Adolph Wilhelm Otto

Adolph Wilhelm Otto, MD (August 3, 1786 – January 14, 1845) was a preeminent German anatomist, pathologist, and teratologist whose foundational morbid anatomy and osteometric investigations transformed European understanding of deep musculoskeletal deformities during the post-Napoleonic era. Celebrated across orthopaedic surgery and reconstructive arthroplasty for providing the first anatomical description of intrapelvic acetabular protrusion (Pfannenbecken, universally known as the Otto pelvis, protrusio acetabuli, or arthrokatadysis) in 1824, Otto deciphered the structural inward migration of the acetabular fundus more than seven decades before the invention of diagnostic radiography. Furthermore, his landmark 1841 teratological compendium documented the world’s first comprehensive pathological autopsy dissection of congenital multiple joint contractures (monstrum humanum extremitatibus incurvatis), establishing the clinical and neuromuscular lineage for arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC). Serving for thirty-two years as Full Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Anatomical Institute and Museum at the University of Breslau, Otto built one of nineteenth-century Europe’s most renowned repositories of skeletal and developmental pathology, authoring the seminal Handbuch der pathologischen Anatomie des Menschen und der Thiere and providing the structural and biomechanical bedrock upon which modern hip preservation, pelvic reconstruction, and pediatric orthopaedics are built.

1. The Shoulders of Giants: Historical Context & Significance

At the opening of the nineteenth century, European musculoskeletal medicine was profoundly constrained by diagnostic blindness. Prior to the emergence of cellular histology and Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen’s 1895 discovery of X-rays, internal articular architecture and deep skeletal derangements could neither be visualized in living patients nor accurately understood during clinical evaluation. Deeply seated articulations sheltered beneath massive muscular envelopes—most notably the hip joint encased within the gluteal mass and dense capsuloligamentous structures—were essentially diagnostic black boxes. Chronic, progressive hip pain accompanied by severe loss of abduction, internal rotation contracture, and compensatory lumbar lordosis was routinely dismissed under vague, imprecise clinical rubrics such as “morbus coxae,” “coxalgia,” “scrofulous hip joint disease,” or “chronic rheumatic arthritis.” When pelvic asymmetry or severe gait impairment manifested, medical practitioners possessed neither the anatomical vocabulary nor the mechanical frameworks to discern whether the pathology originated in the femoral head, the acetabular socket, the pelvic ring, or the spinal column.

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Sir Isaac Newton (1675) / Bernard of Chartres

In this pre-radiological era, scientific progress demanded the rigorous, tireless discipline of the dead-house. Pathologists and anatomists realized that operative surgery could only emerge from empirical craftsmanship into a true science through systematic post-mortem dissection, precise anatomical measurement, and the structural categorization of rare morbid variations. Adolph Wilhelm Otto stood as an intellectual vanguard of this German anatomical renaissance. Working in the dissection laboratories of Frankfurt an der Oder and subsequently dedicating over three decades to the University of Breslau, Otto rejected the contemporary view that unusual skeletal deformities were mere grotesque anomalies or divine curiosities. Instead, he treated each specimen as a living mechanical testament to physical stress, biological tissue remodeling, or embryological developmental arrest.

In 1824, Otto published his historic description of an adult female pelvis exhibiting an extraordinary intrapelvic protrusion of the acetabular socket, naming the condition Pfannenbecken (“basin-like pelvis”). He observed that the medial acetabular wall had thinned and expanded into the true pelvic cavity like “half an orange,” drawing the femoral head deeply inward and dramatically distorting pelvic canal dimensions. This landmark observation established the entity known worldwide as the Otto pelvis, protrusio acetabuli, or arthrokatadysis. Otto demonstrated that joint disease could alter the entire architecture of the pelvic ring, presaging modern concepts of joint center medialization, abductor lever arm biomechanics, and quadrilateral plate compromise. Seventeen years later, in 1841, Otto cataloged six hundred teratological specimens in his monumental Monstrorum sexcentorum descriptio anatomica, publishing the world’s first detailed post-mortem dissection of congenital multiple joint contractures (monstrum humanum extremitatibus incurvatis) and establishing the anatomical foundation for arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC). Every modern joint reconstruction surgeon who restores the anatomical hip center using impaction grafting or anti-protrusio cages, and every pediatric orthopaedist managing complex congenital contractures, stands upon the anatomical shoulders of Adolph Wilhelm Otto.

