A depiction of poliomyelitis in a 17th -century Piedmontese fresco?

INTRODUCTION

A potential representation of poliomyelitis is investigated in an Italian artwork.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A 17th century Piedmontese fresco is analyzed by combining historico-medical, palaeopathological and clinical approaches. Alternative diagnoses are considered.

RESULTS, DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The man appearing in the fresco holding a crutch is characterized by an atrophic left leg reminiscent of poliomyelitic atrophic. Other congenital anomalies or cerebrovascular causes appear less likely. A reflection on the difficulty of retrospectively diagnosis poliomyelitis is offered.

Travel medicine in Basel - 450 years before CISTM18

Concern for travellers' wellbeing and safety is as old as humankind. Historic documents offer insights into how a safe journey was prepared or travel ailments treated based on the prevailing knowledge of body and (dys)function. In 1561, Guilhelmo Gratarolo published a comprehensive book on what we call today 'travel medicine'. Many then problems are still today's travel malaises. How they were dealt with 450 years ago is uncovered in his fascinating publication.

25th anniversary of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the University Medical Center Maribor: advancing hearts, changing lives : A quarter century of commitment

In 1996, Slovenia witnessed a profound transformation in its cardiac care landscape with the establishment of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the University Medical Centre Maribor. This momentous milestone heralded the birth of the nation's second heart surgery center revolutionizing cardiovascular care accessibility. Today, the Department of Cardiac Surgery stands as a regional hub, delivering specialized cardiac surgical services to Slovenia's northeastern region and beyond. Its unwavering commitment to excellence, patient-centered care, and adherence to international guidelines reflects its dedication to providing top-tier cardiac care. As the department commemorates its 25th anniversary, this article offers a reflective overview of its establishment, development, growth and future trajectory for further development in an ever-changing era of cardiovascular medicine. The article also highlights the department's active involvement in international collaborations, scientific research, medical education, and innovations in minimally invasive cardiac surgery.

Al-Zahrawi (936-1013 AD): On the Surgical Treatment of Neurological Disorders by the Father of Operative Surgery

BACKGROUND

Medical knowledge during the medieval ages flourished under the influence of great scholars of the Islamic Golden age such as Ibn Sina (Latinized as Avicenna), Abu Bakr al-Razi (Rhazes), and Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahrawi, known as Albucasis. Much has been written on al-Zahrawi's innovation in various disciplines of medicine and surgery. In this article, we focus for on the contributions of al-Zahrawi toward the treatment of neurological disorders in the surgical chapters of his medical encyclopedia, Kitab al-Tasrif (The Method of Medicine).

METHODS

Excerpts from a modern copy of volume 30 of al-Zahrawi's Kitab al-Tasrif were reviewed and translated by the primary author from Arabic to English, to further provide specific details regarding his neurosurgical knowledge. In addition, a literature search was performed using PubMed and Google Scholar to review prior reports on al-Zahrawi's neurosurgical instructions.

RESULTS

In addition to what is described in the literature of al-Zahrawi's teachings in cranial and spine surgery, we provide insight into his diagnosis and management of cranial and spinal trauma, the devices he used, and prognostication of various traumatic injuries.

CONCLUSIONS

Al-Zahrawi was a renowned physician during the Islamic Golden age who made significant contributions to the diagnosis and treatment of neurological conditions, particularly cranial and spinal cord injuries. He developed innovative surgical techniques for trephination and spinal traction, which are still used in modern neurosurgery. His insights make him worthy of recognition as an important figure in the history of neurological surgery.

History of surgery at the University of Vienna : The three surgical schools

There are several publications on the history of surgery at the University of Vienna. None of these publications, however, sought to group the rich history of surgery in Vienna into distinct "surgical schools" of which, upon closer inspection, only 3 have emerged over the last 250 years. The oldest school dates back to Ferdinand Joseph von Leber and Vinzenz von Kern in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the second school was founded by Theodor Billroth in 1867 and his student Anton Eiselsberg in 1900. The third school dates back to Jan Navratil, who was called to Vienna from Brno in 1967. Each of these schools is unique in that it maintained a degree of coherence, as knowledge, methodology and scientific focus were passed down in a chain of succession. These three schools also significantly influenced the rest of surgery in Vienna because most of the department chairs at the Vienna city hospitals or private hospitals were trained in one of these three schools.

Medicine in history and history in medicine: the inaugural Davis Coakley Memorial Lecture

Professor Davis Coakley (1946-2022) was an outstanding physician, historian, and leader of reform in medical services and education. This inaugural Davis Coakley Memorial Lecture, delivered in The Edward Worth Library at Dr Steevens' Hospital, Dublin, Ireland, on 28 September 2023, focuses on 'Medicine in History & History in Medicine'. It explores the position of the physician-historian in medical historiography, discusses Coakley's extensive historical work (especially his many books about the history of medicine), and concludes with comments about one of Coakley's great interests: the work of Sir William Wilde (1815-1876). Sir William was a prominent Victorian doctor, father of playwright Oscar, and remarkably prescient commentator on public health in Ireland. Sir William's comments about patterns of epidemics are especially arresting and relevant today in the immediate wake of COVID-19. Coakley's interest in Sir William echoed Coakley's broader commitment to medical care, progressive education, and genuine scholarship that shed light on suffering, illness, healing, and recovery. The fields of both medicine and history are greatly enriched by Coakley's life and work.

