Harold Arthur Thomas Fairbank

Sir Harold Arthur Thomas Fairbank, DSO, OBE, MS, FRCS, Hon. MCh (Orth) (March 28, 1876 – January 26, 1961) was an influential figure in the history of orthopaedic surgery and musculoskeletal medicine, revered for defining the foundational taxonomy of skeletal dysplasias, authoring the landmark treatise An Atlas of General Affections of the Skeleton (1951), characterizing Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia (Fairbank disease), describing Fairbank’s triangle in developmental coxa vara, and pioneering Fairbank’s open operation for obstetrical brachial plexus palsy.

1. The Shoulders of Giants: Historical Context & Significance

At the turn of the twentieth century, musculoskeletal medicine was confronted with an expanding universe of complex childhood bone deformities that defied scientific comprehension. Following Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen’s discovery of X-rays in 1895, clinicians suddenly gained the ability to peer beneath intact soft tissue into the living skeleton. What they encountered was a bewildering array of abnormal skeletal architectures: stunted limbs, fragmented joint surfaces, severe angular deformities, and fragile bones that fractured under trivial stress. Yet diagnostic taxonomy lagged decades behind physical imaging. Lacking an organized pathological framework, early twentieth-century clinicians routinely relegated virtually all generalized skeletal abnormalities into crude, unscientific wastebaskets such as “atypical rickets,” “refractory scurvy,” “congenital syphilis,” or generic “achondroplasia.”

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

Sir Isaac Newton (1675) / Bernard of Chartres

Sir Harold Arthur Thomas Fairbank brought order to this clinical wilderness, earning universal acclaim across the surgical world as the undisputed Father of Skeletal Dysplasias. Over four decades of disciplined clinical investigation across London’s leading hospitals, Fairbank systematically collected, categorized, and cross-referenced thousands of clinical photographs, radiographic series, and histological specimens. He was among the first surgical pathologists to grasp the fundamental biological distinctions between the epiphysis, metaphysis, and diaphysis, recognizing that intrinsic, generalized skeletal disorders were not nutritional deficiencies or chronic infectious sequelae, but distinct constitutional anomalies of osteogenesis and chondrogenesis.

Fairbank’s lifelong investigations culminated in his 1951 masterwork, An Atlas of General Affections of the Skeleton, a monumental treatise that established the world’s first rigorous taxonomy of heritable and developmental bone disorders. In this work and his preceding clinical papers, Fairbank separated Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia (MED, or Fairbank disease) from Perthes disease and achondroplasia, detailed the hyperplastic callus of osteogenesis imperfecta, and systematized conditions ranging from diaphyseal aclasis and Ollier disease to osteopetrosis and melorheostosis. His anatomical classification directly inspired Philip Rubin’s dynamic classification of bone dysplasias and laid the clinical bedrock for modern molecular genetics.

Beyond his monumental individual achievements, Sir Thomas Fairbank stands at the apex of an extraordinary multi-generational orthopaedic dynasty that shaped twentieth-century surgery across three successive generations. His father, Dr. Thomas Fairbank (1843–1887), was an esteemed surgeon and physician to the Royal Household at Windsor Castle. Sir Thomas’s son, Thomas John Fairbank (T. J. Fairbank, FRCS, 1912–1998) of Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, made orthopaedic history in 1948 by publishing the definitive description of “Fairbank’s changes” in the post-meniscectomy knee (femoral condylar flattening, joint space narrowing, and marginal ridge formation). Continuing this distinguished surgical lineage, Sir Thomas’s grandson, Professor Jeremy C. T. Fairbank (J. C. T. Fairbank, MD, FRCS) of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre at the University of Oxford, revolutionized international spinal outcomes research in 1980 by developing the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), the gold-standard instrument for assessing functional disability in spinal disorders.

2. Early Life, Formative Education & Career Milestones

Education and Formative Surgical Training

Harold Arthur Thomas Fairbank was born on March 28, 1876, in Windsor, Berkshire. He was the eldest son of Dr. Thomas Fairbank, MD, a prominent local surgeon and physician whose clinical acumen earned him an appointment to the Royal Household at Windsor Castle. Reared in an environment steeped in medical duty and intellectual rigor, young Fairbank was educated at Epsom College, an institution renowned for preparing the sons of medical practitioners for careers in science and surgery. He entered Charing Cross Hospital Medical School in London in 1893, demonstrating exceptional scholastic ability and surgical craftsmanship.

