Theodore Kurze, MD, FACS, internationally renowned neurosurgeon, died at his home in Newport Beach, Calif., on May 10, 2002.
Dr. Kurze’s research and practice transformed how neurosurgery is practiced worldwide. He pioneered the use of the microscope in neurosurgery in 1957, when he removed a tumor from the acoustic-vestibular nerve of a five-year-old child. Dr. Kurze’s introduction of the operating microscope revolutionized the practice and art of neurological surgery by enabling more intricate procedures, thereby reducing damage to adjoining brain matter, nerves, and blood supply. He developed many neurosurgical procedures made possible by his application of the microscope, including use of the microscope to remove tumors from the cranial nerves themselves, while preserving the nerve and its functions.
“Ted had the sense to walk the microscope across the hall from the laboratory to the operating room-it was a simple, fabulous, constructive idea,” said Peter J. Jannetta, MD, in the Los Angeles Times.
Dr. Kurze was a key figure in establishing the role of Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center as a leader in the development of neurosurgical concepts and instrumentation. From 1959 to 1987, he was on the medical faculty of the University of Southern California, and chairman and professor of neurological surgery from 1963 to 1979. Concurrently he was chief physician and then director of neurological surgery at the Los Angeles County Medical Center (1961-1979).
He had introduced the binocular-operating microscope to the neurosurgical operating room while in private practice in Los Angeles. After joining the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center as chairman and chief physician in neurological surgery, he established the first cranial based binocular micro-neurosurgical facility.
In addition to much specialized neurosurgical equipment pertaining to the use of the microscope in the operating room, he participated in the development of the Kurze urinometer, the Kurze scissors, and what came to be known as the Kurze light, a miniature light source that was mounted on the surgeon’s forehead, thereby eliminating the shadow of the traditional overhead surgical lamp. He also pioneered the use of diagnostic ultrasound and other imaging technologies in neurosurgery.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 18, 1922, Dr. Kurze grew up in Floral Heights, Long Island. After graduation from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland in 1943, he received his MD degree from Long Island Medical College, now SUNY Downstate Medical School, in 1947. Dr. Kurze completed a rotating internship at Saint Monica’s Hospital in Phoenix, Ariz., and began a neurological surgery residency at the Veteran’s Administration Wadsworth Hospital in Los Angeles. From 1949 to 1951 Dr. Kurze was a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in General Surgery, stationed in Germany and later at Ft. Bragg, N.C. On returning to Los Angeles in 1954, he completed a residency in general surgery and then his residency in neurological surgery at Los Angeles County General Hospital. He gained certification by the Board of Neurological Surgery and entered private practice. Before joining the medical faculty at USC in 1959, he was an instructor in neurological surgery at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Dr. Kurze authored numerous articles, book chapters, monographs, reviews, invited papers, and proceedings. Throughout his career he held many visiting professorships worldwide and received numerous national and international honors and awards.
He acted as a consultant in the production of many television productions, beginning with “Ben Casey, MD,” and received an award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences as the subject of NBC’s introductory program for its “Lifeline”series.
Dr. Kurze is survived by his wife Joan Kurze; four adult children by a previous marriage, Janet Kurze, Peter Kurze, Carol Nicholson, NIH, and Heather Kurze; and eight grandchildren.
| IN MEMORY of Dr. Kurze, John J. Guarnaschelli, MD, and his wife, Martha L. Guarnaschelli, established the Kurze Lecture with an endowment of $100,000. The first Kurze Lecture will take place at the 2003 AANS Annual Meeting. |
| RECENTLY DECEASED AANS MEMBERS | |
| Munir H. Abbasy, MD Sherry L. Apple, MD Elliott E. Blinderman, MD Shelly N. Chou, MD Robert D. Dickins Jr, MD Warren Ho, MD | Lawrence J. Mervis, MD Guy L. Odom, MD Theodore Rasmussen, MD Roy C. Selby, MD Manuel M. Velasco-Suarez, MD |