Aldo Oscar Perotto

Dr. Aldo O. Perotto, a respected physiatrist who specialized in electrodiagnosis for over 40 years, died on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Los Angeles, CA due to complications from dementia. He was 93 years old.

Born in Argentina, Dr. Perotto graduated from the Medical School of the University of Buenos Aires in 1958. From 1959 to 1964, he completed residency programs in paediatrics and paediatric surgery at hospitals in the city of Buenos Aires.

He was married in 1960 to Rosa Magdalena Sanchez, and they had two children. Together with his young family, he emigrated to the United States in 1964, moving to New York in search of greater professional opportunities.

He re-trained in the US, working initially as an intern at St. Clare’s Hospital in Manhattan in 1964 and completing a first-year general surgery residency at Queens General Hospital in 1966. Afterwards, he decided to change specialties and completed a two-year residency in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center in New York.

Licensed to practice medicine in the state of New York in 1967, Dr. Perotto was subsequently recruited by Dr. Arthur Abramson, a pioneer in the field of PM&R, to join the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM) of Yeshiva University in New York. For the next 37 years he was a full-time attending physician in the Rehabilitation Department at the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center, the major clinical affiliate and teaching site for AECOM.

In the mid-1970’s, Dr. Perotto became the Director of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, NY and in the mid-1980’s, he was the Clinical Director of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Jacobi Hospital in NY.

His greatest professional satisfaction was perhaps in his role as a teacher. As an Associate Professor in PM&R, he took great pride in his ability to impart knowledge of the specialty to younger generations of physiatrists. From 1985 -1994, he was the Director of Residency Training in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at AECOM. He was known to his students as a patient and knowledgeable instructor. On multiple occasions, he was also a Guest Examiner for the PM&R Board Examinations.

He was a member of various medical academies for over thirty years including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of PM&R, the Medical Society of the State of New York, the New York Academy of Medicine, the American Association of University Professors, and the International Society of Paraplegia. Over the course of his career, Dr. Perotto participated in academic congresses across the country and around the world, often as a speaker on his specialty, electrodiagnosis and electromyography.

Perhaps his most lasting contribution to the profession was the book that he co-authored in 1975, together with his mentor, Dr. Edward Delagi, and two AECOM colleagues, Dr. John Iazzetti and Dr. Daniel Morrison. “Anatomic Guide for the Electromyographer” became a standard reference tool and training aid in the field of electromyography and over the course of almost 40 years, Dr. Perotto revised and expanded subsequent versions of the book, now in its fifth edition. It has been translated into multiple languages including Japanese and Korean.

Following the death of his wife in 1979, Dr. Perotto remarried in 1985 and moved to Westchester County, New York with his second wife, the sculpture Phyllis Baker Hammond, who was well-known in the Hamptons arts scene. The couple purchased a summer home in the Springs in 1987 and following Dr. Perotto’s retirement from the practice of medicine in 1995, they built a new residence overlooking Accabonac Harbor.

After becoming a full-time resident of East Hampton in 2000, Dr. Perotto enjoyed a long and happy retirement, marvelling at the beauty of nature all around them. He was an avid fisherman and spent many happy afternoons on the waters of Gardiners Bay with his long-time friend, colleague and mentor, Dr. Edward Delagi, who had resided in the Springs since the 1960’s. Dr. Perotto especially enjoyed watching the moon rise over Gerard Drive, with the shimmering moonlight dancing on the waters of the Accabonac.

Dr. Perotto and his wife moved to Los Angeles in 2022 to be closer to their family.

He is survived by his son, Oscar, his daughter-in-law, Sylvia, and his grandchildren, all in Switzerland, his daughter, Claudia Mason, in Seattle, and his stepdaughter, Sharon Weller, in Los Angeles. He is predeceased by his wife, Phyllis, and his sons-in-law, Robb Mason and Harley Weller.

A private memorial service for Dr. Perotto will be held at a later date in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Oscar M. Perotto

8. April 2025

Los Angeles, CA