Fairbank qualified with the conjoint diplomas of the Royal Colleges (MRCS, LRCP) and took his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB, BS London) degrees with honors in 1898. Demonstrating a meticulous interest in head and neck anatomy and maxillofacial structures, he concurrently pursued dental training, earning his License in Dental Surgery (LDS RCS) in 1899. This early grounding in odontological and craniofacial anatomy gave him an enduring appreciation for facial morphology, dental development, and skull base anomalies that proved invaluable during his subsequent investigations into constitutional skeletal disorders. He attained Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS) in 1901 and was conferred the prestigious Master of Surgery (MS London) degree in 1903. During these formative surgical years, Fairbank served as surgical dresser, house surgeon, and demonstrator of anatomy under the mentorship of legendary Charing Cross surgeons Stanley Boyd, Sir Herbert Waterhouse, and William Bloxam, imbibing their rigorous anatomical discipline.

Fairbank’s civilian career was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. Commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) as a surgical specialist, Fairbank was mobilized to France and Belgium with the 85th Field Ambulance. Operating in forward field ambulances amidst the horrific shelling and gas attacks of the Western Front, particularly around the Ypres salient, Fairbank confronted shattering compound blast fractures, massive soft-tissue avulsions, and devastating secondary gas gangrene. His calm operative efficiency under fire and meticulous wound debridement saved countless limbs and lives.

Recognizing his clinical judgment and administrative skill, the War Office reassigned Fairbank to the Eastern Mediterranean theatre as Consulting Surgeon to the British Salonika Force in Macedonia. In this arduous campaign, Fairbank managed complex ballistic trauma alongside widespread epidemics of malaria and dysentery under austere mountain logistics. For his distinguished service, extraordinary clinical devotion, and administrative fortitude, Fairbank was three times mentioned in dispatches, decorated with the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1918, and appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1919.

Academic Appointments and Clinical Leadership

Upon his return to civilian practice, Fairbank resumed his pioneering work in London, establishing himself as a driving force in the institutional maturation of British orthopaedic surgery. His primary institutional appointments formed the triangular base of his clinical empire:

In 1903, Charing Cross Hospital appointed Fairbank as its first dedicated Orthopaedic Surgeon, establishing an autonomous orthopaedic department at a time when musculoskeletal conditions were typically subordinated to general surgery. Fairbank served Charing Cross Hospital for thirty-three years until 1936, organizing organized fracture services, developing elective reconstructive operating lists, and training generations of surgical registrars.

Concurrently, Fairbank joined the honorary staff of the Hospital for Sick Children at Great Ormond Street (GOSH), serving first as Surgeon to Outpatients and subsequently as Senior Surgeon. At Great Ormond Street, Fairbank built Britain’s preeminent pediatric orthopaedic referral service. The hospital’s vast outpatient clinics provided Fairbank with the extraordinary longitudinal clinical material that fueled his investigations into congenital dislocation of the hip, clubfoot, obstetrical brachial plexus injury, infantile coxa vara, and unclassified skeletal dysplasias.

In 1926, Fairbank was appointed Senior Orthopaedic Surgeon to King’s College Hospital, succeeding Arthur Whitfield and expanding the academic stature of King’s orthopaedic service. He served King’s College Hospital until 1939, lecturing in orthopaedic surgery and serving as Consulting Orthopaedic Surgeon and Emeritus Lecturer upon his retirement. Concurrently, Fairbank served as Consulting Surgeon to the Lord Mayor Treloar Orthopaedic Hospital at Alton in Hampshire. Working alongside Sir Henry Gauvain, Fairbank applied advanced reconstructive surgical procedures to children suffering from skeletal tuberculosis, spinal Pott disease, and chronic joint contractures who were undergoing long-term heliotherapy and sanatorium care.

