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Tracy J. Putnam, M.D. Collection, 1938-1975.
90
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Table of contents
Title: Tracy J. Putnam, M.D. Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1938-1975.
Manuscript Collection number: 90
Creator: Tracy Jackson Putnam (1894-1975).
Extent: 29 boxes (29 linear ft.)
Repository:
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library. History and Special Collections Division
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1798
Shelf location: Held at SRLF; please contact the History and Special Collections Division of the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library for
paging information.
Language: English.
Source of Acquisition/Provenance
Patient diagnostic, treatment, and payment records and biographical papers of Tracy J.
Putnam were acquired from Ernest J. Penka in March, 1991.
Access restricted; biographical information from patient records may not be disclosed;
researchers must first apply in writing to the History and Special Collections librarian,
outlining the research project and clearly presenting the purpose for which the records
are to be used.
[identification of item], Tracy J. Putnam, M.D. collection (Manuscript collection 90). Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library,
History & Special Collections Division, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
2723003
Tracy J. Putnam was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 14, 1894. Following A.B.
(1916) and M.D. (1920) degrees from Harvard University, his training included
neurosurgery under Harvey Cushing at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (1925-28) and
neurology with Stanley Cobb at the Boston City Hospital neurological unit (1929-33).
Research early in Putnam's career is reflected later in his later patient case files. For
example, the surgical treatment of hydrocephalus was attempted at Massachusetts General
Hospital (1933-35).
From 1934-39 Putnam served as Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Chief
of the Neurological Unit at Boston City Hospital. Putnam is probably best remembered for
the 1938 article, "Sodium diphenyl hydantoinate in the treatment of convulsive
disorders," Journal of the American Medical Association 111 (1938): 1068-1073, in which
he and H. Houston Merritt introduced the nonsedative anticonvulsant, diphenyl hydantoin
(Dilantin; Parke-Davis). This appeared in a stream of work devoted to examining the
clinical and pharmacologic properties of numerous anti-epileptic medications.
Putnam was director of the services of Neurology and Neurological Surgery at the New York
Neurological Institute from 1939-47, and Professor of the same disciplines at the College
of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. During this period he was a founding
member of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (1946) and what later became the
National Epilepsy Foundation (1946). In 1947 Putnam moved to Beverly Hills, California,
to establish a private practice and consult at and later serve as Chief (1947-1958) of
the Department of Neurosurgery at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles.
Tracy Jackson Putnam died March 29, 1975.
The bulk of the material is in the form of medical records from Putnam's neurological
surgery practice, covering the period from 1947 to 1975 when Putnam worked in Beverly
Hills, California and consulted at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital there. Records include
patient case histories; medical test reports; prescriptions; correspondence with
physicians, patients and their relatives, and lawyers; photographs and slides; workman's
compensation and disability claims, appeals, and testimony; and billing information and
payment claims. Patients originated mostly from Southern California, though there are
cases referred from throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and as far away as
China and Brazil. The collection documents Putnam's surgical and pharmaceutical treatment
of epilepsy; pain; head, neck, back and limb injuries; tumors; multiple sclerosis;
Parkinson's disease (aka paralysis agitans); and other disorders typically seen in a
neurology practice of the time. The records document the use of phenytoin sodium
(Dilantin; Parke-Davis), along with clinical trials of other anticonvulsants such as
glutamic acid and Spirodon (Cutter) in the mid and late 1950's. The surgical treatment of
several cases of infantile hydrocephalus and meningomyeloceles (aka myelomeningoceles or
Spina bifida aperta) in the 1950's is accompanied by pre-and post-operative photographs.
Unique cases include one of Ataxia-Telangiectasis (A-T, or cerebellar telangiectasis) in
1953 and a renowned case of "electronic vision" which was performed in 1957, during
Putnam's tenure as director of neurosurgery at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. In the latter
case, electrodes were implanted in the calcarine fissure of a woman with optic atrophy
and connected to a photo cell; this artificial vision device allowed the patient to
perceive light flashes.
The collection also includes biographical material from approximately 1948 to 1969, and
offprints, reprints, and photocopies of journal publications from 1919 to 1961. Employer
federal unemployment tax returns and related forms for Putnam's medical office staff from
1960 to 1975 round out the collection.
Cedars of Lebanon Hospital (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Medical Records [MeSH]
Phenytoin Therapeutic [MeSH]
Anticonvulsants Therapeutic Use [MeSH]
Hydrocephalus Surgery [MeSH]
Meningomyelocele Surgery [MeSH]
Multiple Sclerosis Drug Therapy [MeSH]
Parkinson Disease Surgery [MeSH]
Workers' Compensation California [MeSH]
Dots of various colors were used to identify patient records with certain afflictions.
GREEN: multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, posterior lateral sclerosis,
combined system disease
BLUE: epilepsy, convulsive disorders
RED: lobotomies, thalamotomies (chiefly for pain), psycho-surgery, psychiatric cases
SILVER: neurosurgery