Karsten Voigt Nominated Honorary Member of the German Society of Neuroradiology

In its more than 44 year history, the German Society of Neuroradiology has judiciously, specifically and discriminatingly nominated Honorary Members who have rendered outstanding service to German Neuroradiology, as described in the selection criteria. We are honoring Professor Voigt, who has embodied great influence and importance for German Neuroradiology for nearly 40 years, placing him among the few illustrious Honorary Members, like Ziedses des Plantes, Zülch, Frommhold, or Hacker, to name only some of them.

After his initial study of medicine in Kiel and Munich, Freiburg was the last station in his internship, in a city and hospital which helped form his professional being. Like so many “northern lights”, the south took hold and did not let go, nor did the area of neuroscience, which he entered with his neuropathologic dissertation. Whoever had withstood the acid test of a rigorous training period at the Neurologic Clinic of the famous, and not less infamous, Richard Jung had nothing further to fear. And that’s how it happened that Karsten Voigt habilitated in a concentrated effort at the age of 34 in Neuroradiology and Neurology, with his typical inexhaustible activity and performance capacity completed his specialty licensing in Radiology and only 3 years later, in 1977, was appointed Medical Director of the Department of Neuroradiology at the University of Tübingen. And as if that weren’t enough, he had also made several research sojourns abroad to work with famous Neuroradiologists like Jirout, Greitz, and Djindjian. More will be said of this in connection with the homage to his scientific achievements.

The appointment in Tübingen was not by chance, rather thanks to – in addition to many other things – the farsightedness of the congenial General Radiologist Frommhold, who wanted another so congenial Neuroradiologist for Tübingen. And he found just that in Professor Voigt. He by no means rested on his early laurels. Quite the opposite, Tübingen became a Mecca for Neuroradiology. The successes were visible, for example the awarding of one of three MRIs contracted by the DFG to the Department of Neuroradiology Tübingen and this against concerted competition from all the Neuroradiologists and General Radiologists in Germany. It was characteristic that Neuroradiology was never below fourth place in the ranking of the most active departments by the performance-oriented funding based on publications, impact factors and reported outside sponsors, and was once even in first place among all clinics and departments in Tübingen. Even in the state averages for Baden-Württemberg, Tübingen was always clearly better than competitors among all state universities. That’s performance at its best!

His rejection of an appointment to a C4 professorship in Neuroradiology at the University Hospital Hamburg in 1983 was rewarded with the same position in Tübingen. Karsten Voigt never refused academic tasks outside Neuroradiology, and so it was logical that he twice accepted election to Dean of the Medical Faculty in Tübingen until 1989. His activities as managing Medical Director of the University Hospital in Tübingen were characterized by Voigt’s trademarks: efficiency, clarity in his dealings, goal orientation.

Such a high level of success knows no boundaries, as shown in the case of Karsten Voigt not only in numerous international contacts, among them Honorary Membership in the French, Greek and Hungarian Societies of Neuroradiology, but also in a close scientific reference: his unbounded curiosity and lifelong search for the not-yetthought and not-yet-done led him early on to the European cauldrons, where the brewing of secret neuroradiologic recipes were created or tested. He always cooperated scientifically with eminent authorities in Neuroradiology and not infrequently introduced, applied and further developed pioneering innovations. For example, he introduced the retrograde brachialis angiography from Greitz of Karolinska, Stockholm, into Germany, which was superseded only 2 years later by the superselective catheter angiography, after Karsten Voigt had watched its inventor René Djindjian at the Lariboisière in Paris. As early as 1975, he published in Röfo the techniques of superselective angiography in animal experiments and in human applications (“Super-selective cerebral angiography. I. Animal experiments and methods of a simple technique” and “Super-selective cerebral angiography. II. Use and first results in man”), which was the starting point for an endovascular procedure which today is the standard for all interventional techniques. How new, innovative and ultimately also misunderstood this innovation was is seen in the fact that several years passed until the method was accepted. Perhaps, as a passionate hunter, he had a certain hunting instinct with a special sense allowing him to follow a track even against the wind. This led him finally in 1982 to Moscow to Serbinenko and Kiew to Shcheglov, the pioneers in the field of endovascular aneurysm therapy by detachable balloons.

Like no other, Karsten Voigt always represented and filled the entire field of Neuroradiology, but still vascular diseases were the central theme of his clinical and scientific work. Nearly 400 publications on diverse topics bear witness of this. For example, he developed rotational angiography very early for better imaging of vascular stenoses and aneurysms. This was published for the first time in 1975, has been part of clinical methods routine for many years and an integral part of interventional activities. Methodically demanding and with great attention to detail, he developed the neuroradiologic application of microradiography, which was used with his students in large-scale studies for the analysis of embryonal and fetal vascular development and malformations, in tumor vascularization, and for imaging of spinal cord vessels. In addition, thanks to his initiative, the first and only German section of nuclear magnetic resonance tomography was created with an enormous scientific boost especially in functional MRI.

His high standards in research and as a clinical Neuroradiologist applied just as stringently to political activities in his profession, first on the Board of the Professional League of German Neuroradiologists, later from 1990 to 1996 as two-term President of the German Society of Neuroradiology at a time when Neuroradiology, which was growing in strength, had to increasingly defend itself against limiting tendencies of General Radiology. Foreseeing the importance of a German neuroradiologic journal, Karsten Voigt was its founding member and its editor for many years. A journal which developed splendidly over its initially difficult and lengthy process to become recognized for its impact. His presidency contributed greatly to the growing importance of Neuroradiology for the neurosciences and was perceived by Radiology as an area with its own specific contents which had to be taken seriously. He advanced the members of his neuroradiologic family in Tübingen with the same engagement as for German Neuroradiology in general. Thanks in no small part to the outstanding support of training and scientific advancement in Tübingen, these scientists occupy positions in the neuroradiologic diaspora in Aachen, Bern, Freiburg, Lübeck, Magdeburg, Mainz, Mannheim, Marburg, and Miami.

To conclude, I would like to express a few thoughts about Karsten Voigt apart from the successful scientist, director or president. On the one hand, bound within himself by a strict code of honor, which perhaps enabled him to become a Rechtsritter of the Johanniter Order, on the other hand, a man to touch, a boss without a restricted zone, a reader of Zeit, a thinker, who, for example, didn’t base his farewell lecture on reminiscences on Neuroradiology, but took philosophy and literature as his topic, things which had always held him – secretly – enthralled. It was and is a pleasure to share his profound and intelligent humor, which often sparkles with linguistic acrobatics and aperçus. The only thing excluded was his really seriously pursued second passion: hunting – the only field, by the way, in which the muttonheads were fourlegged and had to fear his gun and his wit.

The German Society of Neuroradiology herewith honors the work of Professor Karsten Voigt and thanks him with this Honorary Membership for everything which he has given to German Neuroradiology over the past nearly 40 years as a clinical Neuroradiologist, scientist, developer and promoter of German Neuroradiology.

Martin Schumacher, Freiburg i.Br., Germany, Pastpresident, European Society of Neuroradiology