2. Early Life, Formative Education & Career Milestones

Education and Formative Anatomical Training

Adolph Wilhelm Otto was born on August 3, 1786, in the historic university town of Greifswald, situated in Swedish Pomerania—a coastal territory along the Baltic Sea then held by the Swedish Crown and later ceded to Prussia in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Raised in a Baltic academic milieu that prized Enlightenment scholarship, natural history, and classical humanism, young Otto displayed an intense, disciplined curiosity regarding biological form, animal mechanics, and functional osteology.

In 1803, Otto matriculated to study medicine and natural sciences at the University of Greifswald, one of the oldest universities in Northern Europe. At Greifswald, his intellectual trajectory was decisively shaped by Karl Asmund Rudolphi (1771–1832), a legendary naturalist, comparative anatomist, and pioneer of parasitology who then served as Professor of Anatomy and Physiology. Rudolphi recognized Otto’s extraordinary observational patience, technical manual dexterity in dissection, and keen eye for structural variation. Under Rudolphi’s mentorship, Otto mastered the exacting methods of systematic macro-dissection, osteological preparation, and comparative organ morphology. Otto completed his doctoral studies with academic distinction, defending his medical dissertation and receiving his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Greifswald in 1808.

Eager to expand his scientific foundations beyond Pomerania, Otto traveled south to the University of Göttingen in late 1808. Göttingen was then celebrated across Europe for its progressive scientific curriculum, anchored by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840), the founding father of comparative anatomy and physical anthropology. Studying under Blumenbach, Otto deepened his understanding of skeletal variation, cranial morphology, and comparative vertebrate osteology. In 1808 and 1809, despite widespread political instability across continental Europe during the Napoleonic campaigns, Otto embarked upon an extensive scientific study tour of premier anatomical theaters and medical centers throughout Germany, the Netherlands, and France. In Paris, he spent months at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle studying under Georges Cuvier—the undisputed titan of paleontology and comparative functional anatomy—and Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. This immersive exposure to French morphology convinced Otto that pathological deviations and embryological malformations were not random errors, but essential biological keys for deciphering the fundamental laws of normal human development.

Academic Appointments and Clinical Leadership

In 1809, upon his return to Prussia, Otto secured his first formal academic appointment as Prosector of Anatomy at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder (the Alma Mater Viadrina). Serving as prosector, he assumed daily responsibility for supervising the anatomical dissecting amphitheater, directing student dissections, preparing detailed anatomical demonstrations for surgical trainees, and conducting hundreds of forensic and hospital post-mortem examinations. In this intensive environment, Otto honed the disciplined cataloging skills and meticulous autopsy techniques that would define his life’s work.

A transformative institutional reorganization redirected Otto’s career in 1811. As part of the sweeping Prussian administrative reforms directed by Wilhelm von Humboldt following the disastrous defeats of Jena and Auerstedt, the Prussian state decided to consolidate its higher education institutions. The University of Frankfurt an der Oder was closed, and its faculty, libraries, and academic charters were transferred to Silesia to merge with the historic Jesuit Leopoldina College in Breslau, establishing the Royal University of Breslau (Universitas Litterarum Viadrina Wratislaviensis, later known as the Silesian Friedrich Wilhelm University). Otto relocated to Breslau with the anatomical collections, supervising the logistical transport and re-establishment of the anatomical institute in the Silesian capital.

In 1813, at the age of twenty-seven, Otto was appointed Extraordinary Professor of Anatomy at the University of Breslau, and shortly thereafter ascended to Full Professor (Ordinarius) of Anatomy and Director of the University Anatomical Institute and Anatomical Museum. For the next thirty-two years—from 1813 until his death in 1845—Otto served as the undisputed intellectual patriarch of Breslau anatomy. He threw himself into building the Breslau Anatomical Museum into an internationally celebrated center of morphological research. Collecting specimens from clinics, obstetrical wards, veterinary facilities, and forensic autopsies across Silesia and Central Europe, Otto curated thousands of wet-preserved preparations, dried skeletal series, articulated animal specimens, and rare teratological abnormalities. In 1818, his immense contributions to morphological science were formally recognized when he was elected to membership in the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina).

