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acanthosis nigricans
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| known_for = *[[Buschke–Ollendorff syndrome]]
| known_for = *[[Buschke–Ollendorff syndrome]]
*[[ichthyosis hystrix|Ichthyosis Hystrix, Curth-Macklin Type]]
*[[ichthyosis hystrix|Ichthyosis Hystrix, Curth-Macklin Type]]
*Ollendorff probe sign
*Ollendorff sign
*Curth's criteria
*Curth's criteria
*Curth's angle
*Curth's angle
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*[[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich|University of Munich]]
*[[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich|University of Munich]]
*[[University of Wrocław|University of Breslau]]
*[[University of Wrocław|University of Breslau]]
| alma_mater =
| alma_mater = [University of Wrocław|University of Breslau]]
| thesis_title =
| thesis_title =
| thesis_url =
| thesis_url =
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| notable_works =
| notable_works =
| notable_ideas = Skin signs associated with internal cancer
| notable_ideas = Skin signs associated with internal cancer
| influenced =
| influenced = [[Robert J. Gorlin]]
| signature =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| signature_alt =
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| footnotes =
| footnotes =
}}
}}
'''Helene Ollendorff Curth''' (28 February 1899 - 17 June 1982), was a German-American dermatologist named in two rare [[genodermatosis|hereditary skin diseases]], the [[Buschke–Ollendorff syndrome]] and [[ichthyosis hystrix|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 [[paraneoplastic syndromes|internal cancers]], and is named for Curth’s angle, one form of measuring [[nail clubbing|clubbed fingers]].
'''Helene Ollendorff Curth''' (28 February 1899 - 17 June 1982), was a German-American dermatologist, known for her studies on [[acanthosis nigricans]] (AN) and defining a set of characteristics for associating skin signs as markers for [[paraneoplastic syndromes|internal cancers]]. She is named in two rare [[genodermatosis|hereditary skin diseases]], the [[Buschke–Ollendorff syndrome]] and [[ichthyosis hystrix|Ichthyosis Hystrix, Curth-Macklin Type]]. A medical sign in [[secondary syphilis]], known as the Ollendorff sign, and one form of measuring [[nail clubbing|clubbed fingers]], known as the Curth’s angle, are named for her.


Ollendorff Curth completed her early training under [[Josef Jadassohn]] at the [[University of Wrocław|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]].
Ollendorff Curth completed her early training under [[Josef Jadassohn]] at the [[University of Wrocław|University of Breslau]]. She moved to Berlin in 1924 and was appointed assistant to [[Abraham Buschke]]. In 1931 she settled in 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, and worked with [[Madge Thurlow Macklin]].


