Theodor von Dusch

Who was Theodor von Dusch?

Theodor von Dusch was a German physician who was the native of Karlsruhe. He was the son of Baden statesman Alexander von Dusch.

He studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg, where he had as instructors Jacob Henle, Karl von Pfeufer and Maximilian Joseph von Chelius. He earned his doctorate in 1847, and was habilitated for medicine in 1854. In 1870 he became professor and director of the policlinic at Heidelberg.

In the 1850s, with Heinrich Schröder, he demonstrated that a filter made of cotton-wool was effective in removing microbes such as bacteria from air. Dusch was the author of influential works involving thrombosis of cerebral sinuses, heart disease and diseases of the endocardium and myocardium. The latter work was included in Carl Gerhardt's Handbuch der Kinderkrankheiten.