Sykes, M.K. 1925- (Keith Sykes, Malcolm Keith Sykes, Sir Malcolm Keith Sykes)

PERSONAL:

Born September 13, 1925 in Clevedon, England; son of Joseph, (a professor) and Phyllis Mary Sykes; married Michelle June Ratcliffe, January 14, 1956; children: Karen Madeleine, Virginia Lorraine, Jonathan Marc, Susan Michelle. Education: Magdalene College, Cambridge, M.B., 1949, M.A., 1951, B.Chir.; University College Hospital, London University, D.A. Hobbies and other interests: Sailing, gardening, music, walking, bird-watching.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Budleigh, England.

CAREER:

Anesthesia educator. University College Hospital, London, England, registrar, senior registrar, and senior house officer, 1952-58; Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, lecturer and senior lecturer, 1958-67, reader in anesthesia, 1967-70, professor in anesthesia, 1970-80; University of Oxford, Pembroke College, Oxford, England, Nuffield professor of anesthetics, 1980-91, professor emeritus, 1991. Rickman Godlee traveling scholar. Military service: Royal Army Medical Corps, 1950-52, captain; served in the British Army of the Rhine.

MEMBER:

Royal Society of Medicine (Section of Anaesthetics, president, 1989-90), Association of Anaesthetists (vice president, 1990-92), European Academy of Anaesthesiology (vice president and senator), British Medical Association, Royal Society of Medicine.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Fellowships at the Royal College of Anaesthetists, 1953; Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthestists, honorary, 1978; University College Hospital Medical School, London, England; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; College of Anaesthetists (South Africa). Pembroke College, Oxford, supernumerary, 1991, honorary, 1996. Decorated Knight Bachelor, 1991.

WRITINGS:

(With M.W. McNicol and E.J.M. Campbell) Respiratory Failure, Blackwell Scientific (Oxford, England), 1969, 2nd edition 1976.

(As Malcolm Keith Sykes, with M.D. Vickers) Principles of Measurement for Anaesthetists, F.A. Davis (Philadelphia, PA), 1970.

Principles of Clinical Measurement, Blackwell Scientific (Oxford, England), 1981.

(With Jennifer Beinart) A History of the Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, Oxford, 1937-1987, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1987.

(With M.D. Vickers and C.J. Hull) Principles of Measurement and Monitoring in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Blackwell Scientific, (Oxford, England), 1991.

AS KEITH SYKES

Respiratory Support: Principles and Practice, Wiley Blackwell (Oxford, England), 1995.

(Editor, with J.D. Young) Respiratory Support in Intensive Care, Blackwell (Oxford, England), 1999.

(With John P. Bunker) Anaesthesia and the Practice of Medicine: Historical Perspectives, Royal Society of Medicine Press (London, England), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

M.K. Sykes, known more formally as Sir Malcolm Keith Sykes, was born September 13, 1925, in Clevedon, England. He has also published works as Malcolm Keith Sykes and Keith Sykes. He received his bachelor of medicine degree, bachelor of surgery degree, and master of arts degree from Magdalene College, Cambridge. Sykes served in the Royal Army Medical Corps from 1950 to 1952, attaining the rank of captain, and in the British Army of the Rhine. After earning his doctor of arts degree from the University College Hospital, London University, he worked there as registrar from 1952 to 1958. Sykes also taught at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London as professor of clinical anaesthesia, then at Pembroke College, Oxford, becoming emeritus professor and supernumerary fellow in 1991, the same year he was decorated a knight bachelor. He became an honorable fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1996. He and his wife, Michelle June, have four children.

Sykes's written works are primarily medical textbooks. His writings cover several aspects of intensive care, including his specialty field of anesthesia and the complexities surrounding the support of a patient's breathing when his or her medical condition or medical procedure necessitates respiratory assistance.

Principles of Measurement and Monitoring in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care is a textbook approach to the use of anesthesia in a hospital setting. In the book, Sykes begins by reiterating the physics and mathematics of measuring anesthetic materials and discusses electrical devices used for the purpose. He next explains the application of these measuring principles to the fluids and gases used in anesthesia. The last section of Principles of Measurement and Monitoring in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care examines monitoring procedures in various settings and the use of devices to ensure patient safety. Alan R. Aitkenhead, in a review for the Lancet found it to be an important text, declaring that it "should be read by all trainees in anaesthesia … and is well worth the attention of discerning practitioners from any specialty in which monitoring and clinical measurement techniques are used."

In Respiratory Support: Principles and Practice, Sykes analyzes respiratory care from a historical and developmental aspect. He explores the beginning of respiratory support in the fifteenth century and how it has changed over the centuries. He examines the physiological aspects of artificial ventilation and how it is mechanically supported, how respiratory support relates to the pulmonary system, and designs of modern ventilators. Included in the text are personal opinions and observations based on Sykes's vast experience in the field. In a review for the British Medical Journal, S.P.K. Linter wrote, "Respiratory Support is aimed at a wide market: trainee anaesthetists, intensivists, physicians, or surgeons caring for patients who require some form of respiratory support. It will be valuable to all these groups."

Sykes edited Respiratory Support in Intensive Care with J.D. Young, an introductory manual for students studying respiratory support. It is a field that has seen many technical innovations in ventilation equipment, allowing for therapy to occur outside of the hospital setting as well as within it. The book discusses procedures and machines used in intensive care to keep the patient's airway clear and support proper breathing, essential information for all doctors working in intensive care units. Andrew T. Cohen, in a review for the British Medical Journal, commented, "Although the book is not intended for experienced intensivists, most would probably learn something from reading the comprehensive text."

Written with John P. Bunker, Anaesthesia and the Practice of Medicine: Historical Perspectives recounts the history of anesthetic practice from its beginnings in the nineteenth century, originating with recreational drug use, through its development into a complicated surgical specialty. Among the influences Sykes and Bunker enumerate are the creation of new medications, current and past methods of funding research, results of biological research, and changes in social ethics.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

British Medical Journal, December 2, 1995, S.P.K. Linter, review of Respiratory Support: Principles and Practice, p. 1513; July 15, 2000, Andrew T. Cohen, review of Respiratory Support in Intensive Care, p. 182.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, October 1, 2007, G. Eknoyan, review of Anaesthesia and the Practice of Medicine: Historical Perspectives, p. 317.

JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, December 5, 2007, Helen Bynum, review of Anaesthesia and the Practice of Medicine, p. 2551.

Lancet, February 22, 1992, Alan R. Aitkenhead, review of Principles of Measurement and Monitoring in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, p. 481.

SciTech Book News, September 1, 2007, review of Anaesthesia and the Practice of Medicine.