==Early life and education==
==Early life and education==
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==Early career==
==Early career==
Ollendorff Curth completed her early medical training under [[Josef Jadassohn]], pioneer of [[patch testing]] at the [[University of Wrocław|University of Breslau]].<ref name=Davies2014>{{cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=K. E. |last2=Yesudian |first2=P. D. |title=Historical Archives |journal=British Journal of Dermatology |date=July 2014 |volume=171 |pages=139–146 |doi=10.1111/bjd.12981 |url=https://academic.oup.com/bjd/article-abstract/171/s1/139/6615499}}</ref><ref name=Jacob2013>{{cite book |last1=Jacob |first1=Sharon E. |last2=Herro |first2=Elise M. |title=Practical Patch Testing and Chemical Allergens in Contact Dermatitis |date=2013 |publisher=Springer |location=London |isbn=978-1-4471-4585-1 |page=2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YiVbPDpN3MYC&pg=PA2 |language=en |chapter=1. Clinical guide introduction}}</ref> Together they investigated the sensitivity of secondary syphilitic lesions.<ref name=Davies2014/> It was described in her doctoral thesis, for which she was awarded top class honours.<ref name=Guzman2018>{{cite journal |last1=Guzman |first1=Anthony K. |last2=James |first2=William D. |title=Helen Ollendorff-Curth: A dermatologist's lasting legacy |journal=International Journal of Women's Dermatology |date=September 2016 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=108–112 |doi=10.1016/j.ijwd.2016.06.002 |pmid=28492020 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28492020/ |issn=2352-6475}}</ref> Later named the Ollendorff probe sign, the phenomenon referred to deep pain when a syphilitic [[papule|bump]] was gently prodded, and was used to help distinguish the lesions of secondary syphilis from similarly looking non-syphilitic ones.<ref name=Davies2014/><ref name=Guzman2018/>{{efn|Some publications refer to the sign as the Buschke-Ollendorf sign.<ref name=Andrew2020>{{cite book |last1=James |first1=William D. |last2=Elston |first2=Dirk |last3=Treat |first3=James R. |last4=Rosenbach |first4=Misha A. |last5=Neuhaus |first5=Isaac |title=Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology |date=2020 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Edinburgh|isbn=978-0-323-54753-6 |pages=347–361 |edition=13th |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEaEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA350 |language=en |chapter=18. Syphilis, Yaws, Bejel, and Pinta }}</ref> 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.<ref name=Curth1983>{{cite journal |last1=Curth |first1=William |last2=Curth |first2=Helen Ollendorff |title=Remembering Abraham Buschke |journal=The American Journal of Dermatopathology |date=February 1983 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=27 |url=https://journals.lww.com/amjdermatopathology/Citation/1983/02000/Remembering_Abraham_Buschke.6.aspx |issn=0193-1091|url-access=subscription}}</ref>}}
Ollendorff Curth completed her early medical training under [[Josef Jadassohn]], pioneer of [[patch testing]] at the [[University of Wrocław|University of Breslau]].<ref name=Davies2014>{{cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=K. E. |last2=Yesudian |first2=P. D. |title=Historical Archives |journal=British Journal of Dermatology |date=July 2014 |volume=171 |pages=139–146 |doi=10.1111/bjd.12981 |url=https://academic.oup.com/bjd/article-abstract/171/s1/139/6615499}}</ref><ref name=Jacob2013>{{cite book |last1=Jacob |first1=Sharon E. |last2=Herro |first2=Elise M. |title=Practical Patch Testing and Chemical Allergens in Contact Dermatitis |date=2013 |publisher=Springer |location=London |isbn=978-1-4471-4585-1 |page=2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YiVbPDpN3MYC&pg=PA2 |language=en |chapter=1. Clinical guide introduction}}</ref> Together they investigated the sensitivity of secondary syphilitic lesions.<ref name=Davies2014/> It was described in her doctoral thesis, for which she was awarded top class honours.<ref name=Guzman2018>{{cite journal |last1=Guzman |first1=Anthony K. |last2=James |first2=William D. |title=Helen Ollendorff-Curth: A dermatologist's lasting legacy |journal=International Journal of Women's Dermatology |date=September 2016 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=108–112 |doi=10.1016/j.ijwd.2016.06.002 |pmid=28492020 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28492020/ |issn=2352-6475}}</ref> Later known as the Ollendorff probe sign or Ollendorff sign, the phenomenon referred to deep pain when a syphilitic [[papule|bump]] was gently prodded, and was used to help distinguish the lesions of secondary syphilis from similarly looking non-syphilitic ones.<ref name=Davies2014/><ref name=Guzman2018/>{{efn|Some publications refer to the sign as the Buschke-Ollendorf sign.<ref name=Andrew2020>{{cite book |last1=James |first1=William D. |last2=Elston |first2=Dirk |last3=Treat |first3=James R. |last4=Rosenbach |first4=Misha A. |last5=Neuhaus |first5=Isaac |title=Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology |date=2020 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Edinburgh|isbn=978-0-323-54753-6 |pages=347–361 |edition=13th |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEaEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA350 |language=en |chapter=18. Syphilis, Yaws, Bejel, and Pinta }}</ref> 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.<ref name=Curth1983>{{cite journal |last1=Curth |first1=William |last2=Curth |first2=Helen Ollendorff |title=Remembering Abraham Buschke |journal=The American Journal of Dermatopathology |date=February 1983 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=27 |url=https://journals.lww.com/amjdermatopathology/Citation/1983/02000/Remembering_Abraham_Buschke.6.aspx |issn=0193-1091|url-access=subscription}}</ref>}}


