This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Prof. Pau Golanó passes
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Pau Golanó, MD, professor of Pathology and Experimental Therapeutics, Human Anatomy and Embryology Unit at the University of Barcelona and an adjunct professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, passed away on July 23.
Golanó was also a renowned surgical anatomist, photographer and illustrator. He was a member of the European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy (ESSKA) and ESSKA-Ankle & Foot Associates since 2010.
“In addition to being a dear friend to many of us, and an extremely creative and thoughtful scientist, Pau Golanó was a very talented anatomist who helped shape and advance orthopaedic surgery. He was considered by many to be the best musculoskeletal anatomist in the world,” according to an ESSKA statement on Golanó’s passing.
Pau Golanó
Golanó received the Most Dedicated Individual ESSKA Member award for his service at the ESSKA Congress in Amsterdam in May. He also received the KSSTA [Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy] Best Paper Award for “Anatomy of the ankle ligaments: A pictorial essay,” at the ESSKA Congress in Geneva in 2012.
Freddie H. Fu, MD, DSc(Hon), DPs(Hon), of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, said Golanó was “an inspiration and mentor for all of us.”
“He took anatomical studies in orthopaedics to a new height, and communicated in such a manner that we and our patients will benefit tremendously. We will all miss his humor, smile and friendship,” Fu told Orthopaedics Today Europe.
C. Niek van Dijk, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Orthopedics at the Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, told Orthopaedics Today Europe, “Pau Golanó allowed us to be better doctors for our patients.”
When Golanó won the Most Dedicated Individual ESSKA Member award earlier this year, it gave him the international recognition he deserved. “This recognition was very important for him,” van Dijk said.
Golanó’s work improved over the years. He was always in search of new techniques and better ways to expose the human anatomy, and collaborated with surgeons worldwide, according to van Dijk. “These interactions were always fruitful and many ideas were born in his lab. His favorite joint was the ankle joint. The recent publication of near 100 pieces of his artwork was a culmination of his skills. Each picture was an example of his unsurpassed eye for detail and his skills to disclose the beauty of the human body,” he said.
One of Golanó’s contributions was the rediscovery of the forgotten Rouviera-Canella ligament. He and Peter A.J. de Leeuw started working on this publication in 2006, and van Dijk noted it is ready to be submitted.
“Pau Golanó was an anatomist among orthopods. He was one of us,” van Dijk said. “I will miss him.”