[Doctor Manuel Cobas Núñez (1885-1956), pioneer of urology and uroradiology in Galicia].

INTRODUCTION

The development of urologic radiology with intracavitary and intravenous contrast agents played an essential role in the rise of Urology as a surgical speciality, in agreement with other circumstances that made it both possible (the invention of endoscopic instruments and laboratory technics to study the urine and the kidney function, advances in anaesthesia, asepsis, control of hemorrhage and infection), and necessary (because of social request for these specialised medical services).

MATERIAL AND METHOD

Study of the life and work of Manuel Cobas Núñez (1885-1956), whose surgical practice and publications pioneered the modern Urology and Uroradiology in Galicia (Spain).

RESULT

After being trained in Necker Hospital (Paris) and Instituto Rubio (Madrid), Cobas was one of the first to practice urology in Galicia, with a high interest in surgical diseases of the upper urinary tract. His knowledge of renoureteral surgery was outstanding for the time. In august 1931 he published "Pielografia ascendente y pielografia descendente", one of the first and best documented books on upper urinary tract examination using retrograde and intravenous pyelography, written only months after marketing of the first intravenous contrasts agents.

COMMENT

Working in private practice, out of the academic fields, Cobas was a protagonists of the beginning of Galician modern urology. His publications and book on pyelography show that he was one of the first experts in renal surgery and must be also recognized as a pioneer of uroradiology in Galicia and Spain.