A pioneer Turkish urologist-medical historian (Saim Erkun 1901-1949) and his one-century-old review about prostate

Saim Erkun (1901-1949) was born in Manisa at Aegean region of Anatolia as an Ottoman citizen. While his early life was spent in late Ottoman times at military actions including military prison camp in British colony; India, his active professional productive period was in early Turkish republic period (Est. 1923, centenary). He had a good education period for medicine with the help of his good level of all main World scientific languages such as French, German, and English. Besides his main profession, he was also interested in Ottoman urological medicine around the conquer of Istanbul and allocated them a space in his books in 1930s. He was one of the earliest urology resident (1929-1933, Istanbul) of modern medicine in Turkey. He performed many urological procedures and published the outcomes following modern scientific algorithms, furthermore, there have been urological books including "history" partly referring to antique Ottoman literature among his publications. In this manuscript we focused on the magic word of Urology forever; "Prostate," among his essays. Turkish medicine, particularly urology, renewed itself by some intelligent hard working young clinicians such as Saim Erkun, immediately after the short struggling by means of establishment process of modern Turkiye after World War I by the collapsing of old Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, we think that the stunning special word of urology, "prostate," should especially be mentioned to emphasize the importance of this beginning.

Gender and Racialization Status of Medical Eponym Namesakes: Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Many medical eponyms were established when women and racialized individuals were excluded from medicine. The objective of this study was to determine the gender and racialization status of individuals whose names are incorporated in medical eponyms.

METHODS

This study is a cross-sectional analysis of gender and racialization of medical eponym namesakes. The main outcome measures were the study of gender and racialization of medical eponym namesakes found in Whonamedit, Mosby's Medical Dictionary, and the International Classification of Diseases (version 10). The gender and whether the individual was a racialized person were determined using pictures and other available information.

RESULTS

We identified 3484 unique eponyms. White men represented the majority of medical eponym namesakes (2190 of 2327, 94.1%) followed by white women (85 of 2327, 3.7%), racialized men (49 of 2327, 2.1%), and racialized women (3 of 2327, 0.1%). In the ICD-10 sub-analysis, white men represented the majority of medical eponym namesakes (476 of 514, 92.6%) followed by white women (22 of 514, 4.3%), racialized men (14 of 514, 2.7%), and racialized women (2 of 514, 0.4%).

CONCLUSION

Most medical eponyms represent men and white individuals, highlighting the underrepresentation of women and racialized individuals. This indicates a need to re-examine the ongoing use of medical eponyms which may entrench sexism and racism in medicine and contribute to an environment that makes some feel unwelcome or undervalued.

150 years ago: Schwartze's 1873 mastoidectomy and its implementation over the following 2 years

BACKGROUND

In 1873, Hermann Schwartze and Adolf Eysell described a new surgical technique for treating mastoid disease using a mallet, chisels, and gouges of various sizes instead of trephines or drill instruments also called "modern mastoidectomy." On the 150th jubilee of this landmark article, we pay tribute by studying the reception and implementation of mastoidectomy in the 2 years following its publication.

METHODS

The commentaries published in the otological and medical literature between the second part of 1873 to the end of 1875 were studied with an emphasis on the three specialized otological journals and the otological textbooks that existed during this period.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

The princeps paper Ueber die künstliche Eröffnung des Warzenfortsatzes ("On the artificial opening of the mastoid process") by Hermann Schwartze and Adolf Eysell published in 1873 was rapidly disseminated in the medical literature for nearly 1 year, and then entered a phase of evaluation followed by a phase of extension and implementation, before finding its definitive place in the history of mastoid process surgery.

From Deutsche Zeitschrift to International journal of legal medicine-100 years of legal medicine through the lens of journal articles, Part 4: International journal of legal medicine from 1990 to 2022

This is the fourth and final paper in a series related to the analysis of articles published in this journal during its first 100 years of activity. This article covers the time span from 1990 to 2022. It is important to note that, given the period covered by this analysis, it does not aim to provide a historical overview but rather an examination of the most recent trends in our discipline compared to the past. Between 1990 (Volume 104) and 2022 (Volume 136), 4004 articles were published in the International Journal of Legal Medicine (IJLM) across 33 volumes. This corresponds to 53% of all the articles published since the launch of the journal. When compared to the period from 1970 to 1990, some categories no longer appear to be as relevant (e.g., sexual medicine, 1 article; social medicine, 0 articles; biography, 3 articles; history, 4 articles). Conversely, the most recent period has shown an increasing importance in forensic genetics (1388 articles) and the emergence of new significant topics that merit their own classification, such as age estimation (286 articles), forensic anthropology (189 articles), forensic imaging (150 articles), and forensic entomology (90 articles).

[History of the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in Germany]

The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) was a breakthrough in the prevention of sudden cardiac death. After years of technical development in the USA, Michel Mirowski succeeded in proving reliable automatic defibrillation of ventricular tachyarrhythmias through initial human implantations in 1980, despite many obstacles. Nearly 4 years later, the first patients received ICDs at multiple centers in Germany. Subsequently, outside the USA, Germany became the country with highest implantation rates. The absolute number of implantations remained small as long as implantations required epicardial defibrillation electrodes and therefore thoracotomy by cardiac surgeons. Pacemaker-like implantation using a transvenous defibrillation electrode with a pectoral ICD became feasible in the early 1990s pushing implantation rates to the next level. Technical advancements were accompanied by clinical research in Germany, and often, the first-in-human studies were conducted in Germany. In 1991, the first guidelines for indications were established in the USA and Germany. Several randomized studies on indications were published between 1996 and 2009, mostly led by American teams with German participation, but also under German leadership (CASH, CAT, DINAMIT, IRIS). The DANISH study in 2016 questioned the results of these long-standing studies. Instead of providing ICDs to patients using a broad indication, future efforts aim to identify patients who, despite optimal medical therapy, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), and/or catheter ablation, need protection against sudden cardiac death. Risk scores incorporating myocardial scars in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and genetic information are expected to contribute to more individualized and effective indications.

