Božidar Puretić, M.D. (1921 – 1971) was a Croatian physician.
Born in Bjelovar, he earned his medical degree at the University of Zagreb in 1946.[1] He was a professor at the pediatric clinic, University of Zagreb.[2] In 1962, he described a case of juvenile hyaline fibromatosis as a unique form of mesenchymal dysplasia.[3] This very rare disease had been first described in 1873 by Dr. John Murray, a physician at Middlesex Hospital, and termed molluscum fibrosum.[4] Few cases were subsequently reported[5] and it had become almost forgotten before Puretić's case.[6] The disease is sometimes referred to as Murray-Puretic-Drescher syndrome.[7] He died in Zagreb.
^Puretić, S.; Puretić, B.; Fisher-Hermann, M.; Adamčić, M. (1962). "A unique form of mesenchymal dysplasia". Br J Dermatol. Vol. 74, no. 1. pp. 8–19. PMID14489244.
^Murray, J. (1873). "On three peculiar cases of Molluscum Fibrosum in children in which one of the following conditions were observed: hypertrophy of the gums, enlargements of the ends of the fingers and toes, numerous connective-tissue tumours on the scalp and other parts of the surface of the body, with various superficial affections of the skin". Med Chir Trans. Vol. 56. pp. 235–254.1. PMC1988914.