In 1924 Ollendorff Curth moved to Berlin to join the department of dermatology at the {{interlanguage link|Rudolf-Virchow-Krankenhaus|de}}, where she was appointed assistant to [[Abraham Buschke]].<ref name=Guzman2018/> 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.<ref name=Guzman2018/>
In 1924 Ollendorff Curth moved to Berlin to join the department of dermatology at the {{interlanguage link|Rudolf-Virchow-Krankenhaus|de}}, where she was appointed assistant to [[Abraham Buschke]].<ref name=Guzman2018/> 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.<ref name=Guzman2018/>
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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]].<ref name=Hoeger2019>{{cite book |last1=Lacour |first1=Marc |editor1-last=Hoeger |editor1-first=Peter H. |editor2-last=Kinsler |editor2-first=Veronica |editor3-last=Yan |editor3-first=Albert C. |editor4-last=Bodemer |editor4-first=Christine |editor5-last=Larralde |editor5-first=Margarita |editor6-last=Luk |editor6-first=David |editor7-last=Mendiratta |editor7-first=Vibhu |editor8-last=Purvis |editor8-first=Diana |title=Harper's Textbook of Pediatric Dermatology |date=4 December 2019 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-14280-5 |page=1139 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-tbBDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1139 |language=en |chapter=95. Buschke–Ollendorff syndrome, Marfan's syndrome and osteogenesis imperfecta}}</ref> Rare and hereditary, the disease presents with widespread painless small [[papules|bumps in the skin]], sometimes associated with bone involvement.<ref name=Guzman2018/><ref name=Burgdorf2004>{{cite journal |last1=Burgdorf |first1=Walter H.C |last2=Scholz |first2=Albrecht |title=Helen Ollendorff Curth and William Curth: From Breslau and Berlin to Bar Harbor |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology |date=July 2004 |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=84–89 |doi=10.1016/j.jaad.2003.12.035 |url=https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(04)00533-X/fulltext|url-access=subscription}}</ref>{{efn|Source "Burgdorf (2004)" contains a correction.<ref name=Burg.corr2004>{{cite journal |title=Corrections |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology |date=November 2004 |volume=51 |issue=5 |pages=717 |doi=10.1016/j.jaad.2004.08.006 |url=https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(04)02157-7/fulltext}}</ref>}}
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]].<ref name=Hoeger2019>{{cite book |last1=Lacour |first1=Marc |editor1-last=Hoeger |editor1-first=Peter H. |editor2-last=Kinsler |editor2-first=Veronica |editor3-last=Yan |editor3-first=Albert C. |editor4-last=Bodemer |editor4-first=Christine |editor5-last=Larralde |editor5-first=Margarita |editor6-last=Luk |editor6-first=David |editor7-last=Mendiratta |editor7-first=Vibhu |editor8-last=Purvis |editor8-first=Diana |title=Harper's Textbook of Pediatric Dermatology |date=4 December 2019 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-14280-5 |page=1139 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-tbBDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1139 |language=en |chapter=95. Buschke–Ollendorff syndrome, Marfan's syndrome and osteogenesis imperfecta}}</ref> Rare and hereditary, the disease presents with widespread painless small [[papules|bumps in the skin]], sometimes associated with bone involvement.<ref name=Guzman2018/><ref name=Burgdorf2004>{{cite journal |last1=Burgdorf |first1=Walter H.C |last2=Scholz |first2=Albrecht |title=Helen Ollendorff Curth and William Curth: From Breslau and Berlin to Bar Harbor |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology |date=July 2004 |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=84–89 |doi=10.1016/j.jaad.2003.12.035 |url=https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(04)00533-X/fulltext|url-access=subscription}}</ref>{{efn|Source "Burgdorf (2004)" contains a correction.<ref name=Burg.corr2004>{{cite journal |title=Corrections |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology |date=November 2004 |volume=51 |issue=5 |pages=717 |doi=10.1016/j.jaad.2004.08.006 |url=https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(04)02157-7/fulltext}}</ref>}}


