Born in
Acquapendente,
Latium, Fabricius studied at the
University of Padua, receiving a
Doctor of Medicine degree in 1559 under the guidance of
Gabriele Falloppio. He was a private teacher of
anatomy in Padua, 1562–1565, and in 1565, became professor of
surgery and
anatomy at the university, succeeding
Falloppio.
Anselmus Boetius de Boodt (1550-1632) also received his lessons there in 1586.
William Harvey (1578–1657) and
Adriaan van den Spiegel (1578–1625) also studied under Fabricius, beginning around 1598. Julius Casserius would later succeed Fabricius as Professor of Anatomy at the
University of Padua in 1604, and Adriaan van den Spiegel succeeded Casserius in that position in 1615. These valves are now understood to prevent retrograde flow of blood within the veins, thus facilitating antegrade flow of blood towards the heart, though Fabricius did not understand their role at that time. His pupil William Harvey deduced the circulation of blood. In his
Tabulae Pictae, now kept in the Marciana Library in Venice, Fabricius described the cerebral
fissure separating the
temporal lobe from the
frontal lobe.{{cite journal The
Bursa Fabricii (the site of
hematopoiesis in
birds) is named after Fabricius. A manuscript entitled
De Formatione Ovi et Pulli, found among his lecture notes after his death, was published in 1621. It contains the first description of the bursa.{{cite book Fabricius contributed much to the field of surgery. Though he never actually performed a
tracheotomy, his writings include descriptions of the surgical technique. He favored using a vertical incision and was the first to introduce the idea of a tracheostomy tube. This was a straight, short
cannula that incorporated wings to prevent the tube from disappearing into the
trachea. He recommended the operation only as a last resort, to be used in cases of
airway obstruction by
foreign bodies or
secretions. Fabricius' description of the tracheotomy procedure is similar to that used today. Julius Casserius published his own writings regarding technique and equipment for tracheotomy. Casserius recommended using a curved silver tube with several holes in it.
Marco Aurelio Severino (1580–1656), a skilful surgeon and anatomist, performed at least one tracheotomy during a
diphtheria epidemic in
Naples in 1610, using the vertical incision technique recommended by Fabricius.{{cite journal == Books ==