Battey's operation as a treatment for hysteria: a review of a series of cases in the nineteenth century.

Ovarian resection as a treatment for hysteria, called 'Battey's operation' or 'normal ovariotomy', was performed in the nineteenth century. Battey later reported that the resected ovaries appeared to have 'cystic degeneration'. Currently, patients with acute neuropsychiatric symptoms are screened for teratomas for the differential diagnosis of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. There is now a hypothesis that ovarian lesions resulting in paraneoplastic encephalitis were among the patients who underwent Battey's operation. We identified 94 published cases of Battey's operation for neuropsychiatric symptoms in the late nineteenth century. Among 36 cases with detailed descriptions, we found 3 patients who showed acute onset neuropsychiatric symptoms with macropathological ovarian findings that were compatible with teratoma. They showed favourable prognoses after surgery and might have motivated the surgeons to perform the operation.

Ovarian teratoma: A case from 15th-18th century Lisbon, Portugal.

This paper discusses the differential diagnosis of an unusual calcified mass found in the pelvic cavity of 45+-year-old female excavated from 15th-18th century Lisbon (Portugal). The mass is relatively large, irregularly shaped, and exhibits a concave base with malformed teeth embedded within its inner surface. Considering its macroscopic and radiological characteristics, several conditions were considered in the differential diagnosis, namely eccyesis, fetus in fetu, lithopaedion, and ovarian teratoma. However, the morphological features of the specimen, such as its structure, morphology, and dimensions, are diagnostic of a teratoma. Its location and the sex of the individual are more specifically compatible with a calcified ovarian teratoma. With regional and temporal variations in the frequency of tumours, the report of new cases becomes imperative, especially from geographic regions where few cases have been identified. In fact, this appears to be the first case of ovarian teratoma detected in the Portuguese archaeological record and adds to the few palaeopathological cases described in the osteoarchaeological literature worldwide.

Frederik Ruysch (1638-1731): Historical perspective and contemporary analysis of his teratological legacy.

The Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) in Saint Petersburg is the oldest museum in Russia. It keeps the remains of the anatomical collection of the world-famous 17th century Dutch anatomist Frederik Ruysch. This unique collection was bought and shipped in 1717 by Czar Peter the Great, and presently still comprises more than 900 specimens, a modest number of which concerns specimens with congenital anomalies. We searched for teratological clues in the existing collection and in all his descriptions and correspondence regarding specimens and cases he encountered during his career as doctor anatomiae and chief instructor of the surgeons and midwives in Amsterdam. A total of 63 teratological specimens and case descriptions were identified in this legacy, including some exceedingly rare anomalies. As it turns out, Ruysch was the first to describe several of the conditions we encountered, including intracranial teratoma, enchondromatosis, and Majewski syndrome. Although his comments pose an interesting view on how congenital anomalies were scientifically perceived in early 18th century Europe, Ruysch mostly refrained from explaining the causes of the conditions he encountered. Instead, he dedicated himself to careful descriptions of his specimens. Almost 300 years after his demise, Ruysch's legacy still impresses and inspires both scientists and lay men. © 2016 The Authors. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Harvey Cushing and pituitary Case Number 3 (Mary D.): the origin of this most baffling problem in neurosurgery.