During her time in Berlin, she conducted her early studies on the skin sign [[acanthosis nigricans]] (AN).<ref name=Guzman2018/>
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 [[paraneoplastic syndromes|internal cancers]].<ref name=Guzman2018/>{{efn|The criteria are still referred to in dermatology publications, but with limitations.<ref name=Fritsch2011>{{cite book |last1=Fritsch |first1=Peter |editor1-last=Hertl |editor1-first=Michael |title=Autoimmune Diseases of the Skin: Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, Management |date=2011 |publisher=Springer |location=Wein |isbn=978-3-211-99225-8 |page=518 |edition=3rd |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=meZcUs3Ry1UC&pg=PA518 |language=en |chapter=18. Paraneoplastic syndromes in the skin}}</ref>}}


==Later career==
==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.<ref name=Davies2014/><ref name=Al2011/>{{efn|Buschke remained and died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1943.<ref name=Davies2014/>}} There, they established a private dermatology practice and worked alongside [[Columbia University]].<ref name=Guzman2018/>
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.<ref name=Davies2014/><ref name=Al2011/>{{efn|Buschke remained and died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1943.<ref name=Davies2014/>}} There, they established a private dermatology practice and worked alongside [[Columbia University]].<ref name=Guzman2018/>


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.<ref name=Zouboulis2004>{{cite book |last1=Zouboulis |first1=Christos |last2=Keitel |first2=Wolfgang |editor1-last=Zouboulis |editor1-first=Christos |title=Adamantiades-Behçet's Disease |date=2004 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |location=New York |isbn=0-306-48382-3 |page=12 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1rAPBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 |language=en |chapter=A historical review of Adamantiades-Behçet's Disease}}</ref> She described the "triple symptom complex" of ulcers of the mouth and genitals ([[genital ulcer]] and [[aphthous stomatitis|mouth ulcer]]), and [[uveitis|eye inflammation]] with [[hypopyon|hypopyonas]], as described by [[Hulusi Behçet]] in 1937.<ref name=Evereklioglu2007>{{cite journal |last1=Evereklioglu |first1=Cem |title=The migration pattern, patient selection with diagnostic methodological flaw and confusing naming dilemma in Behçet disease |journal=European Journal of Echocardiography: The Journal of the Working Group on Echocardiography of the European Society of Cardiology |date=June 2007 |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=167–173; author reply 174 |doi=10.1016/j.euje.2006.12.007 |pmid=17317323 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17317323/ |issn=1525-2167}}</ref> Several medical professionals have debated whether the disease name should include [[Benediktos Adamantiades]].<ref name=Zouboulis2004/><ref name=Evereklioglu2007/> Ollendorff Curth did not use his name in her title but cites him.<ref name=Zouboulis2004/><ref name=Evereklioglu2007/>
Her two papers in 1946 contain the first description of cases of [[Behçet's disease]] in New York, following which this eponymous term became popular.<ref name=Zouboulis2004>{{cite book |last1=Zouboulis |first1=Christos |last2=Keitel |first2=Wolfgang |editor1-last=Zouboulis |editor1-first=Christos |title=Adamantiades-Behçet's Disease |date=2004 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |location=New York |isbn=0-306-48382-3 |page=12 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1rAPBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 |language=en |chapter=A historical review of Adamantiades-Behçet's Disease}}</ref> She described the "triple symptom complex" of ulcers of the mouth and genitals ([[genital ulcer]] and [[aphthous stomatitis|mouth ulcer]]), and [[uveitis|eye inflammation]] with [[hypopyon|hypopyonas]], as described by [[Hulusi Behçet]] in 1937.<ref name=Evereklioglu2007>{{cite journal |last1=Evereklioglu |first1=Cem |title=The migration pattern, patient selection with diagnostic methodological flaw and confusing naming dilemma in Behçet disease |journal=European Journal of Echocardiography: The Journal of the Working Group on Echocardiography of the European Society of Cardiology |date=June 2007 |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=167–173; author reply 174 |doi=10.1016/j.euje.2006.12.007 |pmid=17317323 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17317323/ |issn=1525-2167}}</ref> Several medical professionals have debated whether the disease name should include [[Benediktos Adamantiades]].<ref name=Zouboulis2004/><ref name=Evereklioglu2007/> Ollendorff Curth did not use his name in her title but cites him.<ref name=Zouboulis2004/><ref name=Evereklioglu2007/>


