Assassination of Elisabeth, Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungary, on 10 September 1898: further additions and minor annotations.

Very recently, a comprehensive re-evaluation of the medical facts and observations surrounding the death of Empress Elisabeth "Sisi" of Austria (1837-1898) was published. The Empress was assassinated in Geneva by the anarchist Luigi Luccheni or Lucheni (1873-1910). In parallel to this recent publication, our study group came across an almost unknown letter from Dr. Golay, who was one of the examining doctors of Empress Elisabeth. In this publication we add relevant additions based on this letter and provide further insights regarding the attempts at resuscitation.

Human cerebral blood supply via circulus arteriosus cerebri: A scoping review on its variations and clinical implications.

Background: Circulus arteriosus cerebri (CAC), responsible for supplying blood to the brain, presents anatomical variations that have been associated with both haemorrhagic and ischemic strokes. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct comprehensive investigations and comparisons of the diverse variant components of the CAC, published in various journals, and analyze them to identify individuals at risk of cerebrovascular pathologies, thereby ensuring enhanced and timely treatment. Methods: A scoping review according to the five-stage protocol by Arksey and O'Malley was performed between February and June 2023. Seven hundred and seventy-seven records were initially identified, and a total of 51 studies were finally included. Results: This scoping review focuses on the anatomical variations of the CAC and their clinical implications on cerebrovascular disease and includes more original articles than review s. Consistent with previous findings, most of the records included small populations or samples, while only three records reported larger populations. Surprisingly, the populations enclosed in the included records consisted of autopsied cadaveric specimens more than living subjects. Finally, the qualitative analysis highlighted three main themes concerning the relationship between the normal CAC morphology and the cerebrovascular disease onset as well as the variant CAC morphology and its main features that might be also involved in these diseases. Finally, techniques that can be used to measure CAC have also been assessed. Conclusion: Variations in the CAC, more common in the posterior part, with genetic and environmental factors influencing these variations impact cerebrovascular disorders. Understanding variants components of CAC can aid in improving brain surgeries and post-stroke care.

Histological analysis and etiology of a pathological iguanodontian femur from England.

Derived ornithopods, such as hadrosaurids, show a high occurrence of fossilized lesions and diseases. However, paleopathologies in iguanodontians seem to be less common, considering the rich fossil record of these taxa in Europe, in particular in Belgium, Britain and Spain. Here, we describe an iguanodontian femur discovered in England that exhibits a large overgrowth of its lateral aspect, not previously recognized in any other similar remains. The specimen was scanned with micro-computed tomography (microCT) and later sectioned in three sites of the overgrowth for histological analysis. The femur belongs to an early adult Iguanodontia indet., based on the presence of a woven parallel fibered complex in the outer cortex and three to four lines of arrested growth. Internal analysis of the dome-like overgrowth suggests it can be diagnosed as a fracture callus. The injury might have negatively impacted upon the animal's locomotion as the trauma had occurred in the region above the knee, a crucial spot for hindlimb musculature. Finally, a cancellous medullary bone-like tissue was recognized in the medullary cavity next to the pathological overgrowth. An attempt was made to determine the precise nature of this tissue, as medullary bone is linked with the ovulation period in (avian) dinosaurs, whereas other types of endosteal, medullary bone-like tissue have previously been recognized in pathological bones.

A historical and palaeopathological perspective on cancer.

Cancer is often wrongly considered to be a modern disease in many popular medical venues. Cancers have been known to humanity since ancient times. In fact, its antiquity can be identified through the application of palaeopathological methodologies. The present perspective demonstrates by means of a historical and palaeopathological analysis how oncological manifestations were present long before the emergence of anatomically modern humans and addresses the epidemiological transition from ancient times to the contemporary world. The final section of the article examines breast cancer and its identification in ancient human remains.

The Evolution of Diagnostic Techniques in the Paleopathology of Tuberculosis: A Scoping Review.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an ancient chronic infectious disease that remains a global health concern. In human remains, the most common and characteristic clinical signs are the skeletal modifications involving the spine, such as in Pott's disease. Diagnosing TB in ancient human remains is challenging. Therefore, in this systematic review, the authors investigated the studies assessing molecular diagnosis of Pott's disease in ancient human remains with the intention to survey the literature, map the evidence, and identify gaps and future perspectives on TB in paleopathology. Our systematic review offers a full contextualization of the history of Pott's disease in ancient times. Our search strategy was performed between August 2022 and March 2023. The authors initially identified 340 records, and 74 studies were finally included and assessed for qualitative analysis. Due to non-specific clinical signs associated with TB, how best to diagnose tuberculosis in human remains still represents a central point. Nevertheless, ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis, lipid biomarkers, and spoligotyping might be extremely useful tools in the study of TB in human remains. Moreover, we propose the extraction and study of immune response genes involved in innate and adaptive immunity versus Mycobacterium spp. as an innovative and vastly overlooked approach in TB paleopathology. Complementary methodologies should be integrated to provide the best approach to the study of TB in human remains.

Did Suetonius really call gout morbus dominorum? A philological and historico-medical reconstruction.

Current scientific literature often defines gout as morbus dominorum, in agreement with the Greek-Roman representation of podagra (ποδάγρα, literally "foot-trap") as a consequence of gluttony and libertinage. Several authors place the origins of this expression with the Roman writer Suetonius, without however quoting any specific primary source. We have investigated this problem again and scrutinized primary sources ranging from the Roman World to the early Middle Ages. A search on the database of Latin texts for the expression morb* domin* failed to identify any positive correspondence, not only in Suetonius' works but also in those of other Latin authors. As a matter of fact, the expression morbus dominorum appeared for the first time in the literature on podagra in 1661 in Jakob Balde's book Solatium Podagricorum. Since then, this definition has been endlessly repeated in seventeenth- to eighteenth-century literature on gout. In 1866, while lecturing on the diseases of the elderly, the French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot first ascribed the expression morbus dominorum to Suetonius. However, this attribution is unsupported by primary sources. In conclusion, Suetonius never used the wording morbus dominorum, which was probably coined by Jakob Balde in 1661. The origin of this erroneous ascription dates to Jean-Martin Charcot's lectures in 1866. Key Points • Albeit a much-quoted sentence in rheumatology,the Roman author Suetonius never called gout morbusdominorum. • When referencing historical point in rheumatology, a careful perusal of the primary sources should beimplemented to avoid misquoting and false myths.

Kaspar Hauser, the Child of Europe: Are smallpox vaccination scars the clue to a 2-century-old mystery?

We have explored the 19th century mystery of the identity of Kaspar Hauser, the so-called Child of Europe, from the perspective of the smallpox vaccination. We have highlighted the improbability that he was secretly inoculated based on the vaccination policies and methodologies applied at the time. This consideration allows for a reflection on the whole case and the importance of vaccination scars in ascertaining immunization against one of humanity's deadliest killers, especially given the recent monkeypox outbreak.