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.

History of Eugenics in Otorhinolaryngology: Ernst Rüdin and the International Eugenics Network.

Introduction The early geneticist and psychiatrist Ernst Rüdin (1874-1952) became one of the key figures in the eugenics movement and in the German health system of the Nazi era. His connections in the international eugenics network have played an important role in the history of eugenics. Objective To discuss the connections between Ernst Rüdin's scientific group in Munich and Otmar von Verschuer's group in Frankfurt during the Nazi era. Methods Otorhinolaryngological materials from Ernst Rüdin's former private library are presented, and they show Rüdin's deep involvement in the international eugenics network. These materials provide insights into early medical genetics in otorhinolaryngology. Results One result of the present study is that eugenics groups from Munich, Frankfurt, and New York certainly influenced one another in the field of otorhinolaryngology. Karlheinz Idelberger and Josef Mengele were two scientists who performed hereditary research on orofacial clefts. Later, Mengele became deeply involved in Nazi medical crimes. His former work on orofacial clefts clearly had, to some extent, an influence on subsequent studies. Conclusion An international eugenics network already existed before 1933. However, it becomes clear that the weaknesses of many early genetic studies did not enable its authors to draw firm scientific conclusions, suggesting that scientists lacked an accurate concept of the genetic causes of most illnesses.

Leonard Rowntree, Louis Wilson, Fielding Garrison, and the origins of teaching medical history at the Mayo Clinic.

A visiting surgeon described his disappointment with an aspect of the Mayo Clinic in 1914, stating that there was "the almost lack of anything that could be dignified by the term 'lecture.'" One year later, the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research was founded. By 1917, the foundation declared history of medicine a graduate-level subject, and history of medicine questions were included in final oral examinations. In 1920 and 1921, lectures were given on historical topics; however, these lectures petered out, and there were no historical lectures in the official curriculum of 1923 or 1924. Enter Leonard Rowntree, who in 1926 proposed a lecture series on the history of medicine. Rowntree wrote to Fielding Garrison in early 1927 to ask for assistance selecting speakers. The two men corresponded and developed a list of eminent medical historians to invite, including Sir Charles Ballance, William Welch, and Garrison himself. These lectures served to enrich the greater Midwestern medical community as well thanks to Louis Wilson. Then head of the Mayo Foundation, Wilson wrote to nearby institutions to create a lecture circuit for speakers who traveled to the Mayo Clinic. Ultimately, the lectures were published as a book in 1933.

[The long 1992 year in medicinal (non-)security of Russia. Report I. Market trial].

The year 1992 is an important landmark in the history of Russian pharmaceutical market. It began not in January, but in December 1991, when orders of the President and the Government to open free market of medications were promulgated. The Yeltsin advisers conceived that market economy was infallible means to combat medication shortages, corruption and bureaucratic monopoly. However, panacea did not work. Moreover, it gave rise to completely new problems. The human and state security implies protection from threats of dependence. The unprepared dive into market plunged Russians and the country into deep dependence on imported medications and foreign pharmaceutical companies. The proposed study proceeds our publications in this journal and in journal "Pharmacia" in 2022. At that time, analysis of medication "famine" was implemented on basis of published sources and relied on journalistic evidences. The current study was carried out on the basis of archive documents of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and authors interviews of representatives of the regulator. The first report reveals administrative mechanism that engendered crisis of medication supply in the first post-Soviet year of our country.

[The review of the monograph "Ambroise Paré. The first surgeon of the Kingdom" by E. E. Berger].

The review considers the approach placing famous French surgeon A. Paré into more general European context of European Renaissance of XVI century and into local context of intellectual life of Paris of this period. The refutation of widespread in history of medicine opinion about strict separation of university medicine from artisan surgery in Medieval Europe is discussed.

[On becoming of nephrology in the USSR: The role of Moscow therapists M. I. Vihert and E. M. Tareev].

The article considers stages of becoming of Soviet nephrology as independent scientific educational clinical discipline. The role of M. I. Vikhert in becoming of nephrology as independent clinical direction within the framework of the clinic of internal diseases is demonstrated. Also the role of E. M. Tareev as the founder of nephrology in the USSR as institutionalized clinical discipline is revealed.

[The Russian priority of development of intravenous anesthesia (Report I).]

The article analyses research activities of the discoverers of "Russian narcosis" from the Military Medical Academy of St. Petersburg: the head of the Department of Pharmacology N. P. Kravkov, the head of the Department of Hospital Surgery S. P. Fedorov and his resident A. P. Eremich. They for the first time in the world developed ideas of comprehensive experimental substantiation and then safe clinical administration of preparation "hedonal" to achieve stage of safe general anesthesia and implementation of long-term and traumatic operations. The scientific works of Russian discoverers indicated fundamentally new direction in formation of anesthesiology in the Russian Empire and in the world. A. P. Eremich at stage of preparatory tests, working out technique of intravenous infusion, determination of range of safe therapeutic doses and creation of special installation facilitating work with hedonal during operations of Professor S. P. Fedorov, can be recognized as the first Russian anesthesiologist and also as the first National resuscitator.

