John A. Sampson

John Albertson Sampson (August 17, 1873–December 23, 1946) was a gynecologist who studied endometriosis.

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Sampson was born near Troy, New York and graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1899. After completing his training in gynecology, he settled in Albany, New York. He worked at the Albany Hospital, and later became Professor of Gynecology at the Albany Medical College.

While endometriotic cysts had been described before - so by W.W.Russell in 1898 -, it was Sampson who studied the disease systematically, described the clinical manifestations, and contributed to our understanding by proposing , in 1921, that endometriosis is a process produced by the escape of endometrial tissue that escapes retrograde through the fallopian tubes into the pelvis. This then leads to secondary reactions of inflammation, repair, and scar formation. His theory of 'retrograde menstruation' competed with the alternative theory of 'coelomic metaplasia' that stated that endometriosis started in the pelvis de novo from stem cells. Even today, these and other theories coexist, as the cause of endometriosis remains a subject of debate.

Sampson died in Albany.

References

Speert H. Obsterics and Gynecology in America. A History. Waverly Press, Inc. Baltimore, MD, 1980.