Leonard Apt (June 28, 1922 – February 1, 2013) was an American pediatrician and ophthalmologist. He was one of the first U.S. physicians to complete a fellowship in

pediatric ophthalmology Pediatric ophthalmology is a sub-specialty of ophthalmology concerned with eye diseases, visual development, and vision care in children. Training In the United States, pediatric ophthalmologists are physicians who have completed medical school, ...

. Apt identified that

povidone-iodine Povidone-iodine (PVP-I), also known as iodopovidone, is an antiseptic used for skin disinfection before and after surgery. It may be used both to disinfect the hands of healthcare providers and the skin of the person they are caring for. It may ...

could be safety used as an antimicrobial for the eyes. In addition to his work in ophthalmology, Apt devised a number of diagnostic tests. The

Apt test The alkali denaturation test, also known as A or Apt test, is a medical test used to differentiate fetal or neonatal blood from maternal blood found in a newborn's stool or vomit, or from maternal vaginal blood. History The test was developed by ...

is performed on blood in a baby's stools to determine whether it is of maternal or fetal origin.

Biography

Apt was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He started college at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

when he was 14. After graduating from Penn, he earned a medical degree from

Jefferson Medical College Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. The university is ...

in 1945. After residency training at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

, he became the first pediatric ophthalmology fellow at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

. Associated with the

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA The UCLA School of Medicine (also known as the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA) is the accredited medical school of the University of California, Los Angeles. Founded in 1951, it is the second medical school in the University of Califor ...

from 1961 to his death, Apt established the pediatric ophthalmology division there, the first such division at a U.S. medical school. He was a co-founder of the

Jules Stein Eye Institute The Jules Stein Eye Institute, founded by MCA founder Jules Stein, functions as the department of ophthalmology for the UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, Cal ...

at UCLA. Apt and a colleague, Sherwin Isenberg, examined the practice of instilling

silver nitrate Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It was once called ''lunar causti ...

or antibiotics in the eye before an eye surgery. They found that such techniques increased the risk of infection. Apt proposed the use of

to treat or prevent eye infections. A 1990s study in Kenya established the solution as effective. The low cost of povidone-iodine provided another advantage for its use, especially in the developing world. Early in Apt's career, eye surgeons commonly used sutures that were made of

catgut Catgut (also known as gut) is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fiber found in the walls of animal intestines. Catgut makers usually use sheep or goat intestines, but occasionally use the intestines of cattle, hogs, horses, mules, ...

or collagen materials. Some children experienced allergic reactions to these substances, sometimes leading to severe visual problems. Apt studied the problem and determined that a suture could first be placed in a child's forearm to observe for reactions. The AAP Section on Ophthalmology established the Leonard Apt, MD, Lectureship, which is delivered every two years at the meeting of the

American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus The American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) is an academic association of pediatric ophthalmologists and strabismus surgeons. The pediatric ophthalmology fellowships in the United States are accredited by the AAPOS. ...

by a nationally known expert in a field related to pediatric ophthalmology. Many of Apt's innovations were outside of pediatric ophthalmology. He was one of the early physicians to adopt the use of plastic tubing and containers in blood transfusions. Such transfusions had usually been given with glass or metal equipment. He was the first to report on a case of an immune system disorder known as

agammaglobulinemia Hypogammaglobulinemia is an immune system disorder in which not enough gamma globulins are produced in the blood (thus '' hypo-'' + ''gamma'' + '' globulin'' + '' -emia''). This results in a lower antibody count, which impairs the immune system, ...

. The Apt test is performed when a newborn passes blood into the stool; it differentiates between swallowed maternal blood and blood originating from the newborn. Swallowing of maternal blood can occur at delivery, while infant gastrointestinal bleeding may account for blood coming from the baby. In February 2013, Apt died of a brief heart-related illness in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apt, Leonard 1922 births 2013 deaths American pediatricians American ophthalmologists University of Pennsylvania alumni Jefferson Medical College alumni David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA faculty