The development of musculoskeletal radiology for 100 years as presented in the pages of Acta Radiologica.

During the last 100 years, musculoskeletal radiology has developed from bone-only radiography performed by everyone to a dedicated subspecialty, still secure in its origins in radiography but having expanded into all modalities of imaging. Like other subspecialties in radiology, it has become heavily dependent on cross-sectional and functional imaging, and musculoskeletal interventions play an important role in tumor diagnosis and treatment and in joint diseases. All these developments are reflected in the pages in Acta Radiologica, as shown in this review.

[Retention of contrast media in the history of radiology : Sequelae of the former use of thorotrast and new challenges]. / Kontrastmittelretention in der Geschichte der Radiologie : Folgen der früheren Thorotrastanwendungen und neue Herausforderungen.

Detection of gadolinium deposits in patients who have repeatedly been administered intravenous gadolinium chelates have given rise to concern regarding the long-term safety of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast media. Nevertheless, negative long-term clinical effects have not yet been observed. In some publications parallels have been drawn to the sequelae of thorotrast that was formerly used for arterial angiography. In this article the history of thorotrast use is briefly described and in particular why, despite warnings, this substance was used frequently and worldwide. A brief summary of the results of the German Thorotrast Study revealed that high excess rates were only observed for primary malignant liver tumors after a 15-year or longer latency period and to a lesser degree of leukemias, as well as for severe local complications due to paravascular injections, particularly in the neck region. Based on this historical review, we will venture to take stock of the outcome from the "success story" of this contrast agent.

Computed tomography: revolutionizing the practice of medicine for 40 years.

Computed tomography (CT) has had a profound effect on the practice of medicine. Both the spectrum of clinical applications and the role that CT has played in enhancing the depth of our understanding of disease have been profound. Although almost 90 000 articles on CT have been published in peer-reviewed journals over the past 40 years, fewer than 5% of these have been published in Radiology. Nevertheless, these almost 4000 articles have provided a basis for many important medical advances. By enabling a deepened understanding of anatomy, physiology, and pathology, CT has facilitated key advances in the detection and management of disease. This article celebrates this breadth of scientific discovery and development by examining the impact that CT has had on the diagnosis, characterization, and management of a sampling of major health challenges, including stroke, vascular diseases, cancer, trauma, acute abdominal pain, and diffuse lung diseases, as related to key technical advances in CT and manifested in Radiology.

[Egas Moniz: a genius, unlucky looser or a Nobel committee error?]. / Profesor Anatol Dowzenko - klinicysta neurolog, naukowiec i dydaktyk.

Portuguese neurologist António Egas Moniz is one of the most intriguing figures in the history of medicine. While an invention of angiography in 1927 is his acknowledged merit, lobotomy, invented in 1935 became a black legend of psychiatry, although sporadically it is performed also today. There are even postulates to withdraw the Nobel Prize, which Moniz received in 1949 for inventing the lobotomy. Moniz in fact re-invented lobotomy, primarily introduced in 1888 by a Swiss psychiatrist Gottlieb Burckhardt and later forgotten. Its popularisation, including its abuses was chiefly done by American neurologists Walter Freeman and James Watts. Aside the science, Moniz was an exceptionally colourful person, a merited politician, Portuguese minister of foreign affairs, the head of its delegation at Versailles in 1918, in 1951 he was even proposed a position of a President of Portugal. He was a versatile humanist and a writer, even a gambling expert. His person is hard for black and white evaluation, definitely deserving a re-evaluation from today's historical perspective.

[Exploring the dark continent: medical image and brain]. / Explorando el oscuro continente: imagen medica y cerebro.

INTRODUCTION: Until the late 19th century, direct observation of the central nervous system was practically impossible. The discovery of X-rays in 1895 and their subsequent application in the field of medicine brought about a shift of paradigm that completely revolutionised the way in which neurology was practised. The possibility of viewing the inside of the brain had a pronounced impact on clinical practice, and enriched the diagnosis and treatment of brain pathologies in a manner that was unimaginable up until then. DEVELOPMENT: The aim of this study is to describe the birth and development of medical imaging of the brain, from the discovery of X-rays and the early days of radiography to the appearance of computerised tomography and magnetic resonance in the 60s, both of which are techniques that were to change the world of diagnostic imaging forever. This brief overview of the history of radiology also includes the origins of angiography and other techniques that are no longer in use, but which were ground-breaking innovations in their time, such as ventriculography or pneumoencephalography. CONCLUSIONS: The procedures and techniques described in this article made it possible to view the inside of the brain, thereby facilitating the diagnosis and treatment of a number of neurological processes.