From the very beginning of his career, Harvey Williams Cushing (1869-1939) harbored a deep interest in a complex group of neoplasms that usually developed at the infundibulum. These were initially known as "interpeduncular" or "suprasellar" cysts. Cushing introduced the term "craniopharyngioma" for these lesions, which he believed represented one of the most baffling problems faced by neurosurgeons. The patient who most influenced Cushing's thinking was a 16-year-old seamstress named "Mary D.," whom he attended in December 1901, exactly the same month that Alfred Fröhlich published his seminal article describing an adiposogenital syndrome in a young boy with a pituitary cyst. Both Cushing's and Fröhlich's patients showed similar symptoms caused by the same type of tumor. Notably, Cushing and Fröhlich had met one another and became good friends in Liverpool the summer before these events took place. Their fortunate relationship led Cushing to realize that Fröhlich's syndrome represented a state of hypopituitarism and provided a useful method of diagnosing interpeduncular cysts. It is noteworthy that Cushing's very first neurosurgical procedure on a pituitary tumor was performed in the case of Mary D.'s "interpeduncular cyst," on February 21, 1902. Cushing failed to remove this lesion, which was later found during the patient's autopsy. This case was documented as Pituitary Case Number 3 in Cushing's masterpiece, The Pituitary Body and Its Disorders, published in 1912. This tumor was considered "a teratoma"; however, multiple sources of evidence suggest that this lesion actually corresponded to an adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma. Unfortunately, the pathological specimens of this lesion were misplaced, and this prompted Cushing's decision to retain all specimens and documents of the cases he would operate on throughout his career. Accordingly, Mary D.'s case crystallized the genesis of the Cushing Brain Tumor Registry, one of Cushing's major legacies to neurosurgery. In this paper the authors analyze the case of Mary D. and the great influence it had on Cushing's conceptions of the pituitary gland and its afflictions, and on the history of pituitary surgery.

From testis to teratomas: a brief history of male germ cells in mammals.

In antiquity, many theories were advanced on reproduction and the functions of the gonads. The male genitalia were called "testes" probably from the Latin word "testis" that originally meant "witnesses", because they provide evidence of virility. Through the first dissection of the seminipherous tubules by Renier de Graaf (1668), the discovery of spermatozoa by Antonj van Leeuwenhoek (1677) and in vitro fertilization by Spallanzani (1780) and later by George Newport and George Vines Ellis (1854), it was only in the early part of the XIX century when it was realized that testes produce spermatozoa and that they are essential for egg fertilization and subsequent embryo development. In the period between the end of the XIX and the beginning of the XX century, scientists such as Albert von Kölliker, Franz von Leydig, Enrico Sertoli and Gustaf Retzius (1842-1919) did microscopic observations of testis that marked the history of male germ cells and established the bases for the development of contemporary in vitro culture and molecular studies that are revealing the deeper secrets of male germ cells. Among these, those by Leroy Stevens on embryonal carcinoma cells in the early 1950s led to the present concepts that germ cells and cancer cells share several characteristics and that a close relationship exists between germ cells and stem cells, these being two pillars of modern developmental biology.

[Medical research through historical resources. Talking objects: a case of a parasitic perineal monstrosity]. / La ricerca medica attraverso la ricerca storica: mostri e mostruosità. Di una mostruosità parassitaria felicemente risolta con operazione chirurgica.

A case of a parasitic perineal monstrosity from the collection of the Pathology Museum of the University of Florence, is described on the basis of the original medical records and illustrations. The surgeon Giorgio Pellizzari (1814-1894) first reported this extraordinary case of sacrococcygeal teratoma containing a rudimentary inferior limb. Reader of Descriptive Anatomy, Pellizzari was a well-known Anatomy Dissector and Curator of the Physiological Museum of the Regio Arcispedale di Santa Maria Nuova in Florence. This report underlines the importance of studying the archive material in order to thoroughly comprehend a single museum talking object. This handling of matters will help to turn anatomical collections into a unique teaching toolfor modern medical practice and a noteworthy documentation of scientific, artistic and historical value. Through analysis of the original catalogue and investigation by means of modern scientific techniques, discovering the story behind the object becomes afeasible challenge.

The history of mediastinal teratoma.

The first discovery in 1823 of what has become known as mediastinal teratoma is discussed. The uniqueness of this tumor with its various spontaneous complications is described along with its early and often inept surgical therapies. This article highlights the development of the surgical treatment of mediastinal teratoma that has matured synchronously with the understanding of the physiology of the chest and the evolution of modern surgery.

Sacrococcygeal dermoids and teratomas: historical review.

Palpable rectally, when not externally visible, sacrococcygeal teratomas have been recognized since antiquity, but their histologic segregation from other sacrococcygeal masses lagged into the twentieth century. That these tumors are potentially malignant, and that the incidence of this complication increases with age during infancy, was realized early this century, but it is only in the last two decades that the importance of (1) early surgery, (2) excision of the coccyx, and (3) a combined abdominosacral approach for lesions with retroperitoneal extension has been realized.