Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet (23 August 176812 February 1841) was a British surgeon and

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

, who made contributions to

otology Otology is a branch of medicine which studies normal and pathological anatomy and physiology of the ear (hearing and vestibular sensory systems and related structures and functions) as well as their diseases, diagnosis and treatment. Otologi ...

, vascular surgery, the

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

and

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

of the

mammary gland A mammary gland is an exocrine gland in humans and other mammals that produces milk to feed young offspring. Mammals get their name from the Latin word ''mamma'', "breast". The mammary glands are arranged in organs such as the breasts in pri ...

s and

testicle A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testoste ...

s, and the pathology and surgery of

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the groin. Groin herni ...

Life

Cooper was born at Brooke Hall in

Brooke, Norfolk Brooke is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, about 7 miles south of Norwich and roughly equidistant from Norwich and Bungay. History Brook's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old Eng ...

on 23 August 1768 and baptised at the parish church on 9 September. His father, Dr Samuel Cooper, was a

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

; his mother Maria Susanna Bransby was the author of several novels. At the age of sixteen he was sent to London and placed under Henry Cline (1750–1827), surgeon to St Thomas' Hospital. From the first he devoted himself to the study of

, and had the privilege of attending the lectures of John Hunter. In 1789 he was appointed demonstrator of anatomy at St Thomas' Hospital, where in 1791 he became joint lecturer with Cline in anatomy and surgery, and in 1800 he was appointed surgeon to

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

on the death of his uncle, William Cooper. In 1802 Cooper received the Copley Medal for two papers read before the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

of London on the destruction of the

tympanic membrane In the anatomy of humans and various other tetrapods, the eardrum, also called the tympanic membrane or myringa, is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear. Its function is to transmit sound from the a ...

and was elected a Fellow of that society the same year. In 1805 he took an active part in the formation of the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, and in 1804 he brought out the first, and in 1807 the second, part of his great work on

, which added so largely to his reputation that in 1813 his annual professional income rose to 21,000 pounds sterling. In the same year he was appointed professor of comparative anatomy to the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

and was very popular as a lecturer. In 1817 Cooper performed his famous operation of tying the abdominal aorta for aneurism; and in 1820 he removed an infected sebaceous cyst from the head of

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

. About six months afterwards he received a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

cy, which, as he had no son, was to descend to his nephew and adopted son, Astley Cooper. He was appointed sergeant surgeon to George IV in 1828. He served as president of the

in 1827 and again in 1836, and he was elected a vice-president of the

in 1830. In 1821, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He died on 12 February 1841 in London, and is interred, by his own desire, in the crypt of the Chapel of Thomas Guy, St Thomas Street (on the site now shared by King's College London and

). A statue by

Edward Hodges Baily Edward Hodges Baily (10 March 1788 – 22 May 1867; sometimes misspelled ''Bailey'') was a prolific English sculptor responsible for numerous public monuments, portrait busts, statues and exhibition pieces as well as works in silver. He carved ...

was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. Cooper lived at Gadebridge House in the market town of

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a new ...

. Due to his influence, among others who were also residents of the area, his vigorous lobbying ensured that the London to Birmingham main railway line was constructed to the south of the town instead of through it, a more natural course. This led to the citizens of Hemel Hempstead having no railway station in their town. Today, Cooper is remembered in the area with a number of local street names (Astley Cooper Place in the village of his birth, Brooke, Norfolk), (Astley Road and Paston Road in Hemel Hempstead), and The Astley Cooper School, formerly Grovehill school, being renamed after him in 1984."Astley Cooper’s head wins top teacher title"
hemeltoday.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2013

Works

In the field of vascular surgery and

cerebral circulation Cerebral circulation is the movement of blood through a network of cerebral arteries and veins supplying the brain. The rate of cerebral blood flow in an adult human is typically 750 milliliters per minute, or about 15% of cardiac output. Art ...

, Cooper was the first to demonstrate experimentally the effects of bilateral ligation of the carotid arteries in dogs and to propose treatment of

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus ( ...

s by ligation of the vessel. In 1805 he published in the first volume of ''Medico-Chirurgical Transactions'', an account of his attempt to tie the common carotid artery for treating an aneurysm in a patient. In 1808 he tried the same with the

external iliac artery The external iliac arteries are two major arteries which bifurcate off the common iliac arteries anterior to the sacroiliac joint of the pelvis. Structure The external iliac artery arises from the bifurcation of the common iliac artery. Th ...

for a femoral aneurysm and in 1817 he ligated the

aorta The aorta ( ) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits into two smaller arteries (the common iliac arteries). The aorta distributes o ...

for an iliac aneurysm. Astley Paston Cooper statue, St Paul's Cathedral

Cooper was an anatomist and identified several previously undescribed anatomical structures, many of which were named after him: * Cooper's fascia, a covering of the

spermatic cord The spermatic cord is the cord-like structure in males formed by the vas deferens (''ductus deferens'') and surrounding tissue that runs from the deep inguinal ring down to each testicle. Its serosal covering, the tunica vaginalis, is an exten ...

. * Cooper's pubic ligament, the superior pubic ligament. * Cooper's stripes, a fibrous structure in the

ulna The ulna (''pl''. ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone found in the forearm that stretches from the elbow to the smallest finger, and when in anatomical position, is found on the medial side of the forearm. That is, the ulna is on the same side of t ...

r ligaments. *

Cooper's ligaments Cooper's ligaments (also known as the suspensory ligaments of Cooper and the fibrocollagenous septa) are connective tissue in the breast that help maintain structural integrity. They are named for Astley Cooper, who first described them in 1840. ...

, the suspensory ligaments of the breasts. He also described a number of new diseases, which likewise became eponymous: * Cooper's testis (

neuralgia Neuralgia (Greek ''neuron'', "nerve" + ''algos'', "pain") is pain in the distribution of one or more nerves, as in intercostal neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, and glossopharyngeal neuralgia. Classification Under the general heading of neural ...

of the

s) * Cooper's disease (benign cysts of the breast) * Cooper's hernia (retroperitoneal hernia) * Cooper's neuralgia (neuralgia of the breast) His chief published works were: * ''Anatomy and Surgical Treatment of Hernia'' (1804–1807); * ''Dislocations and Fractures'' (1822); * ''Lectures on Surgery'' (1824–1827); * ''Illustrations of Diseases of the Breast'' (1829); * ''Anatomy of the Thymus Gland'' (1832); * ''Anatomy of the Breast'' (1840). Many of Cooper's original experimental and surgical specimens are now held in the collections of the Gordon Museum of Pathology.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Astley Paston Cooper biography
WhoNamedIt.

History of Surgeons from surgeons.org.uk.

Surgical-Tutor.
On the anatomy of the breast, 1840
Digital reproduction of the book. *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Astley Paston 1768 births 1841 deaths British anatomists British surgeons 19th-century English medical doctors English pathologists Recipients of the Copley Medal Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People from Hemel Hempstead 18th-century English people Fellows of the Royal Society People from Brooke, Norfolk Physicians of Guy's Hospital

Life

Works

See also

References

Sources

Further reading

External links