Fairbank’s leadership earned him the highest honors of the British surgical profession. He was elected President of the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) for 1926–1927, playing a central role in formalizing national training standards and academic orthopaedic fellowships. He subsequently served as President of the Section of Orthopaedics of the Royal Society of Medicine for 1929–1930. In 1946, in recognition of his lifetime of service to British surgery and injured children, Fairbank was knighted (Knight Bachelor) by King George VI. That same year, the University of Liverpool conferred upon him the Honorary Degree of Master of Orthopaedic Surgery (Hon. MCh Orth), cementing his legacy as one of the towering elder statesmen of musculoskeletal surgery.

3. Core Orthopaedic Breakthroughs, Eponymous Signs & Innovations

Sir Harold Arthur Thomas Fairbank was a surgical clinician-scientist whose innovations transformed pediatric orthopaedics, skeletal radiology, and reconstructive joint surgery. His intellectual breakthroughs established standard operative techniques, biomechanical principles, and diagnostic classifications that remain integral to twenty-first-century surgical practice.

Hallmark Anatomical, Diagnostic and Operative Contributions

• Fairbank Disease (Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia / Dysplasia Epiphysealis Multiplex, 1935, 1946): Delineated a distinct constitutional heritable bone disorder characterized by bilateral, symmetrical irregularity, mottling, and delayed ossification of multiple epiphyses (particularly the capital femoral, distal femoral, proximal tibial, and talar epiphyses), with stubby hands and feet (brachydactyly), relative preservation of vertebral body height, and normal facies and intelligence. Fairbank established the critical clinical and radiographic criteria that differentiate this generalized dysplasia from bilateral Legg-Calve-Perthes disease and achondroplasia.
• An Atlas of General Affections of the Skeleton (1951): Authored the world’s first comprehensive clinical, radiographic, and pathological atlas classifying constitutional, developmental, and metabolic disorders of the skeleton. Fairbank categorized skeletal affections into developmental anomalies of bone formation, chondrodystrophies, epiphyseal dysplasias, and fibrocystic diseases, providing the foundational taxonomy upon which modern pediatric skeletal dysmorphology and genetic classifications are constructed.
• Fairbank’s Triangle in Developmental / Infantile Coxa Vara (1928): Described the hallmark radiographic pathoanatomy of developmental coxa vara: an inverted triangular metaphyseal fragment situated at the inferomedial margin of the femoral neck, bordered by an inverted “Y”-shaped radiolucent cartilaginous defect. Fairbank demonstrated that this represents a mechanical shear phenomenon through an abnormally vertical physis, which correlates with a Hilgenreiner epiphyseal angle exceeding 60 degrees and necessitates a corrective subtrochanteric valgus osteotomy.
• Fairbank’s Operation for Birth Palsy (1913): Originated the definitive anterior open soft-tissue release for internal rotation and adduction contracture of the shoulder resulting from upper trunk (C5–C6) obstetrical brachial plexus injury (Erb’s palsy). Approaching through a deltopectoral interval, Fairbank divided the contracted subscapularis tendon, the anterior glenohumeral capsule, and the sternal head of the pectoralis major, relieving the internal rotation tether and preventing secondary glenoid retroversion and posterior glenohumeral dislocation.
• Fairbank’s Operation for Congenital Elevation of the Scapula (Sprengel Deformity, 1914): Pioneered an open reconstructive technique for Sprengel deformity, involving complete subperiosteal and muscular mobilization of the hypoplastic, elevated scapula, excision of the cartilaginous or osseous omovertebral bone, and downward mechanical displacement to restore shoulder abduction and cosmetic shoulder balance.
• The Fairbank Orthopaedic Dynasty (Historical Distinctions): Established a three-generation surgical legacy often conflated in orthopaedic literature. While Sir Harold Arthur Thomas Fairbank (1876–1961) defined skeletal dysplasias and Fairbank’s triangle, his son Thomas John Fairbank (T. J. Fairbank, 1912–1998) of Cambridge authored the landmark 1948 paper describing post-meniscectomy degenerative radiographic changes (“Fairbank’s changes”), and his grandson Professor Jeremy C. T. Fairbank of Oxford developed the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) in 1980.