During his three decades in Breslau, Otto maintained a prodigious literary output that enriched European medicine. In 1814, he published his monumental Handbuch der pathologischen Anatomie des Menschen und der Thiere (Compendium of Pathological Anatomy of Man and Animals), an encyclopedic work that bridged human and comparative pathology and was translated into English in 1831 by prominent London surgeon John Flint South. In 1824, he published Seltene Beobachtungen zur Anatomie, Physiologie und Pathologie gehörig, which contained his immortal clinical and osteological description of protrusio acetabuli (Pfannenbecken). In 1841, he crowned his academic career with Monstrorum sexcentorum descriptio anatomica, a massive teratological atlas containing detailed descriptions and illustrations of 600 congenital malformations, including the earliest pathological dissection of arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. Otto continued to direct the Anatomical Museum and teach generations of physicians until his death in Breslau on January 14, 1845, at the age of fifty-eight, leaving a legacy of morphological precision that helped lay the foundation for modern operative orthopaedics.

3. Core Orthopaedic Breakthroughs, Eponymous Signs & Innovations

Adolph Wilhelm Otto’s permanent stature in the history of medicine rests upon his exceptional ability to unite gross anatomical dissection, osteometry, comparative biology, and teratological analysis. In an era devoid of radiological imaging, Otto identified, classified, and analyzed complex internal musculoskeletal deformities that continue to dictate surgical decision-making in contemporary orthopaedic practice.

Hallmark Anatomical, Diagnostic and Operative Contributions

• Otto Pelvis / Otto’s Pelvis (Protrusio Acetabuli / Arthrokatadysis / Otto-Chrobak Pelvis, 1824): In the second volume of his Seltene Beobachtungen zur Anatomie, Physiologie und Pathologie gehörig (Breslau, 1824:19–21), Otto published the first accurate anatomical description of intrapelvic protrusion of the acetabulum under the chapter heading Das Pfannenbecken (“basin-like pelvis”). Dissecting the dried pelvis of an adult female, Otto documented that the medial acetabular wall (cotyloid fundus) had undergone profound remodelling and medial displacement, bulging into the lesser pelvic cavity as a smooth, rounded, paper-thin bony prominence that Otto vividly compared to “half an orange” (halbierte Pomeranze). The femoral head was deeply sunken within this newly formed osseous excavation, creating a deeply enclosed articular construct that preserved joint congruity while severely restricting joint excursion in abduction and rotation. In 1898, Austrian obstetrician and gynecologist Rudolf Chrobak recognized that severe bilateral intrapelvic protrusion of the acetabula significantly narrowed the transverse diameter of the pelvic inlet, producing life-threatening cephalopelvic disproportion and mechanical dystocia during childbirth, establishing the dual eponym Otto-Chrobak pelvis. In 1932, British orthopaedic surgeons Harry Platt and C.H. Adams proposed the term arthrokatadysis (derived from Greek katadysis, meaning “sinking down” or “subsidence of a joint”), firmly anchoring Otto’s anatomical discovery into the international orthopaedic lexicon.
• Foundational Description of Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC, 1841): In his monumental 1841 teratological monograph, Monstrorum sexcentorum descriptio anatomica (Vratislaviae: F. Hirt, 1841), Otto documented the world’s first comprehensive anatomical and pathological autopsy dissection of a newborn presenting with multiple congenital joint contractures, titled monstrum humanum extremitatibus incurvatis (“human monster with curved extremities”). Otto recorded symmetric, rigid flexion contractures of the knees and hips, severe bilateral clubfeet (talipes equinovarus), adducted shoulders, and fixed flexion contractures of the elbows and wrists. Meticulously dissecting the soft tissues, Otto made the critical pathological discovery that the articular cartilage, synovium, and joint spaces were entirely intact and devoid of primary intra-articular inflammation; instead, the skeletal musculature surrounding the contracted joints was profoundly hypoplastic, pale, and extensively replaced by fibrofatty connective tissue. Otto deduced that the joint deformities were secondary contractures driven by embryonic neuromuscular failure and absent intra-uterine mobility (in utero fetal akinesia). This historic autopsy provided the scientific foundation for the clinical syndrome designated by Adolph Stern in 1923 as arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a historical debt acknowledged by modern pediatric orthopaedists worldwide.
• Handbuch der pathologischen Anatomie des Menschen und der Thiere (1814 / 1831): Published in Breslau in 1814, Otto’s compendium represented one of nineteenth-century medicine’s first systematic textbooks unifying human morbid anatomy with veterinary and comparative animal pathology. Otto classified pathological processes by tissue type and organ system, providing rigorous structural analyses of osseous hypertrophy, atrophy, osteomalacia, rickets, tuberculosis, and joint ankylose. Recognizing its vast educational value, London surgeon John Flint South translated the work into English in 1831 as A Compendium of Human and Comparative Pathological Anatomy, establishing Otto’s classification system as an authoritative reference in British and American surgical education.
• Development and Curatorship of the Breslau Anatomical Museum (1813–1845): Over thirty-two years as Director, Otto transformed the University of Breslau’s anatomical collection from a modest provincial teaching set into an internationally acclaimed scientific repository containing thousands of dry osteological specimens, wet pathological preparations, and teratological specimens. His meticulous preservation techniques, systematic cataloging, and structural documentation established Breslau as a major European center for musculoskeletal pathology and comparative osteology, directly educating the generation of German surgeons who would later pioneer operative orthopaedics.