Avicenna's views on pest control and medicinal plants he prescribed as natural pesticides

The present study aimed to introduce Avicenna's views on pest control and the medicinal plants he proposed as natural pesticides. Also, we addressed the strategies that he leveraged to formulate and prescribe them, and, finally, we put his views into perspective with modern science. The data were collected using Al-Qanun Fi Al-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine) as well as scientific databases. According to Al-Qanun Fi Al-Tibb, 42 medicinal plants are described as natural pest control agents. After introducing the pest control properties of each plant, Avicenna explained the appropriate strategies for use of these plants. These strategies or formulations included incensing, spraying, spreading, rubbing, smudging, and scent-dispersing, which are equivalent to the modern pesticide formulations of fumigants, aerosols, pastes and poisoned baits, lotions, creams, and slow-release formulations, respectively. This study revealed that Avicenna introduced the pest control approach with natural plants in his book Al-Qanun Fi Al-Tibb and, thus, harnessed the power of nature to control nature. Future research is recommended to find the pest control merits of the presented medicinal plants, in order to incorporate them into pest control programs and reduce environmental pollution resulting from the complications of current synthetic pesticides.

"Qui la voce sua soave": "Maria Callas' dermatomyositis"-art beyond disease and its stigma

Not available for a historical note.

The history of tourniquet use in limb surgery

PURPOSE

As tourniquets have been present in medicine since almost its conception, understanding and following their development through time is not only an exercise in history but also an insight into the evolution of medical devices over more than two millennia. From simple leather bands wrapped around patients' limbs to the modernised digital devices used widely in surgical theatres globally, tourniquets have undergone tectonic change both in their design and application, moving from battlefields to hospitals. Hence, the aim of this article is to outline the historical development of these devices alongside their present and modern use.

METHODS

The historical development of emergency and surgical tourniquets is chronologically outlined, with particular emphasis on the impact of warfare on their widespread adoption in trauma and emergency medicine and elective surgery. Novel surgical trends and their impact on the future of tourniquet use are evaluated.

RESULTS

The development of tourniquets across two millennia has closely reflected both the scientific understanding of human physiology and anatomy as well as technological discoveries and advancements that have reshaped their design and application. Prominent figures in the field of surgery, such as Sushruta, Fabricius Hildanus, John Louis Petit, Joseph Lister, Harvey Cushing and James McEwen, all fundamentally influenced their evolution and helped popularise and modernise them. The views on their use have been controversial and drastically changed across different eras, with data collected from modern warfare serving to embed their use in clinical practice.

CONCLUSION

The historical development of tourniquets since pre-historic times represents an excellent outline of the adaptive nature of medicine, led, firstly, by scientific rigour and discipline and, secondly, by pioneers who serve as catalysts for change and improvement. The modern inflatable cuff tourniquets that are omnipresent in theatres globally will undoubtedly remain the standard of care for the foreseeable future. Tourniquets that can dynamically monitor blood pressure and consequently adjust inflation pressures, as well as ones with inbuilt axonal excitability monitoring, will further improve their safety profile, reduce associated complication rates and represent the next step in the evolution of these devices. Notably, there might be a shift away from tourniquet use altogether, reflected by the wide use of the wide-awake local anaesthesia no-tourniquet technique that has become the new norm in hand surgery.

The history of pertussis: from an ancient scourge to a contemporary health burden

The present article offers a historical overview on pertussis (whooping cough) by analysing the ancient epidemic manifestations of the disease and the path towards the discovery of an effective vaccine against it. The original mentions of pertussis are examined with reference to Mediaeval Afghanistan and the famous AD 1578 Paris epidemic described by the French physician Guillaume de Baillou. The historical data are then matched with information derived from analyses of phylogenetic trees of B. pertussis. Finally, this article also highlights some recent challenges posed to public health by this infectious disease.

St. Zenobius, the Patron Saint of Injured Children and Non-accidental Trauma

St. Zenobius (337-417), second only to John the Baptist as a Patron Saint of Florence, revived a 5-year-old boy who appeared to be dead after he was struck by an ox cart, one of his several acts of resurrection for which he was revered. His miracles inspired some of the greatest artists of the Florentine Republic, including Ghiberti and Botticelli. Celebrated from Late Antiquity as protector of the city, St. Zenobius might also be considered the guardian of injured children. But it wasn't the only instance where he had to revivify an injured child: a boy died while he was entrusted to the saint's care, a circumstance that today would qualify as non-accidental trauma (NAT) from neglect and prompt an investigation from the police and child protective services.

'Functional hyperthermia': a historical overview

The management of low-grade fever in adults has not been codified. This gap is related not only to the numerous possible aetiologies but also to the difficulty of escaping the monocausal model of diseases. This article explores the complex issue of positive signs in 'psychogenic fever' through Reimann's 1930s series. The discussion emphasises Canguilhem's positions regarding vital signs and proposes (1) a semantic clarification of 'habitual hyperthermia' and (2) an amendment of the Belgian diagnostic criteria based on the concept of functional disorder. This paper also suggests following Peirce's pragmatism in the face of an uncommon clinical picture.

[O vos mendici medici. Criticism of medical doctors by Johannes Gregor Macer Szepsius (ca. 1530-after 1579)]

A relationship between literature and medicine has existed since antiquity. A physician often appears in the literary genre of satire as the representative of medicine and is the object of the satire. The barely known humanistic author Johannes Gregor Macer Szepsius (ca. 1530-nach 1579) was a humanist who sharply criticized the work and behavior of physicians. We have read, translated and analyzed the satirical verses from his comprehensive poetical work De vera gloria, On the true glory, with respect to content, structure and sources. According to this, physicians are characterized by conceit, ignorance and laziness and therapeutic ineptitude. The comparison with other satirical works shows that much of that which he accuses physicians of is repeated in the history of medicine. Some places are similar to the proverbs from Walter's collection of proverbs from the Middle Ages and others are similar to the invectives of Petrarch. Macer also levels criticism against physicians in his poem about the family tree of his friend Anton Schneeberger that appears in Schneeberger's work De bona valetudine militum conservanda liber.