The clinical and biological depth of Fairbank’s discoveries warrants detailed technical analysis across his four primary fields of innovation:

Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia (Fairbank Disease) and Molecular Genetics: In his seminal communications to the Royal Society of Medicine in 1935 and 1946 (“Dysplasia Epiphysealis Multiplex”), followed by his 1947 Robert Jones Lecture, Fairbank disentangled epiphyseal dysplasias from the broader morass of childhood chondrodystrophies. Patients with Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia (MED) typically present between three and eight years of age with a waddling gait, joint stiffness, early fatigue, and mild disproportionate short stature. Fairbank demonstrated that the diagnostic hallmark of MED is bilateral, strictly symmetrical involvement of multiple epiphyseal ossification centers without significant craniofacial deformity or mental impairment. On plain radiography, the epiphyses appear late, small, irregular, and flattened, with multiple separate ossification centers producing a “crushed stone” or mulberry-like appearance. The femoral heads, distal femoral condyles, and talar domes are most consistently affected.

Fairbank fiercely cautioned against confusing MED with bilateral Legg-Calve-Perthes disease (coxa plana). Perthes disease is an idiopathic avascular necrosis that affects both hips in only 10% to 12% of patients; when bilateral, Perthes disease is virtually always asymmetric in onset and asynchronous in radiological stage (for example, necrosis in one hip while the contralateral hip is in late reossification). Furthermore, Perthes disease is strictly confined to the capital femoral epiphysis, sparing the knees, ankles, and hands. In sharp contrast, MED presents with symmetrical bilateral epiphyseal changes across all joints simultaneously. In the hands, Fairbank identified brachydactyly with short, stubby metacarpals and phalanges; in the knees, flattened distal femoral condyles and shallow trochlear grooves; and in the ankles, a slanted, wedged talar dome that produces valgus malalignment. Modern molecular genetics has fully validated Fairbank’s anatomical grouping: autosomal dominant MED is driven by pathogenic variants in cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP, encoding the severe Fairbank phenotype), matrilin-3 (MATN3), and type IX collagen alpha chains (COL9A1, COL9A2, COL9A3), whereas autosomal recessive MED results from solute carrier family 26 member 2 (SLC26A2) sulfate transporter mutations.

Taxonomy in An Atlas of General Affections of the Skeleton: Published in 1951 by E. & S. Livingstone, Fairbank’s atlas was heralded as an epochal achievement. Over 400 pages illustrated with exceptional radiographs and pathological specimens, Fairbank organized generalized skeletal affections into distinct anatomical categories based upon the tissue primarily involved: bone, cartilage, or fibrous connective tissue. He provided the first rigorous clinicopathological descriptions of osteogenesis imperfecta with hyperplastic callus formation (a dramatic exuberance of subperiosteal bone following microscopic fractures that was frequently misdiagnosed as osteosarcoma and subjected to unnecessary amputation), osteopetrosis (Albers-Schönberg marble bone disease), diaphyseal aclasis (hereditary multiple exostoses), dyschondroplasia (Ollier disease), melorheostosis (the classic “flowing candle wax” hyperostosis along a cortical bone border), and fibrocystic disease of bone (polyostotic and monostotic fibrous dysplasia). Fairbank’s morphology-based taxonomy directly provided the framework utilized by Philip Rubin in 1964 to create the dynamic classification of bone dysplasias, which today forms the conceptual backbone of the international Nosology and Classification of Genetic Skeletal Disorders.

Pathomechanics of Fairbank’s Triangle in Coxa Vara: In his 1928 analysis of infantile and developmental coxa vara, Fairbank delineated the precise radiographic and biomechanical pathomorphology of this disabling proximal femoral deformity. Normal femoral neck-shaft angle ranges between 125 and 135 degrees, orienting the capital femoral physis obliquely where it experiences primarily compressive axial loading. In developmental coxa vara, an intrinsic cartilaginous defect within the femoral neck reduces the neck-shaft angle below 120 degrees, frequently progressing below 90 degrees. Fairbank identified the pathognomonic radiographic sign: an inverted triangular metaphyseal fragment of bone at the inferomedial margin of the femoral neck, framed by an inverted “Y”-shaped radiolucent line composed of defective, unossified cartilage.

