Professor Stuart Campbell graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Glasgow in 1961. After qualifying for his Membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologist in England in 1965, Professor Campbell started his life-long career in ultrasonography and prenatal diagnosis. Working as a research registrar and Hall Tutorial Fellow under Professor Ian Donald at the Queen Mother's Hospital, University of Glasgow (opened in 1964 with a fully equipped Ultrasound unit), Campbell studied placentography and cephalometry with Dr. James Willocks, then senior lecturer in the department. Dr. Willocks published his studies on the A-scan measurement of the fetal biparietal diameter in 1962 and 1964. (On the top, picture showing Campbell demonstrating the early version of the Diasonograph, Nuclear Enterprises NE4101, 1965).In 1968, with help in modifying the Diasonograph® scanning apparatus (the NE4101, or the Mark 1, or the revised 'Lund' machine)) from Mr. John Fleming, then research technologist engaged by the University of Glasgow, Campbell, then still emplyed as registrar at the Queen Mother's Hospital, described the use of both the A- and B-mode scans to measure the fetal biparietal diameter in his landmark publication "An improved method of fetal cephalometry by ultrasound". The practical 'maneuver' had quickly become standard practice in an obstetric ultrasound examination for the next decade. In 1971, with improvements in the caliper system, he published normograms for the biparietal diameter from the 13th weeks of gestation and has made cephalometry a standard tool for the assessment of fetal growth and maturity.
The measurement of the BPD by ultrasound has changed forever
the practice of prenatal assessment of fetal growth.
After his tenure at the Queen Mother's Hospital, he took up in 1968 lecturership at the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Queen Charlotte's maternity Hospital in London, working under Professor Sir John Dewhurst, and soon became senior lecturer in 1973 and Professor of Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology in 1976. There he described varying patterns of intrauterine fetal growth, the 'late-flattening' growth associated with fetal hypoxaemia and the 'low-profile' variety associated with constitutional reduced growth.
Campbell reported the diagnosis and management of a 17 weeks anencephaly in 1972 and the diagnosis of spina bifida by ultrasound in 1975. Both appeared as landmark papers in the Lancet. In collaboration with researchers at Guy's Hospital, London, he was active in the study of maternal serum AFP and amniotic AFP levels and their relationship with neurotube defects. His group also looked at the fetal hourly urine production rate in 1973 with Juiry Wladimiroff from Rotterdam. In 1975 he described another landmark fetal measurement, the abdominal circumference and subsequently it's relationship with intrauterine fetal weight.
Professor Campbell moved on to become Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at King's College Hospital medical school, London in 1976. In the same year he followed on with the concept of head circumference to abdominal circumference ratio in the assessment of small-for-dates fetuses. In 1978, together with Dr. Charles Rodeck (now Professor) at King's College, they published their experience with ultrasound-guided fetoscopy and pioneered blood aspiration from the fetal end of the umbilical cord as compared to the surface of the placenta. In 1980, with the advent of real-time ultrasound scanners his group described yet another landmark parameter, the fetal femur length in second trimester dating.
By about 1982, aside from looking at the various fetal malformations using real-time ultrasound, Professor Campbell had started systematic investigations in many other areas, including pioneering work on ovarian cancer screening with ultrasound, doppler fetal and utero-placental blood flow in pathological conditions such as pre-eclampsia, ovarian follicular developments, routine ultrasound population screening, and umbilical and placental blood sampling. In particular he had introduced the concept of screening for the later development of pre-eclampsia and intra-uterine growth retardation basing on early uteroplacental waveforms. With the advent of the transvaginal scanners and color flow mapping in the late 1980's, his group studied with renew interests gynecological pathologies such as ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, ectopic pregnancies and pelvic masses.
In collaboration with his colleagues in reproductive medicine, Professor Campbell developed various ultrasound assessment criteria in enhancing the effectiveness of in-vitro fertilization programmes. He was also instrumental in making ooctye retrieval practicable on an outpatient basis with the introduction of ultrasound-guided follicular aspiration in the department. Many of the large scale studies were published as landmark papers in the British Medical Journal. Research in fetal interventional techniques and therapy were further expanded with the arrival of Dr. Kypros Nicolaides (now professor at King's College) in the department. Fetoscopic laser surgery was one of the incarnations and has been found to be useful in conditions such as the twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome by sealing off the communicating vessels. Professor Campbell moved on in 1996 to become Professor and Chair at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Fetal Medicine Unit at St. George's Hospital in London and continued with many innovative research projects. Before his retirement in 2001 he was one of the earliest proponents for the 3-D ultrasound scan to be an important catalyst for maternal-fetal bonding.
Professor Campbell had served on the Council and committees of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He has been elected Honorary Fellow of the British Medical Ultrasound Society, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, the Italian Society of Ecography in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the Croatian Academy of Medicine. These were among the many honors and awards which he received throughout his career. He was made Doctor of Science by the University of London in 1996.
Professor Campbell is perhaps the most well-known figure in the field of Obstetrical and Gynecological ultrasound to date and his contributions to the specialty have truely been legendary. His research in ultrasonography, prenatal diagnosis, fetal medicine and therapy span an incredible number of important areas and in his unfailing preserverence in breaking new grounds in the last 30 years he has contributed to over 500 papers and articles and has been author or co-author of at least 50 books and monographs.
Many famous names in perinatal and reproductive medicine had come through his departments: Charles Rodeck, Malcolm Pearce, David Little, Kypros Nicolaides, Lindsay Allan, Tom Bourne, John Parsons, Rajai Goswamy, Lyn Chitty, Sanjay Vyas, Christopher Steer, Gerald Hackett, T Cohen-Overbeek, Kevin Harrington, Yves Ville, Davor Jurkovic, and Eric Jauniaux, to name a few.
Professor Campbell has also taught extensively as visiting Professor in many major Obstetrics and Gynecology centers in the United States and Europe and has been invited keynote speaker at uncountable number of important International meetings. He was the President of the Section of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Royal Society Medicine in 1995 and was the founding President of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG) in 1990 (up to 1998) and founding Editor-in-chief of it's journal - the Journal of Ultrasound in Obstertrics and Gynecology. In 1992, Professor Campbell received the Ian Donald gold medal from the ISUOG.
Read also: "History of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology - Interview with Professor Stuart Campbell" at the Contemporary ObGyn.net.
Images credit: AIUM, Alamy Stock Photos, BBC News./I>.