Adolf Ludwig Sigismund Gusserow (Berlin July 8, 1836 - Berlin February 8, 1906) was a German gynecologist who was a native of Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. He married Clara Oppenheim (1861–1944), a descendant of Berlin banker Joseph Mendelssohn

Joseph Mendelssohn

Joseph Mendelssohn was a German Jewish banker.He was the oldest son of the influential philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. In 1795, he founded his own banking house. In 1804, his younger brother Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy, the father of the composer Felix Mendelssohn, joined the company. The bank...

.

Gusserow began his career as a lecturer of gynecological diseases and obstetrics

Obstetrics

Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...

 in Berlin, and subsequently practiced medicine in Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

, Zurich

Zürich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

 and Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

. Later he returned to Berlin as director of the clinic of obstetrics and gynecology at the Berlin-Charité

Charité

The Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin is the medical school for both the Humboldt University and the Free University of Berlin. After the merger with their fourth campus in 2003, the Charité is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe....

. Two of his better-known students and assistants were Alfred Dührssen

Alfred Dührssen

Alfred Dührssen was a German gynecologist and obstetrician born in Heide, Schleswig-Holstein.He studied medicine at the University of Marburg, as well as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Akademie für das militärärztliche Bildungswesen...

 (1862-1933) in Berlin, and Paul Zweifel

Paul Zweifel

Paul Zweifel was a German gynecologist and physiologist. In 1876 he proved that the fetus was metabolically active....

 (1848-1927) in Zurich.

In 1870 Gusserow was the first physician to describe a rare type of uterine cervical

Cervix

The cervix is the lower, narrow portion of the uterus where it joins with the top end of the vagina. It is cylindrical or conical in shape and protrudes through the upper anterior vaginal wall...

 adenocarcinoma

Adenocarcinoma

Adenocarcinoma is a cancer of an epithelium that originates in glandular tissue. Epithelial tissue includes, but is not limited to, the surface layer of skin, glands and a variety of other tissue that lines the cavities and organs of the body. Epithelium can be derived embryologically from...

, which is sometimes referred to as "adenoma

Adenoma

An adenoma is a benign tumor of glandular origin. Adenomas can grow from many organs including the colon, adrenal glands, pituitary gland, thyroid, prostate, etc. Although these growths are benign, over time they may progress to become malignant, at which point they are called adenocarcinomas...

 malignum" or as a mucinous type of "minimal deviation adenocarcinoma" (mucinous MDA), and is recognized by its "deceptively bland" histological

Histology

Histology is the study of the microscopic anatomy of cells and tissues of plants and animals. It is performed by examining cells and tissues commonly by sectioning and staining; followed by examination under a light microscope or electron microscope...

 appearance. Gusserow published his findings in a treatise titled Ueber Sarcoma des Uterus. His best known written work is Die Neubildungen des Uterus (The Neoplasms of the Uterus

Uterus

The uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...

).

Publications

• Zur Lehre vom Stoffwechsel des Foetus. Engelhardt, Leipzig, 1872
• Ueber Menstruation und Dysmenorrhoe. Breitkopf and Haertel, Leipzig, 1874
• Die Neubildungen des Uterus. Enke, Stuttgart, 1886 (Reprint 2007, VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, ISBN 3-8364-1464-3)
• Geburtshuelfe und Gynaekologie in Großbritannien - Ein Reisebericht. Engelhardt, Leipzig 1864 (in Google Books online)

Literature

• Pagel J: Biographisches Lexikon hervorragender Ärzte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Berlin, Vienna 1901, 660-661
• Nagel W: Adolf Gusserow (1836—1906). BJOG 9 (2005), 385-6,