Rudolf Richard Buchheim, the founder of pharmacology

Today, the University of Tartu (earlier Dorpat) belongs among the 250 best universities of the world. Its international team of pharmacologists uses powerful confocal microscopes to study apoptosis and cell death within an international consortium. Science is working on solutions to fight Alzheimer disease, which is a torture for humankind. For this to happen today, the foundation was laid by scientists of previous centuries who deserve our great respect, all of them together and everyone separately. Johannes Piiper, a well-known professor of physiology, once told me in a conversation that articles should be published in every 10 years about the men who have served as examples for the science of the present-day world and about the conditions in which their research was done. It is essential that researchers working in modern laboratories would not forget in their smugness that the laboratory has not always been a warm and well-lit room full of expensive technology, and not always have millions been allocated for research grants. Electricity came to Dorpat as late as in 1892. In the harsh Estonian winter, ice sometimes covered the inner walls of the Old Anatomical Theatre. Dorpat received railway connection in 1876. When I have made presentations in American countries, I have repeatedly been asked why the pharmacologists of the University of Tartu have not published an illustrated biography of Rudolf Richard Buchheim. As I have worked in the rooms the construction of which was directed by R. Buchheim as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, I am trying to correct this shortcoming at least to some extent. I have written about Buchheim earlier, but then the print volume was limited. In this article, I have attempted to fill the gaps where the earlier materials have been erroneous or incomplete. So, the article will explain the formation of the large family of Buchheims. Several articles have given the impression that when Buchheim arrived in Dorpat, there were no facilities at all, and, therefore, he founded the laboratory in the basement of his dwelling house. This article will also bring clarity to that. Through O. Schmiedeberg's memories, we will see the great difficulties with which Buchheim's viewpoints broke through and were accepted. The question where Buchheim's laboratory was situated after Buchheim moved house in 1852 until the completion of the annex to the Old Anatomical Theatre in 1860 will also be answered. The article also brings some clarity about R. Buchheim's children. For the first time, it has been summed up how R. Buchheim is commemorated in different towns and countries. The article includes photos from Estonian and foreign archives; some photos have also been received from cooperation partners. Photos available on the Internet as freeware have also been used. The mid-nineteenth century brought a whole constellation of talented scientists to the German-language University of Dorpat (now Tartu in Estonia, founded 1632) on the outskirts of the Russian Empire. They did not tinker on their own but were engaged in successful cooperation. Thus, the celebrities who happened to work in Tartu simultaneously included Professor of Anatomy and Physiology Georg Friedrich Karl Heinrich Bidder; founder of physiological chemistry, chemist Carl Ernst Heinrich Schmidt; and Rudolf Richard Buchheim whom Professors E. A. Carus and F. Bidder had invited to Tartu to work as Head of the Department of Materia Medica, Dietetics and History of Medicine. Together, the three talented and hardworking scientists cleared the path to research-based medicine and wrote their names into the history of world medicine forever. By introducing chemical analysis and animal experiments, R. Buchheim laid the foundation to scientific pharmacology.

Wound healing at a Viennese medical school 200 years ago

This historical account is a departure from the oblivion of the historical circumstances surrounding the introduction of the open method of wound healing by Vincenz Kern, a Viennese professor of surgery in 1809, and which is still used today in most surgical professions. Thanks are also due to the famous Medical University of Vienna from where Kern ultimately established numerous schools throughout Europe, including Croatia, as a then part of the great Austrian Empire.

[New research issues in the history of German sexology and sexual medicine]

New research questions in the history of German sexology and sexual medicine include a new look at the Imperial and the Weimar Republic periods and Magnus Hirschfeld as a protagonist, as well as the contemporary history of the discipline in the Federal Republic with the two formative institutes in Frankfurt (Volkmar Sigusch) and Hamburg (Eberhard Schorsch). In the post-war period, the tendency to try to solve social problems through endocrinological and surgical approaches continued. This included the (voluntary) castration of sex offenders, which has been regulated by law in the West Germany since 1969. Questions of gender identity do not only arise in the context of gender reassignment surgery. They also have high social relevance and have become increasingly politicized in recent years. These questions are also persistently relevant for urology and clinical sexual medicine.

[The trembling heart of the monarch-Insights into the heart condition of Emperor Maximilian II]

It has long been known in historical research that the Habsburg Emperor Maximilian II (1527-1576) suffered from heart complaints throughout his life. Numerous biographers mention this fact. His medical history and even the results of the autopsy of his body have been handed down; however, it has not been sufficiently investigated how Maximilian's physicians explained his heart condition, often referred to as "tremor cordis", and what causes and triggers they held responsible for this complaint in general and in the specific case of their famous patient. This article addresses these questions, primarily on the basis of a detailed consultation by the imperial personal physician Andrea Gallo, dating from 1555. Gallo's consilium, which has been ignored by scholares so far, first summarizes the state of knowledge on heart tremors at that time. It then turns to Maximilian's case and provides revealing insights into his mental state.

Remembering Edmund Klein: the Father of Immunotherapy

Edmund Klein's seminal research in oncology transformed medicine. He would now be 100 years old. This extraordinary physician-scientist has been dubbed the Father of Immunotherapy and was honored with the highest American recognition in medicine, the Lasker Award, often a prelude to the Nobel Prize.

