Professor Max Wilms: 150th anniversary of birth - in memoriam

The research activity of M. Wilms is characterized by diversity of its objects and breadth of breadth of its scope. A surgeon-oncologist, he is known to have devoted a number of his studies, to purely theoretical issues of Oncology. On the other hand, M. Wilms contributed to the development of clinical surgery and Oncology, offering a number of new methods of diagnostics and treatment of major forms of malignant tumors of the genital organs and kidney, making a significant contribution to the practice of world medicine. Classical studies of teratogenic tumors of the ovaries and testicles, mixed tumors, tumors of kidney belong to M. Wilms. The tumor described by M. Wilms in 1899 which is named after him is one of the most frequent malignancies in children usually occurring at the age of 2-5 years but which can also occur at any age, even in very old patients. In the same year his famous monograph “Mixed tissue tumor of the kidney” was published. In 1904 M. Wilms was awarded the title of Professor, and two years later he published his fundamental work “Intestinal obstruction – pathology and clinic” (1906), which brought M. Wilms fame and recognition among surgeons, oncologists and pathologists all over the world. M. Wilms also made contribution into pediatric surgery. In 1906 he proposed to classify the intussusception types, depending on the name of the colon which forms the intussusception head (the iliac colon, caecum, etc.). Analyzing the etiology of Hirschsprung's disease Max Wilms is known to have adhered to the theory of prolonged spasm of the anal canal and, consequently, to inception of secondary megacolon (1904). His assumptions he confirmed by performing manometric studies at the level of the anal canal of the rectum, and in the treatment he applied the method of anal bougienage. A talented scientist and teacher, demanding and fastidious towards himself and his disciples, Max Wilms published more than 130 research papers, of most of which he was the sole author.