History of leucotomies in Greece.

In order to present the social, scientific and institutional context which permitted the use of leucotomies in Greece, we have reviewed the Archives of the Medical Associations, the medical literature of the years 1946-56, a reader's dissertation and the memoirs of two psychiatrists. More than 250 leucotomies were done in the two public psychiatric hospitals in Athens from 1947 to 1954, as well as 40 leucotomies in the public psychiatric hospital in Thessaloniki. Although aware of the side effects, psychiatrists justified the use of the procedure. The performance of leucotomies in Greece declined because of reports of the dangers of the operation and its unpredictable outcome for the patients, but mainly because of the encouraging results with psychotropic drugs in the early 1950s.

[History of the Journées Dermatologiques de Paris]. / Histoire des Journées Dermatologiques de Paris.

Founded in 1801 at the Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, under Jean-Louis Alibert, the French School of Dermatology was initially structured around the French Society of Dermatology (1889) and the organization of two world congresses (Paris 1889, 1900). After World War I, the creation of dermatological societies in the provinces infused French dermatology with new energy. In 1922, the first congress of the French-speaking dermatologists further contributed to the public profile of dermatologists in France. The "Journées de Mars" were initiated in 1961 at the Hôpital Saint-Louis, and in 1975 they went on to become the "Journées dermatologiques de Paris". Pr. Jean Civatte played a key role in their creation and in their organization for 30 years. After 1979, since actual patients could no longer be presented, the organizers of the congress had to change the content of the meeting from clinical presentations to post-graduate teaching and clinical research. From its origins in the form of meetings of French dermatologists in an intimate setting at the Hôpital Saint-Louis, the "Journées dermatologiques de Paris" grew within the ensuing decades into a major scientific event of the French-speaking dermatological community, bringing together more than 4000 participants in December each year.

[Central Work Camp in Jaworzno (1945-1949) -- epidemiological aspects -- attempt of evaluation]. / Centralny Obóz Pracy w Jaworznie (1945-1949) -- aspekty epidemiologiczne -- próba oceny.

Publication presents the short history of camp hospital which was organised in 1943 Nazi concentration camp Neu-Dachs in Jaworzno. The camp was a branch of Oswiecim concentration camp. Atfer the war damage of the camp, the restoration was begun in 1945. Already in Febraury 1945, in place of German concentration camp, rises Central Work Camp. Several thousands of prisoners of war were placed there. The prisoners of war: Germans, Volksdeutches, Silesians were forced emlpoyed in nearby coal mines. Since 1947 the camp was a place of staying for several thousands Ukrainians who were displaced from eastern part of Poland in "Vistula Operation". Based on available written materials, publication is an attempt to analyse and evaluate: sanitary conditions, prison illnesses, mortality reasons among prisoners, hospital equipment, personel work conditions. The publication gives opportunity to compare conditions of prison hospital under nazi occupation and conditions in the camp which was organised in the same place under Stalin system of terror.

[The Luxembourg Society for Sports Medicine (SLM) after 60 years]. / La société Luxembourgeoise de Medecine du Sport (SLMS) a 60 ans.

This review will mainly focus the last 10 years of the society's history because several important changes occurred during this relatively short period. The most important was the creation of the first clinical sports medicine department in Luxembourg in 2004. This modern new infrastructure was made possible by the recruitment of 2 highly competent sports physicians, the excellent collaboration of the governing board of the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL) and the support of the sports minister. In 2008 the new department received the label "Medical Olympic Centre of Luxembourg". One year later a Research Lab of Sports Medicine (CRP-Santé) completed the new concept. Thus within 4 years the structure of Luxembourgish sports medicine was completely rearranged and includes today orthopaedic surgery and traumatology, functional rehabilitation, sports cardiology, exercise physiology, physiotherapy and specific sports medicine research. An important new challenge of the SLMS will be to integrate the external sports physicians into this new infrastructure. Another ongoing mission of the SLMS will be the education and training of new young sports medicine specialists. Here the new department could play an outstanding role and the SLMS is in close negotiations with the University of Luxembourg, in charge of academic education in Luxembourg. A recruitment of new young sports physicians is necessary to perpetuate the routine sports medicine exams in the 15 regional centres in Luxembourg, where such an exam is mandatory in order to get an official sports licence. Since 2010 an ECG exam has been added for all new licence candidates, according to the recent recommendations of the scientific societies. New young sports physicians will also be needed to assure the medical attendance of the different national teams of Luxembourg. Until 1985 these activities were confined only to the Olympic teams every 4 years, but since the implementation of the Games of the Small European Countries in 1985, where rather big teams represent Luxembourg every two years, this mission has become more important. The history of the SLMS reflects the development both of sports and sports medicine during the last 60 years. At the beginning of the 21.century sports medicine is well settled in the Grand-duchy of Luxembourg.

