Leopold Ritter von Dittel (May 29, 1815 – July 28, 1898) was an Austrian urologist born in Fulnek, a community now located in the Czech Republic.
Dittel received his medical doctorate in 1840 from the University of Vienna, and as a young man worked as a physician in Trentschin-Teplitz. From 1853 to 1857, he was an assistant to Johann von Dumreicher (1815-1880) and a surgical assistant at the university hospital in Vienna. Later, he became surgeon-in-chief of the Allgemeines Krankenhaus, and in 1865 attained the title of associate professor.
He is credited for developing a number of innovative diagnostic and surgical practices in the field of genitourinary medicine. He is remembered for his pioneer diagnostic work with the cystoscope, a device that was a recent invention of urologist Maximilian Nitze (1848–1906).[1] In urology, the cystoscope is used for endoscopic detection of bladder tumors and other urinary disorders. With Felix Legueu (1863–1939) and Émile Forgue (1860–1943), the "Dittel-Forgue-Legueu operation" is named, defined as a surgical procedure for closure of vesicovaginal fistulae (VVF).[2]
A medical instrument used for treatment of stenosis of the urethra known as a "Dittel urethral sound" is named after him.[3]
- ^ Google Books Digestive endoscopy in the second millennium by Francisco Vilardell
- ^ Proca, E; Dinu, P; Zamfir, V; Lucan, M (1979). "[A surgical technic deserving reconsideration for closure of vesicovaginal fistulas: the Dittel-Forgue-Legueu operation]". Rev Chir Oncol Radiol O R L Oftalmol Stomatol Chir. 28 (2): 103–10. PMID 461866.
- ^ NovoSurgical Archived 2013-06-30 at archive.today Dittel Urethral Sound