Cardiocentrism in ancient medicines

History of cardiology starts scientifically in 1628, when William Harvey (1578-1657) published his revolutionary book Extercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus, where he described "general" circulation, movements and functions of heart, heart valves, veins and arteries [1]. Consequently, all theories and practices of ancient medicines were reduced to superstitions. Historians relegated pre-Harveian cardiology to roughs notes, preventing a proper historical evaluation of many centuries of conceptions and practices. All the ancient civilizations shared the conviction that the heart was the biological and spiritual center of the body, the seat of emotions, mind, will, a vital energy produced by breathing and healing, and the soul. This cardiocentric view maintained a special role both in religion and in medicine across millennia from east to west, passing over cultural and scientific revolutions. Here, we will try to give a schematic account of medical beliefs on the heart from the most important pre-classic medicines. Some of them today show to have a kernel of truth. This demonstrates, at least, that history is a non-linear process and that intuitions or even truths, potentially useful for the present and scientific development, can re-emerge from the past.

[Unconventional Laveran]

Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran - 18 June 1845 - 18 May 1922: first French Nobel Prize in Medicine, "in recognition of his work on the role played by protozoa in causing diseases". One hundred years after his death, only written records remain of his work and life. The witnesses to this period are no more. Alphonse Laveran has become an "object" of history.He was deeply involved in a turbulent historical period, marked by crises of regime change (Monarchy/Empire/Republic), military events (French colonial expansion in North Africa from 1830, the wars of 1870 and 1914-1918) and their consequences (the medical impact of infections in the colonial empire and during armed conflicts, the Dreyfus affair, among others), the advent of Pasteurian "microbiology" and the deciphering of the causes and modes of transmission of infectious diseases. A player on the edge of the military and civilian worlds, with their own, sometimes incompatible, visions of the aims and objectives to be pursued, Alphonse Laveran lived through these upheavals in a society in the throes of change, in his family and scientific environment.Paradoxically, the primary sources available to us for learning about this scientist and man are both abundant and "scarce" for us in the 21st century. His scientific publications and many of his speeches at various academies, committees and meetings are for the most part public and accessible, giving us a vision of a professional in scientific and medical research in action, presenting and convincing people of his ideas and theoretical and practical insights. The writings of his contemporaries, both public and private, shed light on - distort? - the man's many facets. On the other hand, there are few surviving sources on the man and his vision of life, his life and that of his family and friends.We will rely on the archives that have been preserved, in particular by the organisations that welcomed him during his military and civilian career, as well as by his wife Marie Laveran and his colleague Marie Phisalix, one of the first doctors of medicine in France and a renowned herpetologist. These two female figures have preserved and contributed to his memory. Let's take a closer look at the man behind the scientist, as we can imagine him through the traces that remain.

[Carl Arthur Kollmann: urologist, venereologist and puppeteer from Leipzig]

While Felix Martin Oberländer (born in Dresden, Saxony, Germany) is remembered in German-speaking urology and abroad, and his name has been honored since 1997 with an award named after him, the memory and knowledge of Arthur Kollmann of Leipzig (Saxony, Germany) seems to have been nearly forgotten within urology in Germany and abroad. However, the memory of him in other fields of science in which he was involved, e.g., puppets and puppetry-based research, remain vivid up to now.

Long life: Aging and the anxieties of longevity from the premodern to the present

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed concerns around life span and aging, but these tensions and anxieties around longevity are not new. Physicians, scientists, and philosophers have been meditating on the idea and consequences of life extension for many centuries. In this short article, we put into conversation some of the ways that people have understood longevity from the early modern period to the present. We trace the history of texts like Alvise Cornaro's Treatise on the Sober Life through present-day dieting manuals, consider accounts of extreme old age from Old Man Parr in the sixteenth century to Jeanne Calment in the twentieth, and reflect on the role of caretakers for older adults, from Gabriele Zerbi's fifteenth-century gerontocomos to graphic novel representations of aging parents in the present. Our goal is to represent the history of human longevity and aging as integrated, dynamic processes, helping us better explain and address the present treatment of elders and how to improve their care in the future.

Dermatopathology in Strasbourg during the German Occupation (1940-1945)

INTRODUCTION

The activity of the Strasbourg Dermatology Clinic was interrupted in September 1939 by the outbreak of the Second World War and the evacuation of the hospital. After annexing Alsace to the Reich, the German authorities demanded that physicians return to work, which resumed at the Dermatology Clinic, and was now entirely Germanized, in particular the laboratory of dermatopathology. Our aim was to study activity in the histopathology laboratory between 1939 and 1945.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We studied all the histopathology reports contained in three registers written in German. We collected patient data, clinical elements and diagnoses by microscopy. There were a total of 1202 cases between September 1940 and March 1945. The records were in a good state of preservation, enabling exhaustive analysis.

RESULTS

The number of cases peaked in 1941 and diminished thereafter. The average age of patients was 49 years, and the sex ratio was 0.77. Patients were referred from Alsace or other Reich territories; referrals from other regions of France or other countries had ceased. There were 655 cases in dermatopathology, with a predominance of tumor lesions, followed by infections and inflammatory dermatoses. We noted 547 cases of non-cutaneous diseases, mainly in gynecology, urology, and in ear, nose, throat and digestive surgery; their numbers peaked in 1940-41, then tapered off progressively.

DISCUSSION

Thedisruptions associated with thewar were manifested by the use of German language and the cessation of scientific publications. The lack of general pathologists in the hospital resulted in numerous cases in general pathology. Skin biopsies were mainly diagnostic and focused on skin cancers, whereas inflammatory and infectious diseases predominated before the war. No traces of data related to unethical human experimentation were identified in these archives, in contrast to other institutes in Strasbourg that were truly Nazified.

CONCLUSION

These data from the Strasbourg Dermatology Clinic contain valuable information for the history of medicine and provide an insight into the functioning of a laboratory under the Occupation.