Biomechanical and Pathological Mechanisms: Acetabular Medial Migration, Ilioischial Line Violation, and Congenital Joint Contractures

The enduring clinical significance of Adolph Wilhelm Otto’s work lies in his acute mechanical interpretation of osseous deformation under physiologic load. In protrusio acetabuli (Otto pelvis), the central mechanical defect is progressive inward migration of the acetabular socket and femoral head past the structural boundaries of the true pelvic brim. On a standardized anteroposterior (AP) pelvic radiograph, the normal anatomical relationship between the acetabular fundus and the pelvic ring is defined by the ilioischial line (Kohler’s line)—a tangent drawn from the inner cortex of the iliac wing to the medial border of the ischial tuberosity—and the radiographic teardrop, which reflects the cortical floor of the cotyloid notch and inner pelvic wall. In a biomechanically normal hip, the medial cortical border of the acetabular teardrop lies strictly lateral to, or at most touches, the ilioischial line, and the medial aspect of the femoral head remains separated from Kohler’s line by several millimeters of dense subchondral trabecular bone.

In contrast, an Otto pelvis is defined radiographically and biomechanically by the medial cortical border of the femoral head crossing and violating the ilioischial line. Quantitatively, diagnostic criteria require the femoral head to project medial to Kohler’s line by greater than 3 millimeters in adult males and greater than 6 millimeters in adult females, or a center-edge (CE) angle of Wiberg exceeding 40 degrees (often reaching 50 to 65 degrees), accompanied by effacement or medial crossover of the acetabular teardrop. In the Sotelo-Garza and Charnley classification, protrusio is categorized into Grade I (mild, 1 to 5 mm medial migration), Grade II (moderate, 6 to 15 mm), and Grade III (severe, greater than 15 mm of intrapelvic protrusion). Etiologically, Otto’s pelvis presents as either a primary (idiopathic) condition or secondary to systemic osteopenia: primary protrusio (Otto’s disease) is a developmental condition predominantly affecting females with a 4:1 to 6:1 predilection, often familial, presenting bilaterally in young adulthood or postmenopause, and strongly linked to hereditary connective tissue disorders such as Marfan syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and osteogenesis imperfecta. Secondary protrusio results from localized osseous softening and destructive joint diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, osteomalacia, renal osteodystrophy, Paget’s disease, central acetabular fracture-dislocations, or iatrogenic medial acetabular wall reaming during total hip arthroplasty.

