THE GREEK HOSPITAL AND PHARMACIES OF SMYRNA (1723-1922)

From the mid-18th century to the mid-20th century, Greek doctors in Smyrna collaborated with pharmacists, churches, and the city's Greek Orthodox community to create a state of-the-art health network and charitable foundation to serve physical and mental health needs of the local community. At Graekikon Nosokomion o Agios Haralampos (Greek Saint Charalampos Hospital), or the Greek Hospital, every citizen, regardless of origin, language, religion, or economic status, had access to the most appropriate medical and pharmaceutical care. Neighborhood pharmacists complemented this care by administering vaccinations and preparing medicines. Smyrna's pivotal influence on the Greek medical community ended in August 1922, when the Greek Hospital was destroyed during the Catastrophe of Smyrna.

Ioannis Kardamatis (1852-1942): Pioneer of the Anti-Malaria Battle in Greece

Few scientists have contributed as much to medicine and society as Ioannis Kardamatis (1859-1942). Kardamatis was an important historical figure whose vast medical knowledge was recorded in a spectrum of medical publications, including monographs, bibliographic reviews, books, and experimental and statistical studies. His studies have been published in both Greek and foreign journals. He is most notably remembered for his contribution to the battle against malaria in Greece.

The Greek Surgeon-Gynecologist Savvas Georgiadis (1857-1942) and the First Vaginal Reconstruction in Smyrna

The Greek surgeon-gynecologist Savvas Georgiadis from Phocaea in Asia Minor had performed in 1897 an innovative surgical operation in a young female patient, reconstructing her vagina. Having been educated both in Greece and France, specialized in gynecology, he became a famous surgeon in the Hellenic Hospital of Smyrna "Agios Charalampos," where the operation was masterfully executed. Although among the pioneers in neovagina techniques, Georgiadis still is searching his place among the important figures in the history of plastic surgery.

Greek Surgeon Pavlos Ioannou's Possible Influence on William Halsted's Famous Radical Mastectomy

Pavlos Ioannou performed an innovative surgical operation for breast cancer in Vienna University Hospital in 1861. A few years later, after his return to Greece, an operation performed on his closest friend's child, which led to fatal complications, led him to retire from surgical practice. William Halsted travelled to Europe in order to master European surgery, including at Vienna University, and about 20 years later he published his famous method for radical mastectomy, which appears to be identical to Ioannou's operation. This article debates whether Halsted studied Ioannou's method in the archives of Vienna University (and was encouraged by Ioannou's retirement to develop this technique), whether he learned about it through his peers, or whether this was simply a historical coincidence.

Léon Athanase Gosselin (1815–1887) et ses recherches sur les maladies du testicule

Léon Athanase Gosselin fut un des plus grands chirurgiens français du xix e siècle. Il dirigea, successivement, plusieurs services universitaires de chirurgie et excella surtout en orthopédie, en anatomie, en physiologie et en urologie. Grâce à ses recherches poussées sur les maladies du testicule, du cordon spermatique et du scrotum, ainsi que sur leurs conséquences sur la fécondité et la puissance virile, Gosselin peut être considéré, à juste titre, comme un grand andrologue avant la lettre.

The history of x-ray therapy

The aim of this article is to present briefly the accidental genesis of x-ray therapy that during its first application provoked great expectations and euphoria, soon followed by difficulties and disappointments due to the abuse of radiation and to the inexperience of the first radiotherapists. Nowadays, the use of radiotherapy is restricted to certain types of cancer with excellent treatment results and with less adverse effects.

The great surgeon Eugène Doyen (1859-1916) and his disputable treatments of cancer

We present the case of Eugène Doyen, famous Professor of surgery and gifted practitioner, distinguished by his surgical techniques and inventions but hardly criticized for violating the medical morals by his experiments on cancer grafts and the development of an anticancer serum as noisy as ineffective.

The first leg transplant for the treatment of a cancer by Saints Cosmas and Damian

The most renowned of all medically inclined saints must have been St. Cosmas and St. Damian. They became the special patrons of surgery, due to their miraculous operations. On one occasion, they amputated a cancerous leg and replaced it with another, taken from a Moor who had just died. This dramatic cure was meat and drink for artists, and has been portrayed many times.

The great oncologic surgery of the eminent Romanian anatomist and surgeon Thomas Jonnesco (1860-1929)

Thomas Jonnesco was an eminent Romanian surgeon and anatomist. Politician and patriot, he was founder of the modern Romanian experimental surgery and initiator of general rachianaesthesia. Among his scientific works we underline his contribution to the field of oncology since he established new original surgical methods for the treatment of cancer.

John Hunter (1728-1793): founder of scientific surgery and precursor of oncology

In the following article we briefly present the life and scientific work of John Hunter, founder of the experimental surgery, who by means of his researches and writings in the field of Oncology, contributed enormously to the development of this discipline. In reference to this matter, we quote some examples indicative of his work on Oncology.

Cancer's conceptions of Marie François Xavier Bichat (1771-1802), founder of histology

The French doctor Bichat had a brief but outstanding career. Although the training of Bichat was exclusively that of a surgeon, his scientific interests embraced all of medicine, especially descriptive anatomy, histology, pathological anatomy and histopathology. His important contribution was to point out that organs were not homogeneous structures but were composed of different tissues.

The eminent French pathologist Jean Cruveilhier (1791-1874) and his works on cancer

The French anatomist and pathologist Jean Cruveilhier held the first chair of pathology in the Paris Faculty. Among his scientific works, cancer was greatly profited by his researches.