Karl Chiari

Karl Chiari came from an old Austrian family of doctors. He was the great grandchild of Johann Baptist Chiari (1817-1854) and the grandchild of Ottokar Freiherr von Chiari (1853-1918), whose brother was Hans Chiari (1851-1916).

 He studied medicine in Vienna and graduated there. In 1962 he became head of the University Orthopaedic Clinic in Vienna, a position he held until his death. In accordance with the tradition of the Adolf Lorenz school, Chiari paid great attention to the problems of congenital dysplasia of the hip, and in 1953 he published his method of pelvic osteotomy, which has subsequently achieved wide renown. 

 In recognition of his scientific achievements, Chiari was an honorary member of the German Society for Orthopaedics and Traumatology, and the Societies for Orthopaedics of the German Democratic Republic, France, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Austria. He was a corresponding member of the Orthopaedic Societies of England, Switzerland and the United States of America. In 1960 he became President of the German Society for Orthopaedics and Traumatology and an elected member of the International Hip Society. Between 1864 and 1873 he was president of the Union of Austrian Orthopaedists.

 Karl Chiari was mainly interested in clinical work and encouraged his many students and colleagues to take the same approach. Chiari gained the respect of his many patients, not only as a result of his well-founded knowledge in almost all branches of orthopaedics, but also through his ever-present interest in his patients and his ethical approach to medicine.

 Obituary written by Professor Dr. Fritz Meznik (1923-2005), Vienna, in International Orthopaedics, 1982, 6: 139.

K. Chiari:
[Pelvic osteotomy in hip arthroplasty] [in German]
Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift, 1953, 103: 707-709.

K. Chiari:
[Results of pelvic osteotomy as of the shelf method acetabular roof plastic] [in German]
Zeitschrift für Orthopädie und ihre Grenzgebiete, Stuttgart, 1955, 87: 14-26.

K. Chiari
[Operative treatment of the hip joint in congenital hip joint dislocation] [in German]
Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift, December 154, 1957, 107: 1020-1022.

K. Chiari.
[Pelvic osteotomy in plastic surgery of the acetabular roof] [in German]
Langenbecks Archiv für klinische Chirurgie vereinigt mit Deutsche Zeitschrift für Chirurgie, Berlin 1959, 292: 856-857.

K. Chiari:
[Operative therapy of coxarthrosis] [in German]
Wiener klinische Wochenschrift, April 24, 1964, 76: 299-300. 

K. Chiari, Drexler H, Hofer H.
[Diagnosis of hip joint dysplasia in general practice] [in German]
Der Landarzt, 1965, 41: 223-230.

K. Chiari:
[Pelvic osteotomy in the treatment of coxarthrosis] [in German]
Beiträge zur Orthopädie und Traumatologie, Berlin, March 1968, 15: 163-168.

K. Chiari:
[Pelvis osteotomy in the treatment of coxarthroses] [in German]
Acta Orthopaedica Belgica, Bruxelles, October 1971, 37: 509-511.

K. Chiari:
[Proceedings: Late results following pelvic osteotomy–prevention of pre-arthrosis] [in German]
Zeitschrift für Orthopädie und ihre Grenzgebiete, Stuttgart, August 1974, 112 (4): 603-605.

K. Chiari:
[Medial displacement osteotomy of the pelvis.]
Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 1974, 98: 55-71.

K. Chiari:
[History and present indications for corrective surgery of the acetabulum in hip dysplasi]
Archiv für orthopädische und Unfallchirurgie, München, October 8, 1976, 86: 67-76. [in German]

K. Chiari, M. Endler, H. Hackel:
[Indications and results of osteotomy of the pelvis using Chiari’s method in advanced arthrosis]
Acta Orthopaedica Belgica, 1978, 44:176–191. [in German]

N. Böhler, K. Chiari, H. Kristen:
[Radiolucent spatulas for simplifying Chiari’s surgical technic of pelvic osteotomy] [in German]
Zeitschrift für Orthopädie und ihre Grenzgebiete, Stuttgart, March-April 1983, 121 (2): 159.

N. Böhler, K. Chiari, F. Grundschober, G. Niebauer, H. Plenk Jr:
Guidelines for Chiari’s osteotomy in the immature skeleton developed from a canine model.
Clinical Orthopaedics and Rerlated Research, January-February 1985, 192: 299-311.

M. Lange:
[60th anniversary of Prof. Dr. Karl Chiari].
Zeitschrift für Orthopädie und ihre Grenzgebiete, Stuttgart, June 1972, 110 (3): 277-280.