". Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology. 54: 179–196. August 1946. doi:10.1001/archderm.1946.01510370063005. ISSN 0096-6029. PMID 20995035.
  • "Behçet's syndrome, abortive form (?); recurrent aphthous oral lesions and recurrent genital ulcerations". Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology. 54: 481–484. October 1946. ISSN 0096-6029. PMID 21065219.
  • "Acanthosis nigricans and its association with cancer". Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology. 57 (2): 158–170. 1 February 1948. doi:10.1001/archderm.1948.01520140020003. ISSN 0096-6029.
  • "Familial Clubbed Fingers". Archives of Dermatology. 83 (5): 828–836. 1 May 1961. doi:10.1001/archderm.1961.01580110116017. ISSN 0003-987X. (Co-author)

Notes

  1. ^ Some publications refer to the sign as the Buschke-Ollendorf sign.[7] However, she described the sign with Jadassohn before going to work with Buschke and the Curths in a memoir to Buschke in 1983 clarify themselves that the sign is called Ollendorffs sign.[8]
  2. ^ Source "Burgdorf (2004)" contains a correction.[11]
  3. ^ The criteria are still referred to in dermatology publications, but with limitations.[12]
  4. ^ Buschke remained and died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1943.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "Collection: Helen Ollendorff Curth Collection | The Center for Jewish History ArchivesSpace". archives.cjh.org. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e Al Aboud, Khalid (10 November 2011). "Helen Ollendorff Curth and Curth-Macklin Syndrome". The Open Dermatology Journal. 5 (1): 28–30. doi:10.2174/1874372201105010028.
  3. ^ a b Lenarcik, Miroslawa (2010). "2.3. The status of women in Judaism". A Community in Transition: Jewish Welfare in Breslau-Wrocław. Verlag Barbara Budrich. pp. 132–134. ISBN 978-3-86649-715-3.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Davies, K. E.; Yesudian, P. D. (July 2014). "Historical Archives". British Journal of Dermatology. 171: 139–146. doi:10.1111/bjd.12981.
  5. ^ a b Jacob, Sharon E.; Herro, Elise M. (2013). "1. Clinical guide introduction". Practical Patch Testing and Chemical Allergens in Contact Dermatitis. London: Springer. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-4471-4585-1.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Guzman, Anthony K.; James, William D. (September 2016). "Helen Ollendorff-Curth: A dermatologist's lasting legacy". International Journal of Women's Dermatology. 2 (3): 108–112. doi:10.1016/j.ijwd.2016.06.002. ISSN 2352-6475. PMID 28492020.
  7. ^ James, William D.; Elston, Dirk; Treat, James R.; Rosenbach, Misha A.; Neuhaus, Isaac (2020). "18. Syphilis, Yaws, Bejel, and Pinta". Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology (13th ed.). Edinburgh: Elsevier. pp. 347–361. ISBN 978-0-323-54753-6.
  8. ^ Curth, William; Curth, Helen Ollendorff (February 1983). "Remembering Abraham Buschke". The American Journal of Dermatopathology. 5 (1): 27. ISSN 0193-1091.
  9. ^ Lacour, Marc (4 December 2019). "95. Buschke–Ollendorff syndrome, Marfan's syndrome and osteogenesis imperfecta". In Hoeger, Peter H.; Kinsler, Veronica; Yan, Albert C.; Bodemer, Christine; Larralde, Margarita; Luk, David; Mendiratta, Vibhu; Purvis, Diana (eds.). Harper's Textbook of Pediatric Dermatology. John Wiley & Sons. p. 1139. ISBN 978-1-119-14280-5.
  10. ^ Burgdorf, Walter H.C; Scholz, Albrecht (July 2004). "Helen Ollendorff Curth and William Curth: From Breslau and Berlin to Bar Harbor". Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 51 (1): 84–89. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2003.12.035.
  11. ^ a b "Corrections". Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 51 (5): 717. November 2004. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2004.08.006.
  12. ^ Fritsch, Peter (2011). "18. Paraneoplastic syndromes in the skin". In Hertl, Michael (ed.). Autoimmune Diseases of the Skin: Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, Management (3rd ed.). Wein: Springer. p. 518. ISBN 978-3-211-99225-8.
  13. ^ a b c Zouboulis, Christos; Keitel, Wolfgang (2004). "A historical review of Adamantiades-Behçet's Disease". In Zouboulis, Christos (ed.). Adamantiades-Behçet's Disease. New York: Springer Science & Business Media. p. 12. ISBN 0-306-48382-3.
  14. ^ a b c Evereklioglu, Cem (June 2007). "The migration pattern, patient selection with diagnostic methodological flaw and confusing naming dilemma in Behçet disease". European Journal of Echocardiography: The Journal of the Working Group on Echocardiography of the European Society of Cardiology. 8 (3): 167–173, author reply 174. doi:10.1016/j.euje.2006.12.007. ISSN 1525-2167. PMID 17317323.
  15. ^ Baran, Robert; Dawber, Rodney P. R.; Berker, David A. R. de; Haneke, Ekhart; Tosti, Antonella (30 April 2008). Baran and Dawber's Diseases of the Nails and their Management. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-69483-1.
  16. ^ Braun-Falco, Otto; Plewig, Gerd; Wolff, Helmut H.; Winkelmann, Richard K. (1991). "14. Erythematous and erythematosquamous skin diseases". Dermatology. Berlin: Springer. pp. 455–456. ISBN 978-3-662-00181-3.
  17. ^ Vererbung von Hautkrankheiten. 1966.
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