Dr Sophie Spitz, MD (1910-1956)

Sophie Spitz, M.D. (1910-1956) was an American pathologist who published the first case series of "juvenile melanoma," (a special form of benign melanocytic nevi), skin lesions that have come to be known by the eponymous term, Spitz nevi.^[1][2]

Spitz was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Her parents were Jewish and had immigrated from Germany. ^[3][4] Her uncle, Herman Spitz, was a pathologist and inspired the academically keen Spitz to pursue a career in medicine. ^[4] She gained her MD from Vanderbilt University in 1932 and commenced her residency at the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. ^[4]

Spitz met and married her husband, Dr. Arthur Allen, also a pathologist, in 1942. At around this time, she joined the Army Institute of Pathology (AFIP), where she remained until 1945. It was here she developed an interest in tropical diseases and co-authored "Pathology of tropical diseases: An atlas" with James Earle Ash. ^[5]

Following World War II, she returned to work at the New York Infirmary and also at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where she described the twelve cases of what was then known as Juvenile Melanoma and recognized that these lesions have benign behavior despite their microscopic resemblance to melanoma. This clinically important information came to be published in the American Journal of Pathology in 1948, and the lesion now bears her name. ^[6]

At 46 years of age, Spitz died from colon cancer, before the term Spitz nevus was popularised. For these contributions, and for her foresight in advocating the use of the pap smear when it was newly devised, as well as many other publications, she is recognized as a prominent pathologist in her time. ^[4]

[edit] References

This biographical article related to medicine in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e