Biomedically, this vertical cartilaginous defect alters the mechanical axis. As the physis shifts from an oblique to a vertical orientation, axial body weight converts compressive forces across the physis into destructive shearing stresses. This pathomechanics is quantified via the Hilgenreiner epiphyseal angle (HEA), the angle subtended between a horizontal line drawn across the triradiate cartilages of the pelvis (Hilgenreiner line) and a line parallel to the proximal femoral physis. An HEA of less than 45 degrees generally stabilizes spontaneously; an HEA between 45 and 60 degrees carries an indeterminate prognosis requiring close surveillance; an HEA greater than 60 degrees indicates that vertical shearing forces exceed the physiological shear strength of the abnormal physis, inevitably producing progressive varus, leg length discrepancy, abductor lurch, and premature osteoarthritis. Fairbank established that progressive coxa vara can only be halted by a subtrochanteric valgus osteotomy (later popularized by Friedrich Pauwels), which reorients the physis perpendicular to the resultant hip joint reaction force, reduces the HEA below 35 degrees, and converts destructive shear into healing compressive stress, inducing rapid spontaneous consolidation of Fairbank’s triangle.

Pathoanatomy and Surgery of Obstetrical Brachial Plexus Palsy: In his classic 1913 Hunterian Lecture published in The Lancet (“A Lecture on Birth Palsy: Subluxation of the Shoulder-Joint in Infants and Young Children”), Fairbank revolutionized the surgical approach to neonatal brachial plexus palsy (Erb-Duchenne paralysis, involving C5 and C6 cervical roots). Prior to Fairbank’s lecture, the persistent inward rotation and adduction deformity of the arm was regarded as a purely neurological deficit that defied active surgical correction. Fairbank demonstrated through meticulous anatomical dissections that the primary obstacle to function was an unyielding secondary myostatic contracture: because the external rotators (infraspinatus, teres minor) and abductors (supraspinatus, deltoid) were paralyzed, the powerful, unopposed internal rotators (most notably the subscapularis and pectoralis major) contracted and fibrosed.

This relentless internal rotation contracture exerted continuous eccentric posterior pressure on the malleable cartilaginous humeral head. Fairbank proved that over months and years, this dynamic tether produced secondary osseous and cartilaginous dysplasia: posterior flattening and retroversion of the glenoid, hypoplasia of the scapular neck, elongation and hook-like deformity of the coracoid process, and progressive posterior subluxation culminating in complete posterior glenohumeral dislocation (the modern Waters type IV to VI deformity). To break this vicious cycle, Fairbank designed the open anterior release: approaching through a deltopectoral incision, he divided the contracted tendon of the subscapularis, transected the tight anterior capsule of the shoulder joint, and released the sternal head of the pectoralis major. By mobilizing the anterior soft tissues, Fairbank achieved concentric reduction of the humeral head into the glenoid cavity, relieving posterior abutment and restoring passive external rotation. This procedure served as the foundational forerunner to Sever’s modified release (1916) and modern arthroscopic releases combined with latissimus dorsi and teres major tendon transfers.

4. Master Class Pro-Tip

1. Differentiating Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia (Fairbank Disease) from Bilateral Perthes Disease: When evaluating a child between 4 and 8 years of age presenting with bilateral hip pain, stiffness, or an abnormal waddling gait, never assume bilateral Legg-Calve-Perthes disease without complete skeletal radiographic screening. Bilateral Perthes disease occurs in only 10% to 12% of cases and is almost invariably asymmetrical in onset and chronological staging (for example, advanced fragmentation in one hip while the contralateral hip exhibits early subchondral fracture or dense avascular necrosis). In sharp contrast, Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia (Fairbank disease) presents with strictly bilateral, symmetrical irregularity, flattening, and fragmentation of the capital femoral epiphyses. When evaluating suspected bilateral Perthes, immediately obtain AP radiographs of the hands, knees, and ankles. In Fairbank disease, the distal femoral and proximal tibial epiphyses show symmetrical flattening or mottled irregularities, the ankles display a characteristic wedged or slanted talar dome, and the hands reveal brachydactyly with short, broad metacarpals. Symmetrical, synchronous bilateral epiphyseal disturbance is a constitutional dysplasia until proven otherwise.

