In his final years, Albert Einstein endured severe abdominal pain. A groundbreaking surgery using cellophane extended the life of one of history's greatest minds by seven years.
It was fall 1948. At 69, Albert Einstein had battled intense stomach pains for years. He consulted Dr. Rudolph Nissen, a renowned surgeon at New York's Jewish Hospital in Brooklyn, who advised exploratory surgery.
Einstein agreed reluctantly. The procedure confirmed Dr. Nissen's suspicions: a grapefruit-sized aortic aneurysm—a dangerous bulge in the body's largest artery.
A healthy aorta is a straight tube running through the abdomen. An aneurysmal aorta resembles a snake that has swallowed a balloon. Like a balloon, an overinflated aneurysm risks rupturing, causing a life-threatening emergency.
Today, surgeons replace the weakened section with a graft or use minimally invasive techniques. But in the late 1940s, Dr. Nissen innovated by wrapping the aneurysm in cellophane.
Medical experts like Dr. Nissen knew cellophane, as a foreign material, would provoke an immune response. Specialized cells would attack it—and the underlying artery—causing the vessel to constrict and stabilize.
The surgery succeeded. After three weeks' recovery, Einstein returned to his physics work in semi-retirement at Princeton, New Jersey, free from pain. Tragically, it was temporary. On April 13, 1955, the aneurysm returned, landing him in Princeton Hospital.
At 76, Einstein declined further surgery, content with his life. He told his doctors, "I have done my share; it is time to go. I will do it elegantly." True to his wisdom, he passed on April 18.
