Review article
The Influence of Academician Franjo Kogoj on Global Dermatology
Tomislav Duvančić
; Department of Dermatovenereology, Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Center, Zagreb, Croatia
*
Mirna Šitum
; School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia ³Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb, Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Academician Franjo Kogoj graduated medicine in 1920 in Prague,
where he then pursued training in dermatovenerology. During later years, he also
visited other dermatology clinics in Europe, where he collaborated with renowned
dermatologists of the time, such as in Breslau (present day Wroclaw in Poland) with
Josef Jadassohn and in Strasbourg with Lucien-Marie Pautrier. He was also active
in the famous Saint-Louis hospital in Paris. Academician Kogoj's scientific interests
were especially focused on allergies, exanthemas, skin tuberculosis, and keratodermas. Kogoj was very active in defining a precise and useful terminology for various
dermatological conditions, where the terminology was in many ways confusing
and often overlapping, such as in cases of eczema and dermatitis. Kogoj performed
experimental studies of allergic reactions in eczema and atopic dermatitis and
introduced the term pruridermatitis (Pruridermatitis allergica chronica) into dermatological terminology instead of the name neurodermitis and other synonyms
essentially describing atopic dermatitis (endogenous eczema, prurigo-asthma,
prurigo Besnier). Academician Kogoj managed to define Mal de Meleda as a separate form of hereditary keratoderma and was engaged in the clinical symptomatology, serology, and therapy of syphilis, whereby he emphasized the so-called
“critical moment” in the treatment of syphilis. Academician Kogoj's most famous
scientific achievement was his histological definition of the spongiform pustule in
the pathomorphology of psoriasis, which became a groundbreaking histological
novelty in the classification of psoriasis, thus bearing Kogoj's name in the medical
literature to this date. Academician Kogoj published many scientific and professional articles, books, monographs and contributions to manuals and textbooks.
He was honored nationally as well as internationally as a leading expert in the field
of medicine and dermatology, receiving many eminent awards and recognitions
throughout his scientific career.
Keywords
Franjo Kogoj; allergology; Mal de Meleda; the spongiform pustule of Kogoj; endemic syphilis
Hrčak ID:
316436
URI
Publication date:
15.9.2023.
Visits: 411 *