[Historical notes on Infectious Diseases Hospital Francisco Javier Muñiz in Buenos Aires, Argentina]. / Anotaciones históricas sobre el Hospital de Enfermedades Infecciosas Francisco Javier Muñiz de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Infectious Diseases Hospital Francisco Javier Muñiz, Buenos Aires, Argentina, is the oldest in Latin America. It is over 100 years old and has a history worthy of pride. It became known as "Hospital of the pests" and was preceded by the old House of Insulation, which served as a quarantine station during epidemics of cholera, yellow fever and smallpox. The new House of Insulation, built in the neighborhood of Parque Patricios ("Barracks Hospital"), was renamed in 1904 in memory of Francisco Javier Muñiz, a former military doctor, naturalist and paleontologist. Its technical name is "Porteño Care Centre and National Reference Regional Infectious-Contagious Disease". It receives numerous national and foreign undergraduate and postgraduate students in its Departments of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Diseases.

[Clostridium difficile epidemic, Chile 2012: report of the Chilean Society for Infectious Diseases. A scientific historical analysis]. / Epidemia de Clostridium difficile, Chile 2012: Informe de la Sociedad Chilena de Infectología. Una aproximación científico histórica.

A Summary Report from the Chilean Society for Infectious Diseases regarding the presence of a Clostridium difficile epidemic with several fatalities in Chile's premier emergency public hospital in Santiago is used to make a scientific historical analysis of the situation. This Summary Report identifies several hygienic and sanitary shortcomings that may have played a role in triggering this major epidemic. These include deficiencies in hand washing policies, overcrowding of beds in wards, relaxation of infection control policies, antimicrobial therapy mismanagement and lack of laboratory support. The relevance of these shortcomings to the epidemic is further supported by the lack of any laboratory evidence for the presence of hypertoxigenic strains of C. difficile. In an era of whole genome sequencing of pathogens to guide therapy, prevention, and epidemiological studies of infectious diseases, it is illuminating and sobering, as this report so clearly demonstrates, to realize that many epidemics of hospital infections still result from breakdowns in classical and ancillary asepsis and infection control measures developed in the nineteenth century by Semmelweis, Nightingale and Lister. As the Summary Report suggests, such hygienic breakdowns in countries like Chile are usually brought about by lack of implementation and regulation of national hospital infection control policies resulting from the shift of economic resources from the public to the private sector, despite the former being responsible for health care of 80% of the population.

"A means of restoring the health and preserving the lives of His Majesty's subjects": Ireland's 18th-Century National Hospital System.

In 1765, the Irish parliament enacted legislation that established a nationwide hospital network funded by a mixture of taxation and philanthropic donations. The county infirmaries had a similar ethos to the British and Irish voluntary hospitals; only those with an admission ticket were admitted. The legislation also regulated the qualifications of the County Infirmary Surgeons who were authorised to run the infirmaries. This was the first statutory nationwide network of care in Ireland. No other country in contemporary Europe passed similar legislation. The Irish parliamentarians and Charles Lucas in particular appear to have been the impetus for this innovative legislation.

Improvement of health care for the poor in Split (southern Croatia) during the first half of the 19th century.

The aim of this study was to investigate the health care available for the poor citizens of Split during the first half of the 19th century. Soon after being constructed in 1797, the Civic Hospital in Split founded by the Ergovac brothers for the needs of the poor was transformed into a military hospital. Consequently, caring for this social stratum was taken over by two inadequate shelters and later by a small civic hospital situated in the Split suburb of Dobri. The year of the application of Petar Ergovac to the supreme ruler for the transformation of the hospital building established by his family from a military to a civil institution was found, as well as the correct data regarding its return to initial idea in 1821. On the basis of the archival documents kept in the Archaeological Museum in Split and in the State Archives in Zadar, the work organization of the Civic Hospital in Split and the first stage of its change from a charitable to a public health hospital institution were presented. This study revealed the aspiration of the authorities in the first half of the 19th century to improve the health system of the city of Split.

The concept of psychological regression: metaphors, mapping, Queen Square, and Tavistock Square.

