The Matas/Soubbotitch connection

The Southern Association for Vascular Surgery, as one of the recently developed major regional vascular societies, has recognized the outstanding accomplishments of one of the vascular pioneers in the United States, Rudolph Matas, by including his profile in the Association logo. Although the contributions in vascular surgery by Matas are well known by all who have an interest in vascular surgery, the contributions of V. Soubbotitch have not been recognized widely in the English-speaking world. Matas proclaimed in an International Surgical Congress in London in 1913 that Soubbotitch had achieved clinical success that was unparalleled by repairing injured arteries and veins. Soubbotitch, Senior Surgeon, Belgrade State Hospital, Serbia (now part of Yugoslavia) and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Serbian Army Reserve during the Balkan Wars (Serbo-Turkish and Serbo-Bulgarian) initiated one of the first clinical programs that emphasized repair, rather than ligation, of injured arteries and veins. Surgeons from the capitals in Europe visited his clinic to assist in this effort, and the 1913 presentation in London included the experience of managing 77 injured large blood vessels, which resulted in 32 vascular repairs—19 arteriorrhaphies and 13 venorrhaphies. It is ironic that nearly 40 years passed before similar successful efforts were achieved during the latter part of the Korean Conflict (1952 to 1953). In this brief review we emphasize the connection between two outstanding surgical pioneers who shared mutual interest in the repair of injured vessels and in international surgical exchanges, Matas and Soubbotitch.