Werner Fritz Isler (1919 - 2002)

Werner Fritz Isler, Professor Dr med
(6 March 1919–30 January 2002), Ku¨snacht, Switzerland

Dr. Werner Fritz Isler, a former Professor of Pediatric Neurology at Universitäts-Kinderklinik Zürich and an honorary member of Gesellschaft für Neuropädiatrie, passed away suddenly on January 30, 2002, at the age of 82. He was a trailblazer in the emerging field of child neurology, significantly advancing the care of children with neurological disorders. His dedication extended to the education and training of future specialists in child neurology and the creation of specialized organizations at both regional and international levels.

Dr. Isler began his career in neurosurgery at Zürich University under the guidance of Professor Hugo Krayenbühl, a pioneering figure in the field, and earned his specialist degree in neurosurgery in Switzerland. Although he did not continue in this field, he always identified as a neurosurgeon. In the early 1950s, he transitioned to the Children’s Hospital Zürich to work under Professor Guido Fanconi, who encouraged him to start EEG recordings in children. Dr. Isler learned EEG techniques from Rudolf Hess, an experienced epileptologist, and conducted the first EEG at Kinderspital in 1953. While the EEG division later flourished under Guido Dumermuth, Dr. Isler turned his focus to clinical child neurology.

In the 1960s, Dr. Isler skillfully performed neuroradiologic examinations, such as pneumoencephalography and cerebral angiography, which were rarely conducted in pediatric clinics at the time. Through these techniques and meticulous clinical neurological examinations, he identified 24 different causes in 116 cases of ‘acute infantile hemiplegia of obscure origin’ and detailed the dynamic processes involved, including cerebral edema, aneurysms, spontaneous thrombolysis, and progressive thrombosis. His extensive and original research on childhood hemiplegias was published as his habilitation thesis in German in 1969 and later in English as "Acute Hemiplegias and Hemisyndromes in Childhood" in 1971. This work included early cases of moyamoya disease in Caucasian children.

Dr. Isler was appointed Professor of Pediatric Neurology at Kinderspital Zürich in 1973, retiring in 1986. He organized the second meeting of the European Study Group of Child Neurologists in Zürich in 1975, where I had the pleasure of participating. He was honored as an Honorary Member by the Gesellschaft für Neuropädiatrie for his contributions to the field. From 1982 to 1986, he served as Treasurer of the International Child Neurology Association (ICNA), during which I had the honor of working closely with him as President of the ICNA.

I fondly remember our visits, including Werner and his wife Ursula's visit to Tokyo in 1980 for the 2nd International Symposium of Developmental Disabilities and his 1990 lecture at Tokyo Women’s Medical College on cerebral arterial occlusions in childhood. I also enjoyed visiting Kinderspital and his home in Zürich.

Dr. Isler's passing is a great loss, but his contributions to patients, colleagues, society, and child neurology will be remembered. 

(Note: Professor Eugen Boltshauser assisted in preparing this manuscript.)

Yukio Fukuyama
Child Neurology Institute
6-12-17-201 Minami-Shinagawa
Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0004, Japan

Source: Yukio Fukuyama. Werner Fritz Isler, Professor Dr med (6 March 1919–30 January 2002), Ku¨snacht, Switzerland. 2002 Brain & Development 24 (2002) 265