John A. Sampson 1633806 224453941 2008-07-08T22:22:06Z 152.79.24.166 {{otherpeople2|John Sampson}} '''John Albertson Sampson''' ([[August 17]], [[1873]]–[[December 23]], [[1946]]) was a [[gynecologist]] who studied [[endometriosis]]. Sampson was born near [[Troy, New York]] and graduated from [[Johns Hopkins University|Johns Hopkins]] in 1899. After completing his training in gynecology, he settled in [[Albany, New York]]. He worked at the Albany Hospital, and later became Professor of Gynecology at the [[Albany Medical College]]. While endometriotic cysts had been described before - so by W.W.Russell in [[1898]] -, it was Sampson who studied the disease systematically, described the clinical manifestations, and contributed to our understanding by proposing , in [[1921]], that endometriosis is a process produced by the escape of endometrial tissue that escapes retrograde through the [[fallopian tube]]s into the pelvis. This then leads to secondary reactions of inflammation, repair, and scar formation. His theory of 'retrograde menstruation' competed with the alternative theory of 'coelomic metaplasia' that stated that endometriosis started in the pelvis de novo from stem cells. Even today, these and other theories coexist, as the cause of endometriosis remains a subject of debate. He has the distinction of having an artery named after him [[Sampson Artery]]. Sampson died in Albany. ==References== Speert H. Obsterics and Gynecology in America. A History. Waverly Press, Inc. Baltimore, MD, 1980. [[Category:1873 births|Sampson, John A.]] [[Category:1946 deaths|Sampson, John A.]] [[Category:Gynecologists|Sampson, John A.]] [[Category:People from Capital District, New York|Sampson, John A.]] [[Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni|Sampson, John]]