The term "regression" refers to events in which an individual changes from his or her present level of maturity and regains mental and behavioral characteristics shown at an earlier point in development. This definition has remained constant for over a century, but the implications of the concept have changed systematically from a perspective in which regression was considered pathological, to a current view in which regression may be seen as a positive step in psychotherapy or as a part of normal development. The concept of regression, famously employed by Sigmund Freud and others in his circle, derived from ideas suggested by Herbert Spencer and by John Hughlings Jackson. By the 1940s and '50s, the regression concept was applied by Winnicott and others in treatment of disturbed children and in adult psychotherapy. In addition, behavioral regression came to be seen as a part of a normal developmental trajectory, with a focus on expectable variability. The present article examines historical changes in the regression concept in terms of mapping to biomedical or other metaphors, in terms of a movement from earlier nativism toward an increased environmentalism in psychology, and with respect to other historical factors such as wartime events. The role of dominant metaphors in shifting perspectives on regression is described.

[General Counsel for Administration of Public Hospitals in Paris: creation of a public health institution]. / Le Conseil Général d'Administration des Hospices Civils de Paris: naissance d'une institution de santé publique.

In 1801, Napoleon Bonaparte established the Conseil Général des Hospices de Paris, as the first centralized authority to manage all Parisian civilian hospitals. Through an examination of the debates and statements surrounding its creation, and its founding rules and regulations, its purpose will be shown to be twofold: to enforce the values of proper administration and morality, and to support certain medical advancements. The Conseil heralded the birth of a public health institution which would become, some 50 years later, the Assistance-Publique.

[The history of the clinical research settlement in French hospitals]. / L'implantation de la recherche clinique à l'hôpital en France : histoire de la création des centres d'investigation clinique.

Since 1992, French clinical research centers (CRC) allow physicians and researchers to develop clinical and therapeutic research on humans in public hospitals. Created by the National institute for health and medical research (Inserm) in collaboration with public hospitals, their history give us the opportunity to describe the complex interactions in France between fundamental and clinical research. Why does therapeutic research need CRC? What can be done in these structures that cannot be done in hospital wards? Medical research is an hybrid practice torn between fundamental and clinical methodologies and objectives. To solve this tension, CRC are << trading zones >> (Galison, 1997): intermediate areas where physicians and researchers can develop -common languages and methodologies to coordinate their practices and objectives. CRC also become essential to support the ethical, legal and administrative constraints of therapeutic research. double dagger.

[Errors in the historiography of the Civic Hospital in Split: on the occasion of placing a memorial tablet on the former hospital building]. / Pogreske u historiografiji Civilne bolnice u Splitu: u povodu postavljanja spomen-ploce na nekadasnjoj bolnickoj zgradi.

The building of the Civic Hospital in Split was an important event in the life of this city. Although it primarily served as an institution for the care of the poor, its development shows the evolution of the public health care in this territory. In spite of the recent thorough review of the older historiography on this history, incorrect data are permanently published in the literature and lately even in the content of the memorial plaque. This creates the erroneus picture and credibility of Croatian medical heritage, history and historiography.

Hospital bodies: the genesis of Italian National Health Service.

Hospital public bodies were instituted in Italy in 1968. Their creation represents a fundamental step forward in the evolution of the national healthcare system and has allowed improvements in social equity in hospitals. The lack of independent funding beyond the insurance-type healthcare system existing at the time, hindered its success. The hospital body has however left a trace in the modern national healthcare system with the introduction of the hospital corporation.

"The Living Monument": The Desegregation of Grady Memorial Hospital and the Changing South.

Grady Memorial Hospital is a pillar of public medical and surgical care in the Southeast. The evolution of this institution, both in its physical structure as well as its approach to patient care, mirrors the cultural and social changes that have occurred in the American South. Grady Memorial Hospital opened its doors in 1892 built in the heart of Atlanta's black community. With its separate and unequal facilities and services for black and white patients, the concept of "the Gradies" was born. Virtually, every aspect of care at Grady continued to be segregated by race until the mid-20th century. In 1958, the opening of the "New Grady" further cemented this legacy of the separate "Gradies," with patients segregated by hospital wing. By the 1960s, civil rights activists brought change to Atlanta. The Atlanta Student Movement, with the support of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., led protests outside of Grady, and a series of judicial and legislative rulings integrated medical boards and public hospitals. Eventually, the desegregation of Grady occurred with a quiet memo that belied years of struggle: on June 1, 1965, a memo from hospital superintendent Bill Pinkston read "All phases of the hospital are on a non-racial basis, effective today." The future of Grady is deeply rooted in its past, and Grady's mission is unchanged from its inception in 1892: "It will nurse the poor and rich alike and will be an asylum for black and white."

From beauty to despair: the rise and fall of the American State Mental Hospital.