She wrote on diseases that resulted from [[keratinization|abnormal skin development]], and contributed to ''[[Fitzpatrick's Dermatology]]''.<ref name=Davies2014/><ref name=Burgdorf2006>{{cite journal |last1=Burgdorf |first1=Walter H. C. |title=Cancer-associated genodermatoses: a personal history |journal=Experimental Dermatology |date=September 2006 |volume=15 |issue=9 |pages=653–666 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0625.2006.00463.x |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1600-0625.2006.00463.x |language=en |issn=0906-6705}}</ref> In 1954, with [[Madge Thurlow Macklin]], she gave the first description of a rare type of [[ichthyosis hystrix]].<ref name=Al2011/> The condition presents with [[hyperkeratosis|thick warty skin]], [[keratoderma|horn-like skin of palms and soles]], and scales.<ref name=Al2011/> 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 name=Baran>{{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> 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>
In 1954, with [[Madge Thurlow Macklin]], she gave the first description of a rare type of [[ichthyosis hystrix]].<ref name=Al2011/> The condition presents with [[hyperkeratosis|thick warty skin]], [[keratoderma|horn-like skin of palms and soles]], and scales.<ref name=Al2011/>


==Acanthosis nigricans==
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>
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Ollendorff Curth was first to establish a set of criteria required to suspect a cancer when new skin signs appeared.<ref name=Sánchez2011>{{cite book |last1=Chiesa-Fuxench |first1=Zelma C. |last2=Ramírez |first2=Liliana |last3=Sánchez |first3=Néstor P. |editor1-last=Sánchez |editor1-first=Néstor P. |title=Atlas of Dermatology in Internal Medicine |date=2011 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4614-0687-7 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PACwY7Ms2F4C&pg=PA64 |language=en |chapter=Cutaneous manifestations of internal malignancy and paraneoplastic syndromes}}</ref><ref name=Fritsch2011>{{cite book |last1=Fritsch |first1=Peter |editor1-last=Hertl |editor1-first=Michael |title=Autoimmune Diseases of the Skin: Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, Management |date=2011 |publisher=Springer |location=Wein |isbn=978-3-211-99225-8 |page=518 |edition=3rd |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=meZcUs3Ry1UC&pg=PA518 |language=en |chapter=18. Paraneoplastic syndromes in the skin}}</ref> It became known as the "Curth criteria" for associating some changes in skin as markers for [[paraneoplastic syndromes|internal cancers]].<ref name=Guzman2018/> One such skin sign, AN, became a regular topic of her publications.<ref name=Davies2014/> Her definitions and classifications of AN helped to distinguish types associated with cancer (malignant acanthosis nigricans) from benign types with no link to cancer.<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><ref name=Nordlund2008>{{cite book |last1=Levine |first1=Norman |last2=Burk |first2=Cynthia |editor1-last=Nordlund |editor1-first=James J. |editor2-last=Boissy |editor2-first=Raymond E. |editor3-last=Hearing |editor3-first=Vincent J. |editor4-last=King |editor4-first=Richard A. |editor5-last=Oetting |editor5-first=William S. |editor6-last=Ortonne |editor6-first=Jean-Paul |title=The Pigmentary System: Physiology and Pathophysiology |date=2008 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |location=Massachusetts |isbn=978-1-4051-2034-0 |page=907 |edition=2nd |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4sn46U1uexoC&pg=PA907|language=en |chapter=50. Acquired epidermal hypermelanoses}}</ref> In 1968 she categorized acanthosis nigricans into four types: malignant, benign, syndromic, and pseudo types.