2. Fairbank’s Triangle & The Hilgenreiner Epiphyseal Angle in Coxa Vara: In developmental or infantile coxa vara, identify Fairbank’s triangle: an inverted triangular metaphyseal fragment of bone situated at the inferomedial border of the femoral neck, framed by an inverted “Y”-shaped radiolucent cartilaginous defect. Quantify the mechanical shear across this defect by calculating the Hilgenreiner epiphyseal angle (HEA) on a standardized neutral AP pelvis radiograph. Draw Hilgenreiner’s line through both triradiate cartilages and measure the angle formed by this horizontal reference and a line parallel to the proximal femoral physis. An HEA less than 45 degrees indicates stable mechanics that frequently remodel without surgery; an HEA between 45 and 60 degrees requires close serial observation every 4 to 6 months; an HEA greater than 60 degrees indicates progressive, destructive vertical shear stress that cannot spontaneously heal. An HEA greater than 60 degrees is a definitive indication for a corrective subtrochanteric valgus osteotomy (e.g., Pauwels osteotomy with blade-plate fixation). The osteotomy must overcorrect the neck-shaft angle to 135 to 140 degrees and reduce the HEA to less than 35 to 40 degrees, converting vertical shearing forces into perpendicular compressive forces to induce rapid, complete osseous consolidation of Fairbank’s triangle.

3. Preserving Glenohumeral Concentricity in Obstetrical Brachial Plexus Palsy: In neonatal upper trunk brachial plexus birth palsy (C5–C6), the primary determinant of lifelong upper extremity function is the prevention of progressive posterior glenohumeral subluxation. Unopposed internal rotators (subscapularis and pectoralis major) develop relentless myostatic contractures that drive the cartilaginous humeral head posteriorly, inducing progressive glenoid retroversion, posterior wall hypoplasia, and pseudoglenoid formation by 12 to 24 months of age. At every clinical follow-up, measure passive external rotation with the arm adducted to the side; loss of passive external rotation beyond neutral is an urgent clinical red flag. Assess glenohumeral concentricity using high-resolution axillary ultrasound or non-sedated fast-sequence MRI. If passive external rotation cannot be restored beyond 20 degrees with focused physical therapy by 12 to 18 months, perform an anterior soft-tissue release of the subscapularis and pectoralis major (Fairbank’s approach) before fixed posterior glenoid remodeling becomes irreversible. In older children with persistent dynamic deficits but concentric joint reduction, combine anterior soft-tissue release with tendon transfers (latissimus dorsi and teres major to the posterolateral rotator cuff) to reconstruct active external rotation.

Master Class Surgical Pearl: Epiphyseal Dysplasia Differentials, Fairbank’s Triangle & Pediatric Shoulder Concentricity

5. Primary Landmark Publications & Bibliography

The foundational contributions of Sir Harold Arthur Thomas Fairbank are preserved in these original landmark monographs and peer-reviewed surgical literature:

• Fairbank HAT. Dysplasia Epiphysealis Multiplex. Proc R Soc Med. 1946;39(6):315–317. DOI
• Fairbank HAT. A Lecture on Birth Palsy: Subluxation of the Shoulder-Joint in Infants and Young Children. The Lancet. 1913;181(4679):1217–1223. DOI
• Fairbank HAT. Fibrocystic Disease of Bone. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1950;32-B(3):403–424. DOI
• Fairbank HAT. Congenital Dislocation of the Hip: Early Diagnosis. Br Med J. 1939;1(4081):607–609. DOI
• Fairbank Sir Thomas. An Atlas of General Affections of the Skeleton. Br J Surg. 1952;39(156):374–375. DOI
• Fairbank HAT. Hyperplastic Callus Formation, with or without Evidence of a Fracture, in Osteogenesis Imperfecta. Br J Surg. 1948;36(141):1–16. 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 work of Sir Harold Arthur Thomas Fairbank documented on page 102 of Mostofi’s compendium.