The American State Hospital has survived over 200 years. Society once viewed state hospitals as an absolute necessity and each state constructed numerous hospitals. Over time, the image of the state hospital as a means to cure the mentally ill changed drastically. The public perceived state hospitals as snake pits that warehoused the mentally ill and the state hospital was nearly destroyed. Nevertheless, the state hospital remains today with purposes similar to its ancestors and some that are very different. This paper examines the many influences that created the state hospital. Additionally, this paper addresses the Kirkbride Model, treatment methods and practices over time, and how the state hospital fell into disfavor as a means to treat the mentally ill. The paper concludes with comments on the mental health system today, in relation to the state hospital's role in treatment.

[Mortality of psychiatric inpatients in France during World War II: a demographic study]. / La mortalité des malades mentaux hospitalisés en France pendant la deuxième guerre mondiale : étude démographique.

INTRODUCTION: In France, World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945. Under-nourishment was a national problem, and was more severe in mental hospitals. The mortality of psychiatric inpatients in France during World War II has long been a controversial issue in the country. LITERATURE FINDINGS: Some authors wrote of the "soft extermination" of 40 000 mental patients, although this has been proven false. The historical study published in 2007 by Isabelle von Bueltzingsloewen provides in-depth description and analysis of starvation due to food restrictions in French mental hospitals. Although the French official statistic services published detailed data, no demographic study has been published so far. Such studies have been conducted in Norway and in Finland. "The influence of a period of under-nourishment upon mortality in mental hospitals can rarely be seen with a clarity equal to that in this work. The strict rationing was the same for everybody, but, extra muros, there was private initiative and ingenuity to help in alleviating the distress. Naturally, patients in institution had no ability to act on their own. The immense increase during the period of war from 1941 to 1945 appeared both as an increase in the exact death-risk and as an increase in the disproportion with normal mortality. The men reacted more strongly than women; which is readily comprehensible on physiological grounds, as the rations were virtually the same for all." Excess mortality continued after the war. Even though under-nourishment had ceased, death rates from tuberculosis remained high the following year. Both papers state that the poor hygiene and bad living conditions existing in mental hospitals before the war worsened the effects of food restrictions. DEMOGRAPHIC DATA: French data were published by the General Statistics of France (SGF) that became the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) in 1946. A series of datasets were published each year according to sex, diagnosis and type of psychiatric institution. In 1943, the outdated diagnostic classification was replaced by a more modern one, with reference to ICD. The same year, the age groups also changed (instead of 35-44, it became 30-39). Publication of data by type of institution was discontinued in 1943; from 1945 to 1948, the only available data concerned patients in hospital on 31st December, by age, sex and diagnosis. General population data were published by the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED). The data referring to civilian population during the war are provided by the Human Mortality Database. This study covers number of people in hospital, mortality rates by sex, age, diagnosis and type of institution, and standardised mortality ratios. These refer to the civilian population which is more relevant since mental patients would not have been allowed to join the armed forces, even if they had not been in hospital. Finally, mortality trends in mental hospitals are compared with those in "hospices for old, disabled or incurable people", in order to ascertain whether all vulnerable populations in institutions suffered to the same extent. The results show that the number of inpatients in 1945 was about half the total recorded in 1940, due to fewer admissions and to a large increase in the number of deaths. However, the number of discharges increased in 1940, even though the number of admissions had begun to slow down: many patients were sent to places offering better food and hygiene. The number of deaths began to rise as from 1939. Mortality rates were high in 1940 and especially in 1941, when almost one man in three and more than one woman in five died. Global rates did not change in 1942. In December that year, a government order stated that mental patients should receive more food. Mortality rates went down in 1943 and 1944, but rates did not return to the prewar values until 1946. In 1939, mortality rates are high but only among patients of 70 years of age or more. In 1940, they were highest above 55; in 1941, rates between ages 15 and 54 were double those of the preceding year. Thus, even though excess mortality affected all ages, its strongest effects were felt from the older patients to the younger ones from 1939 to 1941. Trends according to diagnosis are difficult to interpret because of the change of classification in 1943. The patients suffered greatest hardship in public hospitals, which had no budget of their own and were run by the departments and lowest in private hospitals contributing to the public service, most of which were congregational and received religious funding. In 1941, standardised mortality ratios were more than three times higher than they were before the war. CONCLUSION: Comparison with people living in hospices shows that during the war mortality rates were 50% higher in these institutions, while they almost tripled in mental hospitals. The number of people who died of starvation and infectious diseases in mental hospitals from 1939 to 1945 can be estimated at about 45,500. However, mental patients were made specially vulnerable by circumstances that existed before the war in mental hospitals, in terms of food, hygiene and staffing, as suggested by an official document quoted in the paper.