From a joint mechanics perspective, the medialization of the femoral head in an Otto pelvis alters the fundamental lever arm mechanics of the hip. Under normal bipedal gait, the abductor musculature (gluteus medius and minimus) balances body weight ($W$) across the femoral head fulcrum through the moment equation: $W \times L_W = A \times L_A$, where $L_W$ is the body weight lever arm and $L_A$ is the abductor lever arm. As the femoral head migrates medially toward the midline of the pelvis, the center of joint rotation shifts medially, which substantially shortens the abductor lever arm ($L_A$). To maintain pelvic equilibrium during single-leg stance, the abductors must generate markedly increased contractile force ($A$), transmitting massive compressive joint reaction forces ($R$) across a progressively thinning quadrilateral plate. Concurrently, the deeply recessed femoral head becomes mechanically incarcerated beneath the overhanging anterior and posterior acetabular walls, producing severe pincer-type femoroacetabular impingement. This mechanical entrapment severely restricts terminal hip motion—most notably abduction, internal rotation, and extension—while predisposing the patient to progressive quadrilateral plate hoop-stress failure, central acetabular wall resorption, and pelvic canal compromise.

In arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC), Otto’s pathological insights unraveled the developmental mechanism governing congenital joint rigidity. Normal synovial joint morphogenesis requires active fetal movement (*in utero* motor activity) between the eighth and twelfth weeks of gestation to maintain synovial fluid circulation, prevent intra-articular adhesion formation, and direct the remodeling of embryonic collagen fibers along physiological tension vectors. Otto’s post-mortem dissection of monstrum humanum extremitatibus incurvatis demonstrated that the primary defect did not reside in the articular cartilage or osseous anlage, but in the failure of the surrounding motor units. Whether caused by anterior horn cell degeneration (neurogenic AMC), congenital muscular dystrophies (myopathic AMC), or restrictive intra-uterine oligohydramnios, persistent fetal akinesia allows periarticular capsuloligamentous structures to undergo dense, non-compliant collagen cross-linking while denervated muscles suffer progressive fibrofatty metaplasia. Otto’s 1841 autopsy proved that congenital contractures represent secondary soft-tissue adaptations to prolonged motor silence rather than primary joint ankylosis, an anatomical insight that continues to guide early passive physical therapy, serial corrective casting, and targeted soft-tissue releases in modern pediatric orthopaedics.

4. Master Class Pro-Tip

Total hip arthroplasty in the setting of severe protrusio acetabuli (Otto pelvis, Sotelo-Garza and Charnley Grade II or III) presents three unforgiving technical pitfalls: catastrophic femoral fracture during dislocation, iatrogenic pelvic floor perforation during reaming, and failure to restore the anatomical center of rotation. Preoperative evaluation must never rely on plain anteroposterior (AP) pelvis radiographs alone; a high-resolution thin-slice pelvic computed tomography (CT) scan with 2D multiplanar reformations and 3D volume rendering is mandatory to map the residual bone stock of the anterior and posterior columns, measure the exact thickness and integrity of the quadrilateral plate, and rule out subtle pelvic discontinuity or pre-existing medial wall perforations into the true pelvis.

The foremost intraoperative trap is attempting conventional closed or manual hip dislocation through limb adduction and external rotation. Because the femoral head is deeply sunken and incarcerated within an overhanging, pincer-like acetabular rim, applying rotational torque to the femur will inevitably produce an iatrogenic spiral fracture of the osteopenic femoral shaft or avulsion of the greater trochanter. Perform a deliberate, meticulous in situ femoral neck osteotomy! First, perform an initial osteotomy at the planned prosthetic neck resection level, followed by a second parallel cut 10 to 15 mm proximal across the femoral neck. Remove this intermediate bone wafer to relieve all soft-tissue capsular tension. Insert a threaded corkscrew or 5.0 mm Schanz pin directly into the entrapped femoral head, divide the hypertrophic ligamentum teres under direct visualization, and gently rotate and extract the head from the acetabular fundus without transmitting any torsional stress across the femur.

