Anton von Troeltsch


Anton Freiherr von Tröltsch was a German otologist who was a native of Schwabach.

Academic career

He studied sciences at the University of Munich, and afterwards studied medicine at the University of Würzburg, where in 1853 he received his medical doctorate. He continued his education in Berlin with Albrecht von Graefe, and in Prague with ophthalmologist Carl Ferdinand von Arlt. In addition he studied otological medicine in the British Isles with Joseph Toynbee and William Wilde. He subsequently returned to Würzburg, where in 1864 he became an associate professor. Among his better known students were otologists Friedrich Bezold and Abraham Kuhn.

Work in otology

Tröltsch was a pioneer of modern otology, and made improvements involving diagnostics and pathological-anatomical research in the study of the ear. He is credited for popularizing the "reflecting aural mirror" for use in otoscopy. In 1864, with Adam Politzer and Hermann Schwartze, he founded the first journal dedicated to ear disorders, called Archiv für Ohrenheilkunde.
His name is lent to "Tröltsch's recesses", or singularly called the "anterior and posterior pouches of Tröltsch", which are anatomical spaces between the malleolar folds and the tympanic membrane. Today in Germany, the "Anton von Tröltsch Prize" is an annual award given to the best published work in the field of ENT,. Also, a specialized medical tool known as "Troeltsch forceps" is named after him.

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