TITLE: Explorando el oscuro continente: imagen medica y cerebro.Introduccion. Hasta finales del siglo XIX, el sistema nervioso central es practicamente inaccesible a la observacion directa. El descubrimiento en 1895 de los rayos X y su posterior aplicacion medica constituyen un cambio de paradigma que revoluciona por completo la manera en que se practica la neurologia. La posibilidad de visualizar el interior del encefalo tiene un impacto mayusculo en la practica clinica y enriquece el diagnostico y el tratamiento de patologias cerebrales de una forma hasta entonces inimaginable. Desarrollo. El proposito de este trabajo es describir el nacimiento y el desarrollo de la imagen medica cerebral: partimos del descubrimiento de los rayos X y del inicio de la radiografia hasta llegar a la aparicion en la decada de los setenta de la tomografia computarizada y la resonancia magnetica, tecnicas que cambiarian el mundo del diagnostico por imagen. En este breve recorrido por la historia de la neurorradiologia tambien se incluye el origen de la angiografia y otras tecnicas actualmente en desuso, pero que en su momento constituyeron una autentica revolucion; tal es el caso de la ventriculografia o la neumoencefalografia. Conclusiones. Los procedimientos y tecnicas descritos en este articulo han permitido visualizar el interior del cerebro, facilitando el diagnostico y el tratamiento de multiples procesos neurologicos.

Spinal vascular malformations: an historical perspective.

In this historical perspective, the author identifies three epochs in the development of the concepts and treatment of spinal vascular lesions: 1) early observations (1860s-1912), with the lesions during this time period recognized only at autopsy; 2) the "middle ages" (1912-1960), with surgical intervention sporadic and yielding dismal results; and 3) the modern era (beginning in the 1960s), coincident with parallel dramatic advances in radiology, microsurgical instrumentation, and anesthesiology. These advances resulted in a better understanding of the pathophysiological aspects and angioarchitecture of the lesions. Whereas the nomenclature of the lesions in the past was confusing, a new understanding of these diseases that has emerged during the modern era has permitted refinement of the classification of the lesions as distinct biological entities. Modern diagnostic imaging has enabled identification of patients who may benefit from surgical or embolic occlusion, and treatment has become rationally based. Future progress in the management of spinal vascular lesions may be anticipated, with improvement in noninvasive imaging for early detection of suspected abnormalities. Furthermore, advances in spinal cord neuroprotection may expand the range of future options for surgical or embolic intervention.

Egas Moniz: twice a double life.

Egas Moniz is credited with the discovery in 1927 of radioarteriography, for which he was, on three occasions, nominated for the Nobel Prize, and in all three denied the award. In 1949 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for having designed leucotomy, a brain surgery to treat some forms of severe metal disorders. He was also an successful politician and accomplished statesman.

The mystery of angiography and the "unawarded" Nobel Prize: Egas Moniz and Hans Christian Jacobaeus.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the circumstances surrounding why Egas Moniz was not awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution of angiography, provide a synopsis of Moniz's political and medical careers, and present a biographical sketch of Hans Christian Jacobaeus, the neurologist who evaluated Moniz's Nobel Prize nominations, as well as to dispel long-standing misconceptions concerning Moniz's recognition and to acknowledge the contributions of other researchers. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: In 1936, António Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz published the results of a radical treatment for mental illness, a surgical procedure he termed prefrontal leucotomy. Moniz achieved such remarkable results with mental patients who suffered from conditions previously deemed incurable that many physicians throughout the world immediately embraced the procedure. In 1949, the Nobel Prize Committee recognized Moniz's contribution with the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. Why Moniz's earlier major contribution to medicine, the discovery and development of angiography, was not acknowledged in like fashion has remained a mystery. Nobel Prize documents reveal that Moniz was nominated for the award on two separate occasions; both times, Jacobaeus, Chairman of the Department of Neurology at Karolinska Institute and a member of the Nobel Prize Committee, evaluated the nominations and recommended against awarding Moniz the prize. CONCLUSION: The development of imaging techniques was not isolated to any one individual's contribution. Several persons, including Walter Dandy and Jacobaeus, were leading figures.

Biography: history of developments in imaging techniques: Egas Moniz and angiography.

Angiography, the primary imaging technique used for visualizing the brain's blood vessels and any accompanying abnormalities, also is used for imaging aneurysms and other lesions having an infectious cause. A Nobel laureate who later was recognized for his radical treatment for mental illness, Antonio Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz, has been credited with discovering angiography. However, despite the tremendous impact it has had on the field of medicine, angiography did not receive the recognition that the researcher's later work in psychosurgery did. For many years, the reason for this seeming oversight remained a mystery, especially considering that leucotomy subsequently was superseded by psychopharmaceutical drugs and other management modalities, whereas angiography continues to play a vital role in medicine. This article looks at the various achievements of Egas Moniz, who excelled in many disciplines, as well as at the circumstances surrounding his being denied the Nobel Prize for the discovery of angiography.

Vein grafts: an historical perspective.

The use of autogenous vein for vascular grafting has been traced historically. Although vein remains the graft of chocie for smaller vessels, the results are imperfect and the need to identify an "ideal" graft is becoming critical.

[100 years of roentgen rays. The contribution of Austrian scientists to discovery and applications]. / Hundert Jahre Röntgenstrahlen. Der Beitrag österreichischer Wissenschaftler zu ihrer Entdeckung und Nutzung.

In January 1896 experiments were made around the world with cathode-tubes to test Röntgen's paper "a new kind of rays". Mostly hands without pathological variations were X-rayed. At the same time in Vienna the clinical applications of X-rays were investigated. Two patients were successfully operated on after X-ray-examination. Remarkable for that time was an X-ray of an arteriogram of the arm of a dead person. It was made on 17th January 1896. The experiments with Lenard's cathode-tube were important for the discovery of X-rays. His experimentation was the inspiration for Röntgen's discovery of X-rays.