Recurrent artery of Heubner: Otto Heubner's description of the artery and his influence on pediatrics in Germany

Although the recurrent artery of Heubner is one of the best known cerebral arteries, little has been written in the neurosurgical or anatomical litera ture about its discovery. The artery is of primary importance to cerebrovas cular surgeons, who identify it during clipping of anterior communicating a rtery aneurysms. Johann Otto Leonhardt Heubner (1843-1926), who described t his artery in 1872, is better known as the father of German pediatrics, lie was appointed to the first professorship in Germany exclusively devoted to pediatrics at the Charite Children's Clinic of Berlin University. Although he initially studied internal medicine in Leipzig under Carl Reinhold Augu st Wunderlich and Ernst Leberecht Wagner, his early research involved anato mical studies of the circulation of the brain, from which he described syph ilitic endarteritis (Heubner's disease). Finding morphological studies inco nclusive, he turned to more physiological experiments. Together with the ph ysiologist Max Rubner, Heubner performed important studies on energy metabo lism in infancy, creating the notion of the nutrition quotient. In this art icle the authors review Heubner's life and scientific discoveries.