Chevalier Jackson: father of endoscopic surgery, and champion of women in medicine, social justice, and public health

BACKGROUNDS

Chevalier Jackson (1865-1958) was a pioneering force in the medical world, whose extraordinary contributions to surgery and public health have left an indelible impact. He developed the endoscope and perfected the bronchoscope, and his mastery of these tools enabled him to transform the prognosis of foreign body aspiration from 98% mortality to 98% survival. He was also a passionate advocate of public health chairing the national committee on lye legislation, which culminated in the Caustic Poison Act, responsible for poison and antidote labels. Yet Jackson's accomplishments were not limited to these. The aim of this manuscript was to shed light on Chevalier Jackson's lesser-known contributions to surgical science and culture, and to celebrate and honor the life of this remarkable surgeon.

METHODS

Digital and physical historical records from the National Library of Medicine, Smithsonian Institution, Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh PA, and Sunrise Mill Museum, Montgomery County PA were reviewed for Chevalier Jackson's scientific, cultural, and social contributions to the field of surgery.

RESULTS

Among his lesser-known contributions, Chevalier Jackson was the first to describe erosive esophagitis. He developed the first standardized tracheotomy procedure, still in use today. He was ahead of his time in many ways, pioneering a multidisciplinary approach to medicine, advocating for patient-centered care, and advancing the inclusion of women in the medical profession.

CONCLUSION

Chevalier Jackson's legacy extends far beyond the tools and techniques he invented. He was a champion of social justice, a protector of patients, and an inspiration to medical professionals across the globe.

Palliative Care in the Intensive Care Unit: Past, Present, and Future

In this article, the authors review the origins of palliative care within the critical care context and describe the evolution of symptom management, shared decision-making, and comfort-focused care in the ICU from the 1970s to the early 2000s. The authors also review the growth of interventional studies in the past 20 years and indicate areas for future study and quality improvement for end-of-life care among the critically ill.

[In the wake of Alphonse Laveran]

Alphonse Laveran (Nobel Prize 1907) played a pioneering role in discovering the causative agent of malaria, a disease that has existed since time immemorial, and long emblematic of the miasma theory until the end of the 19^th century. In 1880, this unknown military doctor discovered the role of a hematazoan in malaria, designated Plasmodium. This was the first protozoan to be discovered in an infectious disease, at a time when bacteria were mainly suspected. This major discovery led to the identification of the role of mosquitoes in the spread of malaria by Ronald Ross (Nobel Prize 1902) and Battista Grassi. The recurrence of malaria attacks over many years was for a long time an enigma only solved after the Second World War by the discovery of the exo-erythrocytic cycle of Plasmodium. Progress was then made in treatment, from cinchona bark, quinine and chloroquine, to the recent discovery of artemisinin in 1972 by the Chinese researcher Tu Youyou (Nobel Prize 2015).

Religion in times of epidemics, a matter of public health: great plague of Marseille (FRA, 1720-1723) Covid-19 (2020-...), a narrative review

BACKGROUND

Humans have always referred to religion in History to explain disasters, and epidemics, especially when science could not explain them. Religion has often been invoked as a mean of protection. The Covid outbreak in 2020 and the initial medical impotence brought up old fears, reminiscent of the plague for some people. Unable to rely on science only, some turned back to religion.

METHODOLOGY

A narrative review was conducted to compare the role of religion during the Great Plague of Marseille versus the early stages of Covid-19 pandemic. We mostly studied contemporary documents on the Great Plague of Marseille, and collected press articles on Covid-19.

RESULTS/DISCUSSION

For both epidemics, some people see in the outbreak a sign of God's revenge. Logically, intensifying spiritual life and multiplying religious demonstrations can be a way to fight both epidemics. Studying religion in these times of epidemics also highlights its roles in public health: sometimes facilitating the contaminations if not regulated, sometimes supporting public health policies with some positions, as for Covid vaccines. Conclusion/Perspectives: The comparison of an ancient epidemic with the current pandemic allowed us to take a broader look at the current vision of contagious disease, in societies that have become highly medicalized. The fight against epidemics remains polymorphous, and one of the aspects is religious. Integrating this information in our practices can help improving holistic management of patients, and public health policies efficiency.

History of medicine in medical education: new Italian pathways

Objective

There is little doubt that there are currently obstacles in measuring the impact of the history of medicine within medical training. Consequently, there is a clear need to support a vision that can historicize Euro-Western medicine, leading to a greater understanding of how the medical world is a distinct form of reality for those who are about to immerse themselves in the study of medicine.

Methods

History teaches that changes in medicine are due to the processes inherent to the interaction among individuals, institutions, and society rather than individual facts or individual authors.

Results

Therefore, we cannot ignore the fact that the expertise and know-how developed during medical training are the final product of relationships and memories that have a historical life that is based social, economic, and political aspects.

Conclusion

Moreover, these relationships and memories have undergone dynamic processes of selection and attribution of meaning, as well as individual and collective sharing, which have also been confronted with archetypes that are still able to influence clinical approaches and medical therapy today.

Orphan medical devices have come a long way

BACKGROUND

In many countries worldwide orphan drug regulations are installed but only the United States of America and Japan have an orphan device regulation. For many years surgeons have used off-label or self-assembled medical devices for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of rare disorders. Four examples are given: an external cardiac pacemaker, a metal brace for clubfoot in newborns, a transcutaneous nerve stimulator and a cystic fibrosis mist tent.

CONCLUSION

In this article we argue that we need authorized medical devices as well as medicinal products to prevent, diagnose and treat patients with life-threatening or chronically debilitating disorders with a low prevalence/incidence. Several arguments are given to support this statement.

