Fasanella-Servat became a household term in
the field of ophthalmology in the second half of the 20th century
As closely as the 2 names were linked to a procedure developed by and named
for its inventors, just as closely were the 2 men linked by a long-time friendship.
On December 1, 2000, that friendship was interrupted by the death of Dr Javier
Servat.
Dr Servat completed his medical training in Lima, Peru, his native country,
before coming to the United States for a 1-year internship at Presbyterian
Hospital in Knoxville, Tenn. The following year, 1959, the talented young
Peruvian came to New Haven, Conn, for his ophthalmology residency at Yale
University under the mentoring of Dr Rocko M. Fasanella, the Chief of the
Eye Service.
Fasanella and Servat shared an interest in ptosis, and on a busy surgical
day in 1960, they were faced with a child with minimal ptosis who required
multiple transfusions for Cooley anemia. Speed was of the essence, and it
was on that child that the operation, which would soon become known as the Fasanella-Servat procedure, was first performed. Although
most of the world knows the name Servat because of
this classic operation, his countrymen of Peru will remember him for much
more.
Upon completing his residency at Yale, Dr Servat returned to Peru, where
he quickly rose to the rank of professor of ophthalmology at the University
of Trujillo in Trujillo, Peru. Under his leadership, the Instituto de Oftamologia
of the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo grew in stature, training ophthalmologists
throughout Peru and neighboring countries and providing modern eye care for
countless patients. Dr Servat became recognized as one of the leading ophthalmologists
in South America and, in 1999, his university gave him the supreme honor of
naming his ophthalmology institute, Instituto de Oftamologia Javier Servat
Univazo.
Dr Servat is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and their 3 children,
Ramona, Juan Javier, and Juanita. He will be remembered by his family as a
loving husband and father, by his many students as a teacher, role model,
and friend, by his countless patients as a caring physician, and by the world
as the man who, more than 40 years ago, helped develop one of ophthalmology's
most useful operations.