1849-1930

German physician and surgeon who was the first to operate successfully on the heart in 1896, an operation that included the suture of a stab wound of the heart. In 1880 Rehn was the first surgeon to remove an enlarged thyroid in a patient that was protruding the eyeball out of its socket, a condition known as Basedow's disease. He was also the first to operate on the esophagus to combat diseases that were regarded as inoperable in 1884.