[Research on infectious diseases in the French Armed Forces Health Service: one hundred years after Alphonse Laveran]

The army has always been particularly exposed to the risk of infection, which Alphonse Laveran already analyzed in 1875 in his Traité des maladies et épidémies des armées. Nowadays, the risk of infection is still present, which is why the Armed Forces Health Service (SSA) employs modern research resources in this area structured around the Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute (IRBA) supported by the Military Training Hospitals (HIA), the Armed Forces Epidemiology and Public Health Center (CESPA), and the Val-de-Grâce School.These resources meet current research needs in infectious and tropical diseases and are preparing to respond to future emergences.Recently, the SSA research has stood out in several epidemics and emergences that have affected the French Armed Forces and the national population.

The EEG pen-on-paper sound: History and recent advances

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is one of the most useful technologies for brain research and clinical neurology, characterized by non-invasiveness and high time resolution. The acquired traces are visibly displayed, but various studies investigate the translation of brain waves in sound (i.e., a process called sonification). Several articles have been published since 1934 about the sonification of EEG traces, in the attempt to identify the "brain-sound." However, for a long time this sonification technique was not used for clinical purposes. The analog EEG was in fact already equipped with an auditory output, although rarely mentioned in scientific papers: the pen-on-paper noise made by the writer unit. EEG technologists often relied on the sound that pens made on paper to facilitate the diagnosis. This article provides a sample of analog video-EEG recordings with audio support representing the strengths of a combined visual-and-auditory detection of different types of seizures. The purpose of the present article is to illustrate how the analog EEG "sounded," as well as to highlight the advantages of this pen-writing noise. It was considered so useful that early digital EEG devices could be equipped with special software to duplicate it digitally. Even in the present days, the sonification can be considered as an attempt to modify the EEG practice using auditory neurofeedback with applications in therapeutic interventions, cognitive improvement, and basic research.

Nathanael Mathaeus von Wolf and Johanna Henrietta Trosiener (Schopenhauer). Variolation in the 18th century on the Polish lands according to the guidelines of a doctor and the memoirs of his patient

Variolation became a popular method in Europe in the eighteenth century. Sources from Gdańsk not only illustrate the guidelines that were used for these procedures, but also make it possible to compare that with the memories of the person on whom it was performed. In this case, the primary sources are: a 1772 work by physician Nathanael Mathaeus von Wolf, and the diaries of Johanna Henrietta Trosiener, mother of Arthur Schopenhauer. As the comparative analysis shows, the theoretical assumptions were sometimes changed during the practical implementation of variolation.

[The genesis of informed consent in the context of medical research ethics 1900-1931]

At the turn of the 20th century, the problem of human experimentation and the need to obtain consent became more important among medical practitioners and the general public. The case of the venereologist Albert Neisser, among others, is used to trace the development of research ethics standards in Germany between the end of the 19th century and 1931. The concept of informed consent, which originated in research ethics, is also of central importance in clinical ethics today.

The Science of Sleep in Medieval Arabic Medicine: Part 1: Ibn Sīnā's Pneumatic Paradigm

Modern sleep specialists are taught that, before the twentieth century, sleep was universally classified as a passive phenomenon with minimal to no brain activity. However, these assertions are made on the basis of particular readings and reconstructions of the history of sleep, using Western European medical works and ignoring works composed in other parts of the world. In this first of two articles on Arabic medical discussions on sleep, I shall show that sleep was not understood to be a purely passive phenomenon, at least from the time of Ibn Sīnā (lat. Avicenna, d. 1037) onward. Building on the earlier Greek medical tradition, Ibn Sīnā provided a new pneumatic understanding of sleep that allowed him to explain previously recorded phenomena associated with sleep, while providing a way to capture how certain parts of the brain (and body) can even increase their activities during sleep.

The medieval biological clock? Gendered reproductive aging in medieval western medicine

This paper examines discussions of women's and men's reproductive aging in a series of western European medical texts written in the period 1100-1300. It uses the modern image of the biological clock to explore how far physicians in earlier periods understood reproductive aging to be a process of slow decline before a final age at which fertility ended (menopause for women, or a less defined 'old age' for men), and how far they viewed women's reproductive aging as different from men's. The article argues that, in contrast to modern medical and popular understandings, medieval physicians assumed men and women were broadly fertile up to a final cut-off point, and had little interest in viewing age-related fertility decline as a slow process beginning well before menopause. This was true in part because there was no realistic prospect of treatment for age-related reproductive disorders. The article also argues that in many respects - although not all - medieval writers viewed men's and women's reproductive aging as similar processes. Overall the model of reproductive aging they offered was flexible and offered room for individual variation. In this way the article demonstrates how changing understandings of the body, reproduction, and aging, demographic and social change, and changing medical treatments influence concepts of reproductive aging.

[On the way to democracy-The transformation process 1990/1991 and the role of the Association for Psychiatry and Neurology in the GDR]

OBJECTIVE

The transition from socialist dictatorship to liberal democracy in the GDR was associated with political and social upheaval. The transformation accompanying the democratic sociopolitical process is examined using the example of the Association for Neurology and Psychiatry of the GDR, which led to its unification with the German Association for Psychiatry and Neurology (DGPN).

METHOD

For the historical investigation material from the archives of the DGPPN as well as the personal belongings of the protagonists of the time were used and eyewitness interviews were conducted.

RESULTS

The transformation process can also be seen for the Association for Neurology and Psychiatry of the GDR. As at the political level, there was also a loss of legitimacy at the board level of the Association for Psychiatry and Neurology in 1990. The new understanding of democracy required the participation of all members. The Spokesman Council and the DGPN (East) were responsible for establishing and consolidating democratic structures.

CONCLUSION

Beyond the transformation process, little is known about the merger. The phase of reorientation at the beginning of the 1990s should be examined for the DGPN as well as the question of how to deal with the suspected political abuse of psychiatry in the GDR.

