u r c n a r a u rn e r ~ I ¥ J lfl - DR RIC HA RD TU RN ER , th e ca rd io lo gi st , wh o has died aged 83, was the former Re ader in Me dicine at Ed in- burg h Univ ersity and co nsul. tant ph ys ic ia n to the We st. ern General Ho spi tal in tha t city. In the 19 50 s he pi on eere d cu rati ve trea tment of m itra l va lv e di sease, whi ch was the n the co mm on est ca rdia c ca use of de at h. His major co ntri bu tion wa s to demon- strate th at cli ni ca l findi ng s cou ld acc urate ly forecast the st at e of t he mit ra l valve ofthe heart and reveal the cha nces of oper ative success. Ric hard Wain wri ght Henry Duke Turn er was bo rn on May 19 , 19 09 , an d ed ucat ed at Ep som Co lle ge an d Ca mb rid ge ' Un ive rsity , where he to ok a first. He the n proce ed ed to St Th om. \' as's Hosp ital Med ical School an d qualified as a do ct or in 19 34 . Aft er ho use job s at St Th omas's he beca me pa edi- atric re gi strar un de r Fo re st Smith. In 19 42 Tu rn er jo in ed th e Ro ya l Arm y Me dic al Co rps I as a med ica l spe cia list in th e I 92 nd Gen er al Hosp ita l. He late r com ma nd ed the medi. I ca l div isio n of th is fiel d hos- I pit al as a lieu ten ant .co lon el in the No rth Af ric a de sert, rece iving a flow of c asua lties from the Battle of El Alamein. Th e di vision later move d to It al y and est ab lished a fi el d hosp it al at Sale rn o where as many as 250casual. ties were treated a day. Blood tran sf usions were giv en with prim itiv e equ ip- me nt co ns ist in g of a ne ed le sha rpe ne d on a n old ston e, a pie ce of ru bb er tub ing an d a ju g to tr an sf er bl oo d fr om one sold ie r to anoth er. Turn er was app ointe d aBE. On re tu rn in g to St Thom- as's in 1945 h e decid ed to spe cia lise in ca rdio logy and work ed fo r a ti me under Evan Bedford (who had been Ch urc hill 's ca rdio log ist du r- in g th e wa r). Be fo re lo ng a Sco ttish Arm y colleagu e told him th at a tea ch ing un it wa s to be established at the We ster n Ge ner al Ho spi tal in Ed in bu rg h an d that th ere would be a vacancy for a con- sultan t phy sician . Tu rn er di d not th in k th at as an Eng li sh man he had a ch an ce of be in g ap po in te d bu t hi s fr ie nd assure d hi m tha t the Sc ots had long sin ce stopp ed eatin g missio narie s. He per fo rmed we ll at th e in te rv ie w and was duly app ointed as a ge nera l phy si- ci an . He lat er be ca me co n. sultan t card iolog ist and b uilt up th e ca rd io lo gy de pa rt - men t at the Western Gen eral Ho spit al into a teach ing un it wit h an int er na tion al re p- utation. , In his pi on ee rin g wo rk on mit ral va lve dise ase , Tu rne r wo rk ed in close co lla bo ra - ti on wit h th e th or acic sur- geon, Andrew Logan. At that time, op era tin g on th e mit ral valve to widen the opening in ca se s of m itr al steno sis wa s reg ard ed as a highl y ha zard. ous undertaking. At th e sa me tim e th e co n- di ti on of na rr ow ed mit ra l va lv es du e to scarring pr o- duced by acute rhe umatis m wa s an ext rem ely crip plin g dis eas e wh ich in large num- bers of cases le d to earl y de ath . Tu rne r's gre at ski ll in ac cur ate ly est ima ting wh en the most seriously ill pa ti en ts wou ld be ne fi t by th is da ng er ou s op er at io n restore d man y to health . His wo rk led to a greate r understanding c r t ' the natu ral hist ory of va lvu lar disease, espec iall y' in- rela tion to the pr og no sis of su rg ical treat- ment. Pape rs pu bli sh ed join tly by T urn er an d Lo ga n were of semin al imp orta nce in the dev elopi ng tech niqu es of card iac surgery . As ti me wen t on Turner con ce ntra ted on atte mp ting to red uc e th e massi ve mo r- ta lit y of c or on ar y he ar t di s- ea se in Scotland by ev er y poss ib le means. He was a fervent believer in the impor- ta nc e of health ed uc atio n and, unusu ally for a clin ica l ac ad emic , he wr ot e ex te n- si vel y fo r th e la y press as well as for medical journals. He t au gh t tha t the seeds ofca rdia c tro ubl e we re sow n in ea rly ch ildh ood and adv ise d ag ain st giv ing co w's mil k to babies. Indeed he re gard ed the co w as a hi gh ly da ng er ou s an ima l as fa r as the he alth ofthe human heart was co n- cerned and used to rail ag ai ns t go ve rnment subsi- dies to the dairy industry. He also railed ag ainst th e con sump tion of fa t, smo king an d la ck of ex er ci se. At the Wes tern Gen eral Hosp ital h set up a coro nar y risk facto r cl in ic to ed uc at e pa tie nts to prev ent hear t attack s. Turner 'beca me a membe r of the Royal Colleg e of Ph ysi cia ns of London in 19 36 , an d a Fellow in 1950. He wa ele cted a Fel low o f the Ro ya Coll ege of Ph ysicia ns o Ed in bu rg h in 19 52 . He wa the first c hai rman of the Cor onar y Pr ev en tio n Gr ou p o the Ro yal Col leg e of Phys i cians of Lon don . Whe n he ret ire d from hi ho spi tal an d tea ching pos ts in 1974 he be ca me a senio research scholar in t he De pa rtm en t of Me di cin e a Edinburgh University. Turn er was a bri ll ia nt te ac he r an d at tra ct ed po st. gr ad ua te st ud en ts fr om al over the world. He was him self a ke en travel ler an d hel te achi ng ro unds in ma ny countr ies inclu ding th e Unit ed States, In dia an pa rts of Afr ica . His ad ve nt ur es includ ed be ing con sul ted by t he Kin of B huta n and perform ing al electrocar diogr am on a croc od ile . In Ed inbu rg h Tu rn e liv ed an ho sp ita bl e lif e in C la rg e co ld ho us e. He had C fu nd of amusing stories many base d on mis hap~ which had befallen him. He was mar ri ed an d ha three sons and a daugh ter. l.-.. ..~''''''''~~I'-''' .•.• -~ ~~-.. , ~ . . . . . . - . . . . -.-.. .- .. ,,---..... . . . ~.-• .... -