Once the socket is cleared, resist the catastrophic impulse to ream medially toward the intrapelvic bulge. The medial acetabular wall in an Otto pelvis is frequently paper-thin or membranous; aggressive medial reaming will immediately plunge into the retroperitoneal pelvic space, placing the obturator neurovascular bundle, external iliac vessels, and pelvic viscera at immediate risk. Ream strictly peripherally! Direct reamers against the dense anterior wall, posterior wall, and superior acetabular dome to uncover bleeding viable cortical-cancellous bone and establish stable peripheral rim seating. The excised femoral head provides an invaluable autologous graft: denude it of all residual articular cartilage and morcellate the cancellous bone into 5 to 8 mm chips using a bone mill. Firmly pack this morselized autograft into the medial fundus defect, utilizing the smooth convex backside of an oversized reamer (reversed) or specialized hemispherical tampers to impact the graft against the quadrilateral plate. This impaction grafting construct seals the medial floor, provides a biological scaffold for neovascular bone incorporation, and allows lateralization of the prosthetic cup.

Definitive component selection is governed by the structural integrity of the peripheral rim. For Grade I or II protrusio with intact anterior and posterior columns, deploy a porous-coated hemispherical uncemented cup oversized by 1 to 2 mm relative to the peripheral reamer, seating the cup firmly against the peripheral host rim rather than bottoming out in the medial fundus, and secure the shell with multiple divergent cancellous screws directed posterosuperiorly into the dense bone corridor of the ilium. In severe Grade III protrusio with extensive medial wall deficiency or compromised column integrity, an uncemented press-fit cup alone is biomechanically prone to progressive medial migration and early loosening; in such cases, deploy an anti-protrusio reconstruction cage (such as a Burch-Schneider or Ganz cage) or a modern porous titanium metal augment construct. Secure the superior flange with multiple screws into the ilium and anchor the inferior flange firmly into the ischium, spanning the pelvic defect and shielding the underlying medial bone graft from joint reaction forces. Confirm fluoroscopically that the reconstructed hip center has been lateralized to the level of the anatomical teardrop, thereby restoring the abductor lever arm, normalizing joint kinematics, and eliminating postoperative abductor insufficiency.

Master Class Surgical Pearl: Preoperative Evaluation and Acetabular Reconstruction in Protrusio Acetabuli (Otto Pelvis)

5. Primary Landmark Publications & Bibliography

The foundational contributions of Adolph Wilhelm Otto are preserved in these original landmark monographs, classical treatises, and peer-reviewed surgical literature:

• Otto AW. Seltene Beobachtungen zur Anatomie, Physiologie und Pathologie gehörig. Breslau: W.G. Korn; 1824:19-21.
• Otto AW. Monstrorum sexcentorum descriptio anatomica. Vratislaviae: F. Hirt; 1841.
• Otto AW. Handbuch der pathologischen Anatomie des Menschen und der Thiere. Breslau: W.G. Korn; 1814. (English translation by South JF: A Compendium of Human and Comparative Pathological Anatomy. London: B. Fellowes; 1831).
• Mostofi SB. Adolph Wilhelm Otto 1786–1845. In: Mostofi SB, ed. Who’s Who in Orthopedics. London: Springer; 2005:255. doi:10.1007/1-84628-070-2_191. [DOI]
• Pomeranz MM. THE CLASSIC: Intrapelvic Protrusion of the Acetabulum (Otto Pelvis). Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2007;459:3-7. doi:10.1097/blo.0b013e31815760f0. [DOI]
• McBride MT, Muldoon MP, Santore RF, Trousdale RT, Wenger DE. Protrusio Acetabuli: Diagnosis and Treatment. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2001;9(2):79-88. doi:10.5435/00124635-200103000-00002. [DOI]
• Leunig M, Ganz R. Protrusio Acetabuli: New Insights and Experience with Joint Preservation. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2009;467(9):2241-2250. doi:10.1007/s11999-009-0853-3. [DOI]
• Hall JG. Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita: Etiology, Genetics, Classification, Diagnostic Approach, and General Aspects. J Pediatr Orthop B. 1997;6(3):159-166. doi:10.1097/01202412-199707000-00002. [DOI]

6. Biographical Provenance & Acknowledgments

This historical biography was synthesized for the OrthopaedicsOne Knowledge Network as part of A Who’s Who of Orthopaedics, adapted and expanded from the foundational biographical directory Who’s Who in Orthopedics (Springer-Verlag London) edited by Seyed B. Mostofi, BSc, MBBS, FRCS (Ed), commemorating the pioneering anatomical and pathological work of Adolph Wilhelm Otto documented on pages 252–255 of Mostofi’s compendium.