Alan E. Zimmer
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Alan E. Zimmer, M.D. (10 February 1929 – 10 December 1993) was one of the first American neuroradiologists, conducting extensive research in duplex neurovascular and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)[1]. As one of the earliest practitioners in North America of computer axial thermography (CT, or CAT) and, later, MRI, Zimmer was consulted frequently by physicians and hospitals around the world to help diagnosis disease and trauma related to the head, neck, and spine.[2] Chief of neuroradiology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) from 1983 until his death, Zimmer was New Jersey’s senior neuroradiologist.
In 1972, while studying through a fellowship at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in the Bronx, NY, Zimmer attended a presentation by British engineer, Godfrey Hounsfield, revealing for the first time to American physicians a new “computer axial thermography” technique, for which Hounsfield would later receive the Nobel Prize. The diagnostic error rate of CT was half that of angiography – a common imaging technique – but the radiologists placed an even higher value on CT’s ability to detect unsuspected conditions.[3] For the first time, physicians could visualize not just bone, but organs, tissue, and other soft material in the body.
Zimmer and other physicians recognized this sea change in neuroradiology, and, as hospitals adopted CT scanning, Zimmer was one of first neuroradiologists contributing to early literature on its applications. Similarly, when magnetic resonance imaging was introduced in the 1980s, Zimmer was an early practitioner and contributor to significant research around its uses. He published numerous articles around the cerebral venous system and other aspects of neuroradiology.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
Zimmer’s article, “The Septal Vein,"[12] co-authored with George P. Annes, was published in the journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in 1966. Their work describes the significance of the septal vein in identifying the nature and presence of tumors, or abscesses, in the frontal lobe (or anterior cranial fossa).
Zimmer also contributed “Radiologic Imaging of the Cervical Spine” as a chapter to a core clinical resource book on the diagnosis and nonsurgical treatment of neck injuries, such as whiplash: Painful Cervical Trauma: Diagnosis and Rehabilitative Treatment of Neuromusculoskeletal Injuries, edited by C. David Tollison and John R. Satterthwaite and published in 1992.[13]
Life and Education
Born in New York, NY, Zimmer received his M.D. degree in 1956 from the University of Geneva Faculty of Medicine, Switzerland, where he was valedictorian of his class, and served an internship at Garfield Memorial Hospital, Washington, D.C. After a residency in radiology at Bronx Municipal Hospital in New York City, Zimmer accepted a fellowship in neuroradiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. He was selected as a special fellow for the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness, New York, and later as a visiting fellow at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
In 1961, Zimmer married Harriet Hochhauser; the couple had three sons: Michael Zimmer, M.D., David Zimmer, M.D., and Stuart Zimmer, CEO and founder of Zimmer Partners LP and chairman of the insurance company Ategrity.
Career and Research
Zimmer’s academic career began at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he served as instructor and then assistant professor before joining the staff of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, teaching there until 1981. He was associate professor of radiology at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia until 1983, when he joined UMDNJ.
References
- ^ Kalisher, Lester (August 1, 1994). "Alan E. Zimmer, MD". Radiology. 192 (2): 586–586. doi:10.1148/radiology.192.2.586-b – via pubs.rsna.org (Atypon).
- ^ Winerip, BY Michael (September 15, 1991). "Aftermath of an Emergency" – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ Huckman, Michael S.; Stewart, Donald (1996). History of the Radiological Sciences, chapter on Neuroradiology (PDF). Radiology Centennial.
- ^ Wolansky, L. J.; Bardini, J. A.; Cook, S. D.; Zimmer, A. E.; Sheffet, A.; Lee, H. J. (July 6, 1994). "Triple-dose versus single-dose gadoteridol in multiple sclerosis patients". Journal of Neuroimaging: Official Journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging. 4 (3): 141–145. doi:10.1111/jon199443141. PMID 8061382 – via PubMed.
- ^ "Prolactinoma invasion of superior ophthalmic vein: CT and MR findings. - PubMed - NCBI". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
- ^ "Syndrome of intramedullary gunshot wound with incomplete neurologic deficit: case report. - PubMed - NCBI". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
- ^ Sarwar, M.; Batnitzky, S.; Schechter, M. M.; Liebeskind, A.; Zimmer, A. E. (September 6, 1976). "Growing intracranial aneurysms". Radiology. 120 (3): 603–607. doi:10.1148/120.3.603. PMID 948596 – via PubMed.
- ^ https://annals.org/aim/article-abstract/686425/localizing-symptom-thoracic-myelopathy-variation-lhermitte-s-sign
- ^ Zimmer, Alan E. (November 6, 1969). "Ventriculoencephalography: Technique for Pneumoencephalographic Detail During Ventriculography". Investigative Radiology. 4 (6): 414 – via journals.lww.com.
- ^ "THE DILATED CALLOSAL SULCUS SIGN. - PubMed - NCBI". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
- ^ Zimmer, A. E.; Kim, I. H.; Schlecter, M. M. (October 6, 1966). "Injection-corrosion casts of the central nervous system". Journal of Neurosurgery. 25 (4): 383–394. doi:10.3171/jns.1966.25.4.0383. PMID 5925709 – via PubMed.
- ^ Zimmer, Alan E.; Annes, George P. (1 November 1966). "The Septal Vein". Radiology. pp. 813–823. doi:10.1148/87.5.813.
- ^ Tollison, C. David; Sattherwaite, John R., eds. (1992). Painful Cervical Trauma. Williams & Wilkins.