The Medical Historical Cultural Foundations of Western Nasal Surgery from Ancient Greece to the Middle Ages

The manuscript aims to clarify the origins of Western rhinosurgery through the ancient texts of the greatest physicians of the past, up to the Byzantine Era, focusing on the "exchange of knowledge" between peoples. This excursus is carried out by quoting the texts of the greatest doctors of the past, such as Hippocrates, Galen and Celsus and by analysing the works of Byzantine authors such as Oribasius, Aetius, Antillus, which, more than others, represent the moment of fusion and interpenetration of Ancient Medical knowledge, paving the way for the Medieval Scholae Medicae in the West. The aim, therefore, is to fill that sort of "great gap" (from the foundation of Constantinople in the 4th century AD to the early Arab culture in the 11th century AD) due to the fact that figures such as Branca, Vianeo and, finally, Tagliacozzi, are considered direct actors of a recovery of the "ancient knowledge" of classic authors. This literature tends to less evaluate, instead, that important and huge cultural exchange -literally osmotic- in medical and surgical knowledge between peoples and civilizations, that find a trait d'union in the application of medical knowledge and surgical practical techniques matured in the Byzantine, Arab and Early Medieval period. In final analysis, through the History of Rhinosurgery, this paper aims to highlight how Western medical knowledge is made up of the ensemble of cultures which are apparently distant and different from each other, which merge themselves in a truly universal and transcultural knowledge: the Medical knowledge. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Rhazes's methodology in the science of toxicology

INTRODUCTION

Toxicology has been one of the most important topics throughout the history of medicine. Persian medicine (PM) textbooks such as Al-Hawi fi Al-Tib of Rhazes (Razi) can be a useful source for novel information about toxicology and thus we aimed to elucidate Rhazes's methodology in toxicology based on this textbook.

METHODS

This research is a historical descriptive study. Data were obtained from the book Al-Hawi fi Al-Tib using keywords of poison, poisoning, and relevant terminologies in ArabicAQ1, Persian, and English and also from appropriate literature in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Scientific Information Database (SID), Magiran, and IranDoc.

RESULTS

After introducing the types of common poisons in his era, Rhazes categorized them into three main categories of plants, animals, and minerals, which cause human poisoning orally or via stings and bites. To identify the poison and make a diagnosis of the corresponding toxidrome, he conducted a thorough physical examination of the patient, carefully observing signs and symptoms, and then treated the poisoning using pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical modalities. In the book Al-Hawi fi Al-Tib, Rhazes has provided comprehensive information about the types of poisons, their effects on the human body, the signs and symptoms of poisonings, and relevant diagnostic and therapeutic methods.

DISCUSSION

Rhazes had a great contributing role to the science of toxicology. We suggest future research on an in-depth analysis of other PM references for toxicology knowledge and how they may foster the science of toxicology.

["Impulsive insanity" according to Emil Kraepelin : A clinical framework for female criminals at the beginning of the twentieth century]

BACKGROUND

In his comprehensive classification of the beginning of the twentieth century, Emil Kraepelin provided a detailed description of an entity he called "impulsive insanity", which had not been elaborated before him. The forms depicted by him largely corresponded to the offences, which were referred to as typically female in their nature in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

QUESTION

How did Kraepelin classify "impulsive insanity" and what forms did he describe? Did Kraepelin also see these disorders predominantly prevailing in women, did he establish a connection with women's criminality and how did this fit into the discourses of the time on femininity, criminal legislation and degeneration?

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This study focused on the clinical picture "impulsive insanity" as described by Emil Kraepelin in his main work, the 8th edition of his Textbook of Psychiatry published between 1909 and 1915. His description was analyzed in detail and embedded in a historical context on the basis of secondary literature.

RESULTS

In rudiments Kraepelin's clinical classification is still comprehensible today, although there are major differences to how literature in later years treated this issue. Kraepelin clearly sees "impulsive insanity" as a driving disorder predominantly prevailing in women.

DISCUSSION

Elaborating his concept of "impulsive insanity", Kraepelin positioned himself in relation to important scientific discourses of the early twentieth century, such as the debate on criminal legislation and the theory of degeneration. On the basis of the individual forms of "impulsive insanity" described by Kraepelin, various concepts of constructing and pathologizing femininity can be identified. Apparently, it also aims to explain common female crimes within the patriarchal hegemony.

General practice in the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990) : A discipline between threat and professionalization

BACKGROUND

In the 1950s the socialist health policy in East Germany did not follow a clear-cut course with regard to outpatient medical care. Whilst state-run policlinics gradually took the place of doctors in private practice, the required qualifications of physicians working in outpatient care remained unclear. After preparatory lobbying by committed physicians from the outpatient sector, the 1960 Weimar Health Conference finally paved the way for the preservation and professionalization of general practice in East Germany.

AIM

The article analyzes the formation of general practice as a specialty in East Germany between 1945 and 1990. We scrutinize the status of general practitioners and their field in the socialist health system as well as the foundation of their medical society. Our paper aims to contribute to a broader history of general practice in Germany.

METHODS

We draw on literature from that time, unpublished archival material, and interviews with contemporary witnesses.

RESULTS

After the establishment of standards for specialist training in the early 1960s, general practice was introduced as a field of specialty in 1967. By this, East Germany had a compulsory specialist training in general practice much earlier than West Germany. In 1971, a specialist society for general practice was founded in East Germany. However, institutionalization at the medical faculties was still lacking. Meanwhile, the nationalization of outpatient care continued. In the years that followed, primary medical care was increasingly provided in policlinics. In 1989, of 40,000 physicians in the GDR, only about 340 were still practicing in their own offices.

CONCLUSION

Within the nationalized GDR health system a committed group of physicians, under difficult political circumstances, pushed for professionalization of general practice and its recognition as a field of specialty. When general medicine was recognized as a specialty in 1967, this happened earlier than in other countries and constituted an important milestone.