Charles Anthony Fager

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Charles Anthony Fager
Born(1924-01-16)January 16, 1924
Nassau, Bahama,
DiedApril 8, 2014(2014-04-08) (aged 90)
EducationWagner College
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
OccupationNeurosurgeon
Known forNeurosurgeon

Charles Anthony Fager (January 16, 1924 - April 8, 2014) was an American neurosurgeon, medical academic, and leader at the Lahey Hospital & Medical Center.

Early life and education[edit]

Born in Nassau, Bahamas, he was raised in Brooklyn.[1] Fager graduated from Wagner College and SUNY Downstate Medical Center (M.D., 1946). His did both his internship (1946–47) and residency in general surgery (1947–48) at Upstate Medical Center. That was followed by a residency in neurosurgery at Cushing VA Hospital, Framingham, Massachusetts (1950–52), and a fellowship in neurosurgery at Lahey Clinic (1952–53).[2]

Career[edit]

Following the completion of his fellowship, he joined the neurosurgery department at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, where he spent the remainder of his career, over the years serving as chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, vice chair of the Board of Governors, member of the Lahey Clinic Foundation Board of Trustees, chair of the Medical Practice Council, and chair of the Division of Surgery.[3]

A faculty member at Harvard Medical School, he wrote a widely used textbook, the Atlas of Spine Surgery.[4][5]

His many publications concerned the appropriate selection of patients and the proper indications and operations for surgery. These focused on the importance of posterior and posterolateral operations for cervical disc lesions. He spoke regularly at postgraduate courses and seminars, and wrote chapters in textbooks on these subjects.[6]

Accomplishments and awards[edit]

Fager was a member of the American Medical Association; the Massachusetts Medical Society; the New England Neurosurgical Society (past-President); the Boston Society of Neurology and Psychiatry (past-President); the American Association of Neurological Surgeons(AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons{CNS}, American College of Surgeons (past-Chairman, Advisory Council for Neurosurgery; chairman, Advisory Council Chairman); the Neurosurgical Society of America (past-President); the Boston Surgical Society; the Argentine Neurosurgical Association; and the Venezuelan Society of Neurosurgery

Fager received the Dudley Award in Medicine from New York State University Downstate Medical Center and the Lifetime achievement Award from the Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine of the AANS & CNS in 1992. He was a member of the American Board of Neurological Surgery from 1976 to 1983. He gave a number of guest lectures, the Teachenor Memorial, The Balado Memorial and the Gardner Lectures, among them. In 2000, he received the Gold Medal of the Neurological Society of America.

Notable cases[edit]

In 1959, Fager treated Ted Williams for a pinched nerve.[7]

In 1965, Fager saved the life of John A. Nerud, a horse trainer who had a blood clot on his brain.[8] Profoundly thankful, Nerud named a horse after Fager, who soon became a fan of horseracing. The horse, Dr. Fager, was a record-setter, horse of the year in 1968, and the only horse to win four championships in a single year.[9][10][11][12]

Notable publications[edit]

  • Atlas of spinal surgery - Volume 17 (1989),[5][13]
  • Stop talking to the jury: stories of a medical witness (2004)[14]
  • Quality of the Issue: Memoirs and Perspectives of a Neurosurgeon (2001)[15]
  • A Hole in the Wind : The Story of a Man and His Horse (2004)[16]
  • Analysis of failures and poor results of lumbar spine surgery (1980) Fager, CA; Freidberg, SR (1980). "Analysis of failures and poor results of lumbar spine surgery". Spine. 5 (1): 87–94. doi:10.1097/00007632-198001000-00015. PMID 7361201. S2CID 45885789.
  • Intrasellar epithelial cysts (1966) Fager, CA; Carter, H (1966). "Intrasellar Epithelial Cysts". Journal of Neurosurgery. 24 (1): 77–81. doi:10.3171/jns.1966.24.1.0077. PMID 5903300.
  • Results of adequate posterior decompression in the relief of spondylotic cervical myelopathy (1973) Fager, CA (1973). "Results of adequate posterior decompression in the relief of spondylotic cervical myelopathy". Journal of Neurosurgery. 38 (6): 684–692. doi:10.3171/jns.1973.38.6.0684. PMID 4710650.
  • Management of Cervical Disc Lesions And Spondylosis by Posterior Approaches (1977) Fager, CA (1977). "Management of Cervical Disc Lesions And Spondylosis by Posterior Approaches". Neurosurgery. 24 (CN_suppl_1): 488–507. doi:10.1093/neurosurgery/24.CN_suppl_1.488. PMID 583694.
  • Intracranial Aneurysms Results of Surgical Treatment (1960) Fager, CA; Poppen, JL (1960). "Intracranial Aneurysms Results of Surgical Treatment". Journal of Neurosurgery. 17 (2): 283–296. doi:10.3171/jns.1960.17.2.0283. PMID 14434182.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "In memory of Dr. Charles A. Fager". Wellesley, MA Patch. 2014-04-09. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
  2. ^ "The Society of Neurological Surgeons". Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  3. ^ Marquard, Bryan (April 15, 2014). "Dr. Charles A. Fager, 90; brought elegant touch to neurosurgery". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
  4. ^ Gower, David J. (April 1990). "Book Review: Atlas of Spinal Surgery, by Charles A. Fager. Published in 1989 by Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia, 247 pages, $85.00". Journal of Child Neurology. 5 (2): 169–169. doi:10.1177/088307389000500222. ISSN 0883-0738.
  5. ^ a b Fager, Charles Anthony (1989). Atlas of spinal surgery. Vol. 17. ISBN 9780812111729.
  6. ^ "Dr. Fager, Neurosurgeon and Namesake of Great Racehorse, Dies at 90". Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Great Moments in Lahey History". Lahey Health. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
  8. ^ "John A. Nerud, Hall of Fame Thoroughbred Trainer, Dies at 102". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Dr. Charles Fager, Dies at 90; Lent Name to a Racetrack Champion". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  10. ^ "Son Of Human Dr. Fager Looks Back At The Equine Dr. Fager". Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  11. ^ "Pioneering neurosurgeon Dr Charles Fager dies at 90". Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Dr. Fager: The horse, the name, the stuff of legend". Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  13. ^ Gower, David J. (1990). "Book Review: Atlas of Spinal Surgery; 1990". Journal of Child Neurology. 5 (2): 169. doi:10.1177/088307389000500222. S2CID 72938725.
  14. ^ Fager, Charles Anthony (2004). Stop talking to the jury: stories of a medical witness. Jay Street Pub. ISBN 9781889534121.
  15. ^ Fager, Charles Anthony (2001). Quality of the Issue: Memoirs and Perspectives of a Neurosurgeon. Vantage Pr. ISBN 978-0533139545.
  16. ^ Fager, Charles Anthony (2004). A Hole in the Wind : The Story of a Man and His Horse. Jay Street Pub. ISBN 978-1889534930.

External links[edit]

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