<ref name=Nordlund2008/><ref name=Bolognia2012>{{cite book |last1=Schwarzenberger |first1=Katherine |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A78BaiEKnzIC&pg=PA763 |title=Dermatology |last2=Callen |first2=Geoffrey P. |date=2012 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-7020-5182-1 |editor1-last=Bolognia |editor1-first=Jean L. |edition=3rd |language=en |chapter=53. Dermatologic manifestations in patients with systemic disease |page=763|editor2-last=Jorizzo |editor2-first=Joseph L. |editor3-last=Schaffer |editor3-first=Julie V.}}</ref>{{efn|It has since been reclassified by several others.<ref name=Nordlund2008/>}} [[Robert J. Gorlin]] noted her work in this area to have been a signifant influence on him.<ref name=Gorlin2004>{{cite journal |last1=Gorlin |first1=Robert J. |title=Nevoid basal cell carcinoma (Gorlin) syndrome |journal=Genetics in Medicine |date=November 2004 |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=530–539 |doi=10.1097/01.GIM.0000144188.15902.C4 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/gim200476 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Oransky2006>{{cite journal |last1=Oransky |first1=Ivan |title=Robert Gorlin |journal=The Lancet |date=October 2006 |volume=368 |issue=9545 |pages=1414 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69593-7 |url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(06)69593-7/fulltext}}</ref>

⚫
She wrote many papers on acanthosis nigricans and diseases that resulted from [[keratinization|abnormal skin development]].<ref name=Davies2014/><ref name=Burgdorf2006>{{cite journal |last1=Burgdorf |first1=Walter H. C. |title=Cancer-associated genodermatoses: a personal history |journal=Experimental Dermatology |date=September 2006 |volume=15 |issue=9 |pages=653–666 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0625.2006.00463.x |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1600-0625.2006.00463.x |language=en |issn=0906-6705}}</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/><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><ref name=Nordlund2008>{{cite book |last1=Levine |first1=Norman |last2=Burk |first2=Cynthia |editor1-last=Nordlund |editor1-first=James J. |editor2-last=Boissy |editor2-first=Raymond E. |editor3-last=Hearing |editor3-first=Vincent J. |editor4-last=King |editor4-first=Richard A. |editor5-last=Oetting |editor5-first=William S. |editor6-last=Ortonne |editor6-first=Jean-Paul |title=The Pigmentary System: Physiology and Pathophysiology |date=2008 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |location=Massachusetts |isbn=978-1-4051-2034-0 |page=907 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4sn46U1uexoC&pg=PA907|language=en |chapter=50. Acquired epidermal hypermelanoses}}</ref> 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 was noted by [[Robert J. Gorlin]] to have been a significant influence on him.<ref name=Gorlin2004>{{cite journal |last1=Gorlin |first1=Robert J. |title=Nevoid basal cell carcinoma (Gorlin) syndrome |journal=Genetics in Medicine |date=November 2004 |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=530–539 |doi=10.1097/01.GIM.0000144188.15902.C4 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/gim200476 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Oransky2006>{{cite journal |last1=Oransky |first1=Ivan |title=Robert Gorlin |journal=The Lancet |date=October 2006 |volume=368 |issue=9545 |pages=1414 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69593-7 |url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(06)69593-7/fulltext}}</ref>


==Death==
==Death==
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==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://jamanetwork.com/searchresults?author=HELEN+OLLENDORFF+CURTH&q=HELEN+OLLENDORFF+CURTH "Helen Ollendorf Curth" at ''JAMA'']