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.

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.

Commercialising everyday distress: neurasthenia and traditional Chinese medicine in colonial Hong Kong, 1950s to 1980s.

The persistent use of neurasthenia in Asia, an out-dated diagnostic category in modern psychiatry, has confounded many psychiatrists from the 1960s. This paper attempts to understand the prevalence of neurasthenia among the lay public in post-World War II Hong Kong. It examines the social history of psychiatry and focuses on the roles of traditional Chinese medicine in shaping public perceptions and responses towards neurasthenia. This research reveals that, when psychiatrists discarded the term as an ineffective label in the 1950s, practitioners and pharmaceutical companies of Chinese medicine seized on the chance to reinvent themselves as experts in neurasthenia. By commericialising everyday distress, they provided affordable, accessible and culturally familiar healing options to the Chinese public. A case study of neurasthenia, therefore, is not simply about changing disease categories but an important example to illustrate the tensions between traditional medicine and Western psychiatry in Asia.

[Contribution of Kablukov A.F. to development of surgery in the Taurida gubernatorial hospital]. / Vklad A.F. Kablukova v razvitie khirurgii v Tavricheskoi gubernskoi zemskoi bol'nitse.

The authors discuss the contribution of the outstanding Simferopol surgeon Alexander Fedorovich Kablukov to development of surgery in the Taurida gubernia at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. To date, there is no detailed information about his biography in the literature. The only fact associated with this surgeon is his famous surgery, i.e. the first cholecystectomy described in detail in national literature. Considering pre-revolutionary sources and archival documents, we established that A.F. Kablukov contributed to the new quality level of surgical treatment in the Taurida gubernatorial hospital (the largest hospital in this gubernia).

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.

[History of the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in Germany]. / Die Geschichte des implantierbaren Kardioverter-Defibrillators in Deutschland.

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.

Gouty Toes and Rosacea Nose: Does Enlightenment-Era Art Suggest a Correlation?

Gout, one of the most ancient documented diseases in history, has long captivated artists, yielding a rich collection of artworks. This interest peaked during the Enlightenment era in Europe, a time marked by a surge in gout cases alongside rising wealth, consumerism, and subsequent increased public access to artists. This editorial aims to highlight an intriguing observation of a novel association within several Enlightenment-era paintings depicting individuals suffering from gout and often also portraying the distinctive red noses and cheeks seen in patients with rosacea. Traditionally, both rosacea and gout have been classified as localized inflammatory diseases. However, recent studies challenge this conventional categorization, suggesting that these conditions might be components of systemic inflammatory syndromes. Despite the widespread prevalence of these conditions, their potential interconnectedness and shared pathophysiological pathways remain unexplored. Therefore, the representation of gout and rosacea in historical art could extend beyond mere artistic interest, offering a unique and critical perspective for contemporary medical research.

[On clinical elites and their role in institutionalization of new national clinical disciplines (the second half of XX century)].

The development of national clinical medicine in Russia in XX century is related not only to evolution of scientific schools, but also to such historical phenomenon as clinical elites. In the article definition of therapeutic elites is proposed. The destiny of therapeutic elites and their role in institutionalization of national clinical disciplines is discussed.

Dissection, media portrayals, and reaction: Black bodies and medical education in nineteenth-century newspapers.

Throughout the nineteenth century, medical schools in both the Northern and Southern regions of the United States required a regular supply of bodies for medical study and experimentation. Physicians and medical students targeted the bodies of African Americans, both freedmen and the enslaved, to meet this demand. Simultaneously, the nation's booming newspaper market became a stage on which debates about the cruelty of slavery and the social consequences of pursuing medical knowledge played out in articles about the dissection of Black bodies. Such stories increased fears about dissection and mistrust towards the medical profession among African American communities, which manifested in riots against physicians, vandalism against medical schools, and corrective responses from African American newspaper editors and journalists. Through an extensive examination of nineteenth-century U.S. newspapers, this article identifies themes evident in the coverage of dissection during this period. Southern newspapers crafted stories of dissection that served the dual purpose of entertaining White readers and humiliating African Americans. This public humiliation fostered what became a popular genre of derogatory and vile humor that reinforced negative and inaccurate racialized stereotypes as well as racist science. Ultimately, such newspaper coverage provoked reactions within Black communities and among antislavery advocates that showcase how people often excluded from practicing medicine themselves viewed issues like medical education. Newspaper rhetoric around these themes amplified tensions between religious and scientific perspectives, reflected differences and similarities between the northern and southern areas of the United States, and fortified racist views in both cultural and scientific contexts.

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.