Charles J. Devine Jr.
Charles J. Devine Jr.
Biography
Biography
Charles J. Devine Jr., MD was the founding chair of the Department of Urology at Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) in Norfolk, Virginia, and one of the defining figures of twentieth-century American reconstructive urology. Together with plastic surgeon Charles E. Horton, he built the Norfolk program into an international destination for hypospadias repair, Peyronie's disease surgery, and complex anterior urethral reconstruction — a tradition later carried forward by his pupil Gerald H. Jordan, who in turn became the dominant North American reconstructive urology fellowship of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
Principal Contributions
Penile fascial anatomy — Devine's detailed anatomic descriptions of Buck's fascia, the dartos layer, and the tunica albuginea, and their surgical exploitation for reconstruction, are the framework on which modern penile surgery is taught.
Hypospadias repair — the Devine–Horton flap and related staged and single-stage hypospadias techniques defined a generation of urethroplasty for proximal hypospadias before the tubularized incised plate (TIP) era.
Peyronie's disease — Devine and Horton systematized surgical management of Peyronie's through plaque excision with grafting and tunica albuginea reconstruction, establishing principles (penile degloving, neurovascular bundle elevation, corporal reconstruction with graft) still used today.
Anterior urethroplasty — Devine's work on stricture excision-and-primary-anastomosis, flap urethroplasty, and staged repair laid the groundwork for modern anterior urethral reconstruction.
Congenital genital anomalies — his textbook collaboration with Horton on the surgery of anomalies of the external genitalia was a standard reference for pediatric urologists and reconstructive surgeons for decades.
The EVMS School
Devine founded the EVMS Department of Urology in the early 1970s and built a fellowship program in genitourinary reconstructive surgery that became one of the two or three major North American training sites for reconstructive urologists, alongside the UCSF and Duke programs. His principal surgical protégé, Gerald H. Jordan, continued the EVMS tradition and trained Kurt McCammon, Joel Gelman, Ramon Virasoro, Keith Rourke, and Jessica DeLong, who now lead reconstructive programs across North America.
Recognition
Devine received the AUA's highest honors and was recognized across international urology societies for his contributions to reconstructive surgery. The Devine–Horton eponym — applied to the flap procedure and to the EVMS school more broadly — endures in the operative lexicon. The Mid-Atlantic Section of the AUA commemorates Devine with a named lectureship.
Key Publications
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Preferred Instruments & Setup
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Videos & Media
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