H. Houston Merritt
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2008-05-02T20:13:05Z
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<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:merritt houston.jpg|right|frame|H. Houston Merritt, M.D.]] -->H. Houston Merritt (1902-1979) was one of the pre-eminent academic neurologists of his day. As the Chair of the [[Neurological Institute of New York]] from 1948 to 1967, he oversaw the training of hundreds of [[neurologist]]s; 35 of his former students have become chairs of [[academic]] [[neurology]] departments across the [[United States]]. He was also the Dean of the [[Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons]] from 1958 to 1969.
His contributions to neurology were countless. Among the most important was the discovery of the anticonvulsant properties of [[phenytoin]] ([[Dilantin]]); the technique he used, along with [[Tracy Putnam]], to identify this compound ushered in the modern era of drug therapy for [[epilepsy]]. He also was the sole author of the first five editions of ''Merritt's Neurology''; this popular textbook is as of this writing (2005) in its tenth edition. His early work on the normal properties of the [[cerebrospinal fluid]] ([[cerebrospinal fluid|CSF]]) was updated and published by one of his students, [[Robert Fishman]], in a text that is the acknowledged standard on the topic.
Merritt was also known in his day as an expert on [[syphilis|neurosyphilis]]; his 1946 monograph on the topic provided an overview of this condition, which almost disappeared from the medical eye shortly thereafter owing to the advent of [[penicillin]].
He died in 1979 from complications of [[cerebrovascular disease]] and [[normal pressure hydrocephalus]]; ironically, the latter condition was a syndrome whose existence he had never fully accepted during his career. His students who were treating him in New York disagreed over the proper course of action; eventually, he was taken to the [[Massachusetts General Hospital]], where he succumbed to the after-effects of a neurosurgical operation.
==External links==
*[http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/news/review/archives/medrev_v2n2_0006.html Columbia P&S Medical Review article by Rowland and Stefanis]
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20051107085109/http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/neurology/ni/faculty/merritt.htm Neurological Institute of New York's official biography]
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[[Category:American physicians]]
[[Category:American neuroscientists]]
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]