Medicine's greatest gifts to surgery

Dr. Robert Graves and Dr. Henry Plummer are immortalized by the thyroid diseases bearing their names. Dr. Graves' clinical lectures and Dr. Plummer's "goiter lunches" were considered medical masterpieces; they introduced novel concepts in physical diagnosis that helped surgeons determine when to operate on patients with thyrotoxicosis. Dr. Plummer's observations with perioperative iodine administration helped lower the mortality associated with thyroidectomy-at that time a treacherous operation-to make it one of the safest operations in history. Their fascinating discoveries laid foundations for thyroid surgery today. They truly are among medicine's greatest gifts to surgery.