Otto Emil Franz Ulrich Busse (; 6 December 1867 – 3 February 1922) was a German

pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. 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 the context of modern medical treatme ...

. Busse was born in Gühlitz,

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. He studied medicine at the

University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; ), formerly known as Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Founded in 1456, it is one of th ...

, and subsequently became an assistant to Paul Grawitz (1850–1932), (his future father-in-law) at

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpa ...

. Afterwards he moved to Posen (today

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, Poland), where in 1904 he became a professor of pathology. From 1911 until 1922 he was professor of

pathological anatomy Anatomical pathology (''Commonwealth'') or anatomic pathology (''U.S.'') is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the gross examination, macroscopic, Histopathology, microscopic, biochemical, immu ...

at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

, where he died. In 1894 Busse was the first to provide a written account of

cryptococcosis Cryptococcosis is a potentially fatal fungal infection of mainly the lungs, presenting as a pneumonia, and in the brain, where it appears as a meningitis. Coughing, difficulty breathing, chest pain and fever are seen when the lungs are infect ...

, caused by a yeast-like

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

now known as ''

Cryptococcus neoformans ''Cryptococcus neoformans'' is an encapsulated basidiomycetous yeast belonging to the class Tremellomycetes and an obligate aerobe that can live in both plants and animals. Its teleomorph is a filamentous fungus, formerly referred to ''Filob ...

''. This he discovered in a patient with chronic periostitis of the

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

. At the time he called the fungus ''Saccharomyces hominis''. During the same time period, Francesco Sanfelice cultured the yeast-like fungus from

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

juice, naming the fungus ''Saccharomyces neoformans''.The Yeasts, a Taxonomic Study
by C. P. Kurtzman, Jack W. Fell Infection caused by the fungus has also been referred to as "Busse-Buschke disease", named in conjunction with

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medi ...

Abraham Buschke (1868–1943).

References

NCBI
One hundred years of cryptococcosis. Medical mycology in the 19th century in Greifswald

(translated biography of Otto Busse) * ttp://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/1793.html ''Busse-Buschke disease''@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

German pathologists 1867 births 1922 deaths People from Białogard University of Greifswald alumni Academic staff of the University of Greifswald Academic staff of the University of Zurich Physicians from the Province of Brandenburg 20th-century German physicians 20th-century German scientists {{Germany-med-bio-stub

See also

References