Biografia redatta per la Sesta edizione del libro

Corman’s Colon and rectal Surgery

ANTONIO LONGO (1953-PRESENT)

Antonio Longo was born in Tusa, Sicily. He obtained his medical degree at the University of Palermo, and in 1979 he became a resident in the department of surgical and anatomical sciences at the same university, completing his training in 1984. He remained in the department of surgery assistant, ultimately rising to the post of head of the department. His primary interests were that of surgical pathophysiology and experimental surgery. Trough numerous clinical defecographic observations, he demonstrated that prolapse of hemorrhoids is associated with an internal rectal prolapse and a cause of obstructed defecation. In 1993, he performed the first hemorrhoidopexy, a procedure with he decided for the operative management of this condition. In 1998, his patented PPH instrument was manufactured and distributed. In 1999, he proposed the STARR technique to correct internal rectal prolapse and rectocele. That same year, he moved to Vienna to head the European Centre of Coloproctology and Pelvic Deseases. In Vienna, he and his colleagues developed RMI and RX Dynamic Pelvigraphy. Through 4,000 examinations, he demonstrated that a host of pelvic floor abnormalities can be the result of excessive straining. In 2000, he patented the curved stapler, manufactured as the Contour 40 for rectal resections and the Countous Transfer for transanal resection of internal rectal prolapse. Longo has served as president of the Italian Society of Colonproctology. An extraordinarily innovative and creative surgeon, he holds, as of this writing, 18 patents. he is active in colorectal surgery education, with his theoretical and practical workshops in Vienna, a destination for all who evince an interest in the speciality.