Living legend in surgery: Professor Masatoshi Makuuchi
It is hard to believe that one does not know a name during the evolution of modern liver surgery, who has fulfilled numerous pioneer works which have improved the surgical techniques for liver cancer treatment and influenced other liver surgeons until now. This name is Professor Masatoshi Makuuchi.
As the present President of the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center, Professor Makuuchi (Figure 1) graduated from University of Tokyo School of Medicine in 1973. Later, he was trained to be a surgeon at the 2nd Department of Surgery, University of Tokyo and joined the Department of Surgery at the National Cancer Center Japan in 1979, where he started specializing in HPB surgery. Based on his superb ability and personality, he was appointed as Head surgeon for the Hepatobiliary Division of the Cancer Center in 1988, and then Chief Surgeon of the Operation Department in 1989. In October 1989 he became Professor and Chairman for the 1st Department of Surgery, Shinshu University, School of Medicine. In 1994, he returned to Tokyo to accept the appointment as Professor and Chairman for both Hepatobiliary Pancreatic Surgery Division and Artificial Organ and Transplantation Surgery Division, University of Tokyo, until April 2007 upon his retirement and moved to the president position.
Throughout his career, he has been trying to challenge various surgical limitations, and has taken initiatives in developing many procedures including ultrasound guided PTC, portal vein embolization, intermittent hemihepatic inflow occlusion, warm ischemia in living donor, and surgical techniques such as subsegmentectomy, inferior hepatic vein preserving hepatectomies. Professor Makuuchi has also contributed to establishing techniques for safe hepatic resection and living donor liver transplantation. With all the accomplishments, he has published more than 1000 journal articles and book chapters.
Professor Masatoshi Makuuchi is, with no doubt, a living legend in the surgical field in modern days. He is a true pioneer that could not be seen many in our age. Among many appointments, he is happy and honored to be a distinguished editorial board member of our journal HepatoBiliary Surgery and Nutrition (HBSN), and contributed fine articles to the journal. We are thankful for his great support.
Contributions to HBSN
Vol 2, No 6 (December 2013): New national policy for deceased organ donation in China.
Acknowledgements
None.
Footnote
Conflicts of Interest: The author has no conflicts of interest to declare.
