In Memoriam

Ilydio Polachini, MD (1953–2001) Ilydio Polachini, MD, died suddenly on June 29, 2001. He had been the Medical Director of Neuroimaging at Kalamazoo Neurologic Institute since 1989. Ilydio had been a leader in MRI for 15 years and was a past president of the American Society of Neuroimaging. He was active at the American Academy of Neurology for 20 years, having served as chairman of the neuroimaging course for 5 years. He appeared on many programs as an expert in various areas of imaging, including MRA, spectroscopy, stroke, and spine disease. He also had published widely, including two chapters in a successful textbook on neuroimaging. Ilydio devised many protocols for the Phillips Company and helped develop their magnetic resonance angiography program. He spoke to groups all over the world, including the Brazilian Radiologic Society and other societies in Europe and North and South America. He frequently visited his family in Brazil, and while there he would receive images from Kalamazoo via satellite at his home in Rio Preto, just after they were performed. He was a graduate of Rio de Janeiro State University of Medical Sciences and completed residencies at the Dent Neurological Institute in Buffalo, NY, and at the State University of New York at Buffalo. In 1983, he won the Oldendorf Award for his work on white matter. For the past 3 years, he had written the neuroimaging questions for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Ilydio was a great and loyal friend. We spoke on the telephone every week, often trading jokes. He had an endearing way of laughing most heartily after he delivered one of his own. He was a gifted and passionate teacher and was always available to explain the intricacies and mysteries of computerized technology. Ilydio, Rob Bakshi, and I gave seminars all over the country, and everyone was amazed at Ilydio’s depth and breadth of knowledge in physics. He could look at a poor MRI and assure the technologists that they did not need a new machine. Instead, he would devise protocols and give suggestions to make the study clear and readable. He understood his machine like nobody else. Some of the country’s top neuroradiologists would express their amazement at his technical abilities. Little did they know that the only formal physics training he had was a night class at Western Michigan State College! He took this course while he directed the Kalamazoo Neuroimaging Institute with his dear friend, Dr. Azzam Kanaan. Together, they built a cutting-edge operation with eight scanners servicing the southern half of Michigan. Ilydio was very generous. He recently insisted that I obtain a cable modem so that I could tap into his huge database in Michigan for interesting cases. He also set up an MRI center in his hometown of Rio Preto, where he taught physicians there how to read the images. Recently, he participated as faculty in a course on spectroscopy for his friend and mentor, Brian Ross. The participants, all radiologists, voted Ilydio the best teacher. He leaves behind his wife, Bea, three wonderful children, and parents and siblings. We are all diminished by his untimely death at the age of 48. A giant has left the stage, but thank god we were there to see and to touch him. Jack Greenberg, MD Philadelphia, PA.