{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

Revision as of 03:29, 4 August 2023

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

Helene Ollendorff Curth (28 February 1899 - 17 June 1982), was a German-American dermatologist, known for her studies on acanthosis nigricans (AN) and defining a set of characteristics for associating skin signs as markers for internal cancers. She is named in two rare hereditary skin diseases, the Buschke–Ollendorff syndrome and Ichthyosis Hystrix, Curth-Macklin Type. A medical sign in secondary syphilis, known as the Ollendorff sign, and one form of measuring clubbed fingers, known as the Curth’s angle, are named for her.

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 settled in 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, and worked with Madge Thurlow Macklin.

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 known as the Ollendorff probe sign or Ollendorff 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 (AN).[6]

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][c] There, they established a private dermatology practice and worked alongside Columbia University.[6]

Her two papers in 1946 contain the first description of cases of Behçet's disease in New York, following which this eponymous term became popular.[12] 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.[13] Several medical professionals have debated whether the disease name should include Benediktos Adamantiades.[12][13] Ollendorff Curth did not use his name in her title but cites him.[12][13]

She wrote on diseases that resulted from abnormal skin development, and contributed to Fitzpatrick's Dermatology.[4][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] 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][16]

Acanthosis nigricans

Ollendorff Curth was first to establish a set of criteria required to suspect a cancer when new skin signs appeared.[17][18] It became known as the "Curth criteria" for associating some changes in skin as markers for internal cancers.[6] One such skin sign, AN, became a regular topic of her publications.[4] Her definitions and classifications of AN helped to distinguish types associated with cancer (malignant acanthosis nigricans) from benign types with no link to cancer.[19][20] In 1968 she categorized acanthosis nigricans into four types: malignant, benign, syndromic, and pseudo types.[20][21][d] Robert J. Gorlin noted her work in this area to have been a signifant influence on him.[22][23]

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. ^ Buschke remained and died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1943.[4]
  4. ^ It has since been reclassified by several others.[20]

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. ^ 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.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Burgdorf, Walter H. C. (September 2006). "Cancer-associated genodermatoses: a personal history". Experimental Dermatology. 15 (9): 653–666. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0625.2006.00463.x. ISSN 0906-6705.
  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. ^ Vererbung von Hautkrankheiten. 1966.
  17. ^ Chiesa-Fuxench, Zelma C.; Ramírez, Liliana; Sánchez, Néstor P. (2011). "Cutaneous manifestations of internal malignancy and paraneoplastic syndromes". In Sánchez, Néstor P. (ed.). Atlas of Dermatology in Internal Medicine. New York: Springer Science & Business Media. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-4614-0687-7.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ a b c Levine, Norman; Burk, Cynthia (2008). "50. Acquired epidermal hypermelanoses". In Nordlund, James J.; Boissy, Raymond E.; Hearing, Vincent J.; King, Richard A.; Oetting, William S.; Ortonne, Jean-Paul (eds.). The Pigmentary System: Physiology and Pathophysiology (2nd ed.). Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing. p. 907. ISBN 978-1-4051-2034-0.
  21. ^ Schwarzenberger, Katherine; Callen, Geoffrey P. (2012). "53. Dermatologic manifestations in patients with systemic disease". In Bolognia, Jean L.; Jorizzo, Joseph L.; Schaffer, Julie V. (eds.). Dermatology (3rd ed.). Elsevier. p. 763. ISBN 978-0-7020-5182-1.
  22. ^ Gorlin, Robert J. (November 2004). "Nevoid basal cell carcinoma (Gorlin) syndrome". Genetics in Medicine. 6 (6): 530–539. doi:10.1097/01.GIM.0000144188.15902.C4.
  23. ^ Oransky, Ivan (October 2006). "Robert Gorlin". The Lancet. 368 (9545): 1414. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69593-7.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Helene_Ollendorff_Curth&oldid=1168646686"