John Holter

Template:Short description Template:Infobox person John W. Holter (April 1, 1916 – December 22, 2003) was a toolmaker working for the Yale and Town Lock Company Stamford Connecticut. His son Casey Holter was born on November 7, 1955, with a severe form of spina bifida. Shortly after birth, he contracted meningitis, which caused his head to expand rapidly. His parents were told that he had developed "water on the brain" or hydrocephalus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Holter's son was being treated in Philadelphia, at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref> Here, surgeons Frank Nulsen and Eugene Spitz had already demonstrated that a ventricle-to-atrium diversion system could work.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":1" /> They needed was an inexpensive and practical valve that could control the direction of the flow and maintain normal cranial pressure.<ref name=spitz>Boockvar, J. A., Loudon, W., Sutton, L. N.; Development of the Spitz-Holter valve in Philadelphia; J Neurosurg; 95:145-147, 2001</ref>

A chance discovery showed Holter, after a failed attempt in which a young boy diedTemplate:Citation needed, that he could use a silicone one-way valve (pressure sealing). After a medically suitable grade of Silastic (silicone rubber) was found, the device was patented,<ref>Template:Cite patent</ref> and John Holter set up a company, Holter-Hausner International, to manufacture the cerebral shunts.<ref name=":0" />

Although he was unable to save his son Casey, his design, the Spitz-Holter valve (also called the Spitz-Holter shunt) continues to help millions around the world since the late 1950s.

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