H. Houston Merritt

H. Houston Merritt (1902-1979) was one of the pre-eminent academic neurologists of his day. As the Chair of the Neurological Institute of New York from 1948 to 1967, he oversaw the training of hundreds of neurologists; 35 of his former students have become chairs of academic neurology departments across the United States. He was also the Dean of the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University from 1958 to 1969.

His contributions to neurology were countless. Among the most important was the discovery of the anticonvulsant properties of phenytoin (Dilantin); the technique he used, along with Tracy Putnam, to identify this compound ushered in the modern era of drug therapy for epilepsy. He also was the sole author of the first five editions of Merritt's Neurology; this popular textbook is as of this writing (2005) in its tenth edition. His early work on the normal properties of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was updated and published by one of his students, Robert Fishman, in a text that is the acknowledged standard on the topic.

Merritt was also known in his day as an expert on neurosyphilis; his 1946 monograph on the topic provided an overview of this condition, which almost disappeared from the medical eye shortly thereafter owing to the advent of penicillin.

He died in 1979 from complications of cerebrovascular disease and normal pressure hydrocephalus; ironically, the latter condition was a syndrome whose existence he had never fully accepted during his career. His students who were treating him in New York disagreed over the proper course of action; eventually, he was taken to the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he succumbed to the after-effects of a neurosurgical operation.