Ernst Ludwig Alfred Hegar

Ernst Ludwig Alfred Hegar, aka Alfred Hegar, was a German gynecologist famous for developing new medical tools and techniques. He was born January 6 1830 in Darmstadt, Germany and died August 5 1914. He was buried in Breisgau.

Hegar was the son of Johann August Hegar (1794-1882), a country Doctor. He studied medicine in Giessen, Heidelberg, Berlin and Vienna, and after graduation went into the army and worked as military physician. He later went into private practice as an obstetrician in the city of Darmstadt.

He was chosen to be the first head of the Universitäts-Frauenklinik when it opened in 1868. and founded the journal Beiträge zur Geburthilfe und Gynäkologie in 1898. He was also a pioneer in antiseptics and antiseptic procedures. He retired in 1904.

Among the many techniques and instruments he developed were Hegar's sign and Hegar's dilator, as well as Hegar's operation, an operation for repairing a ruptured perineum. His works are still widely discussed at colleges of obstetrics worldwide.

References and further reading

 * Paul Diepgen Die deutsche Medizin und Gynäkologie im Zeitalter der Wissenschaftlichen Anfänge von Alfred Hegar Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, Berlin, 1930


 * A. Mayer Alfred Hegar und der Gestaltwandel der Gynäkologie seit Hegar Freiburg, 1961


 * Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary

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