Published online before print September 4, 2007, doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.107.097220
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(Hypertension. 2007;50:595.)
© 2007 American Heart Association, Inc.
In Memoriam |
Memorial to Manuel Luque Otero, MD
May 24, 1943 to June 15, 2007
Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC
Carlos Haya University General Hospital, Malaga, Spain
Hospital Clinico, Barcelona, Spain
Hospital Clinico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain
Hospital Clinico, Valencia, Spain
Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain
To paraphrase George Orwell, every person is unique, but some are more unique than others. That is the way we wish to remember Manuel Luque Otero, professor of the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, and director of the Hypertension Division of the San Carlos University Hospital in Madrid, Spain (1981–2007). Born in Extremadura, an autonomous community of Western Spain, through his blood ran his ancestors’ illustrious genes for conquering the unknown, as this region of the Iberic peninsula was the source of many of the most famous Spanish conquerors and settlers in North and Central America. This lineage was reflected in his avid desire to promote new knowledge, his love for medicine and science, his ceaseless pursuit of excellence, his kindness, and his incredible strength during the last moments of his life.
Professor Manolo Luque Otero was a founding member and past president of the Liga Española para la Lucha contra la Hipertension Arterial, vice president of the Sociedad Española de Hipertension, president of the Sociedad Madrileña de Hipertension, founding member of Inter-American Society of Hypertension, and member of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research of the American Heart Association, the American Society of Hypertension, the International Society of Hypertension, and the European Society of Hypertension. His contributions to the field of clinical hypertension included participation in major international clinical trials, his research in the epidemiology of high blood pressure, the first report on the role of angiotensin-(1-7) in mediating the antihypertensive response to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition in essential hypertensive subjects, and his characterization of the patterns of cardiac hypertrophy in clinical hypertension. Professor Luque Otero’s quest for new knowledge is recorded in more than 300 publications in peer review journals, scientific reviews, and books. His contribution as a physician and educator was recently recognized by the European Society of Hypertension, which, in 2007, awarded his clinical unit the title of "Hypertension Unit of Excellence." An outstanding teacher, Manolo Luque Otero directed the work of 15 doctoral theses and mentored many of the current leaders in the field of hypertension in Spain.
Although it is evident that his absence will be felt by the many who had the distinguished honor to know him professionally, for those of us who knew him more personally as a treasured friend, colleague, and mentor, we will miss his optimism, his measured attitudes in confronting problems, his objective advice, and his positive outlook on life. Your friends and those whose path crossed yours somewhere along the way will miss you enormously. Indeed, we shall never let the flame of friendship extinguish.
Professor Luque Otero is survived by his wife Piedad, his daughter Loreto Luque, and his son, Julio Luque.
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