Alexis Frank Hartmann Sr. (October 30, 1898 – September 6, 1964) was an American

pediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

and clinical biochemist. He is best known for adding

sodium lactate Sodium lactate is the sodium salt of lactic acid, and has a mild saline taste. It is produced by fermentation of a sugar source, such as maize or beets, and then, by neutralizing the resulting lactic acid to create a compound having the formul ...

Ringer's solution Ringer's solution is a solution of several salts dissolved in water for the purpose of creating an isotonic solutions, isotonic solution relative to the body fluids of an animal. Ringer's solution typically contains sodium chloride, potassium chlo ...

, creating what is now known as

Ringer's lactate solution Ringer's lactate solution (RL), also known as sodium lactate solution, Lactated Ringer's (LR), and Hartmann's solution, is a mixture of sodium chloride, sodium lactate, potassium chloride, and calcium chloride in water. It is used for replaci ...

or Hartmann's solution for

intravenous infusion Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutr ...

Early life

Hartmann was born on October 30, 1898, in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. His parents were Henry Charles Hartmann, a

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

, and Bertha Hauck Griesedick; both were of German ancestry. He enrolled at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1919 and master's and medical degrees in 1921. While he was a medical student, he developed a new technique to test

blood sugar level The blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, blood glucose level, or glycemia is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood. The body tightly regulates blood glucose levels as a part of metabolic homeostasis. For a 70 kg (1 ...

Career

Hartmann completed his residency in

pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

at St. Louis Children's Hospital in 1923. He was an instructor in pediatrics at Washington University, his alma mater, and was promoted to assistant professor in 1925 then associate professor in 1927. He was promoted to a full professor in pediatrics and head of the pediatric department at Washington University in 1936. In the same year, he was appointed physician-in-chief at St. Louis Children's Hospital, and remained in the position when the hospital became racially integrated in 1950. Hartmann published 90 papers during his career. His scientific work pertained to biochemistry and problems of

metabolism Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...

, while his clinical pediatric interests included anoxia,

hypoglycemia Hypoglycemia (American English), also spelled hypoglycaemia or hypoglycæmia (British English), sometimes called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's tria ...

nephritis Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation ...

nephrosis Nephrosis is any of various forms of kidney disease (nephropathy). In an old and broad sense of the term, it is any nephropathy, but in current usage the term is usually restricted to a narrower sense of nephropathy without inflammation I ...

and

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

. He was among the first doctors to use

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (''INS)'' gene. It is the main Anabolism, anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...

to treat

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

in infants. His best known contribution to medicine was in body

electrolyte An electrolyte is a substance that conducts electricity through the movement of ions, but not through the movement of electrons. This includes most soluble Salt (chemistry), salts, acids, and Base (chemistry), bases, dissolved in a polar solven ...

s and

intravenous fluids Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutr ...

replacement. He modified

by adding

, an alkaline substance, to treat

acidosis Acidosis is a biological process producing hydrogen ions and increasing their concentration in blood or body fluids. pH is the negative log of hydrogen ion concentration and so it is decreased by a process of acidosis. Acidemia The term ac ...

in children. His invention,

, became popular internationally and is commonly known as Hartmann's solution.

Personal life

Hartmann married Gertrude Krochmann, a librarian, in 1922. They had two sons: Henry Carl Hartmann, a businessman, and Alexis Frank Hartmann Jr., a pediatric

cardiologist Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...

. Hartmann retired in 1964 and died on September 6 of that same year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartmann, Alexis 1898 births 1964 deaths American pediatricians 20th-century American biochemists American medical researchers Physicians from Missouri Writers from St. Louis American people of German descent Washington University School of Medicine alumni Washington University School of Medicine faculty Washington University in St. Louis alumni