Sergei Yudin (1891-1954) y la transfusión de sangre cadavérica. Sus repercusiones en Europa occidental / Sergei Yudin (1891-1954) and the cadaveric blood transfusion. It’s repercussions in Western Europe

Este trabajo tiene como principal objetivo rescatar del olvido la historia de las transfusiones de sangre cadavérica y la figura de su principal artífice, Sergei Yudin. Para ello, se lleva a cabo una revisión sistemática de fuentes bibliográficas en diferentes idiomas para describir su trayectoria vital y su obra científica. La idea partió de las experiencias transfusionales en perros de Vladimir Shamov y fue desarrollada clínicamente a partir de 1930 por Yudin en el Instituto Sklifosovsky de Medicina de Emergencia de Moscú, donde se realizaron transfusiones de sangre cadavérica humana de manera regular durante cuatro décadas. La conservación de esta sangre durante varias semanas permitió la creación del primer banco de sangre en el mundo y fue el punto de partida de los trasplantes clínicos, considerando que la sangre es un tejido especial. A finales de los años veinte y principios de los treinta, Yudin viajó a Alemania, Francia, España e Inglaterra y gozó de gran prestigio entre los círculos médicos internacionales, incluidos los catalanes y españoles. El curso de su vida fue azaroso, pasando de ser el cirujano más prestigioso de la Unión Soviética al ostracismo tras ser encarcelado en 1948 y posteriormente desterrado a Siberia.

This work aims to rescue from oblivion the history of cadaveric blood transfusions and the figure of its main protagonist, Sergei Yudin. For this reason, an extensive review of bibliographic sources in Russian and other languages is carried out to describe Yudin’s life trajectory and his scientific work. The idea originated from Vladimir Shamov’s transfusion experiences in dogs and started clinically in 1930 by Yudin at the Sklifosovsky Institute of Emergency Medicine in Moscow, where human cadaveric blood transfusions were performed on a regular basis for four decades. The conservation of this blood for several weeks allowed the creation of the first blood bank in the world and was the starting point of clinical transplants, considering that blood is a special tissue. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Yudin traveled to Germany, France, Spain and England and enjoyed great prestige in international medical circles, including Catalan and Spanish. The course of his life was arduous, going from being the most prestigious surgeon in the Soviet Union to ostracism after being imprisoned in 1948 and later exiled to Siberia.

[Spanish multi-centre observational study of the first attacks suggestive of multiple sclerosis: the PREM cohort]. / Estudio observacional multicentrico espanol de primeros episodios sugestivos de esclerosis multiple: cohorte PREM.

INTRODUCTION: Recent studies have shown the need to optimise the management of patients after a first attack suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS). Our aim is to determine whether the results from follow-ups in these studies are reproducible within a Spanish multi-centre context. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The PREM study (observational prospective Spanish multi-centre study at 24 months) included patients in the first three months following a first event suggestive of MS with at least two typical lesions in a magnetic resonance scan. The Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) was obtained and the presence of attacks was evaluated basally and at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months; a magnetic resonance scan was performed basally and at 6 and 24 months so as to be able to calculate the brain volume and the volumes of the lesions (T1, T2 and T1 after administering gadolinium). McDonald and Poser criteria were evaluated during the follow-up. A subgroup of patients was followed up for a total period of four years. RESULTS: Altogether 110 patients (67% females) with a mean age of 30.2 years were included in the study; 22 patients dropped out of the study before it finished. Poser criteria were met by 19% and 45% of patients at 6 months and 24 months, respectively; 63% and 71% satisfied McDonald criteria. The EDSS decreased significantly (-0.94; p < 0.001) and development of atrophy was observed (-1.2%; p < 0.001) at 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: Results of the follow-up of patients with first attacks suggestive of MS within a Spanish multi-centre context are wholly comparable with those from international clinical trials performed in these patients.

Las neurociencias y los desvaríos de la época soviética. Los médicos republicanos españoles, testigos de excepción / Neurosciences and the ravings of the soviet era. Spanish Republican physicians, a set of privileged witnesses

Se analizan los vínculos de las neurociencias rusas y soviéticas con las españolas, especialmente en relación con las vivencias de los médicos republicanos españoles exiliados en la URSS. Las neurociencias rusas, desarrolladas a partir de la segunda mitad del siglo xix, siguieron un curso paralelo a las del resto de Europa, mostrando influencias alemanas y francesas. Fueron figuras destacadas Alexei Kojevnikov y Vladimir Bechterev en la neurología, Sergei Korsakov en la psiquiatría, Iván Pavlov y su discípulo Piotr Anojin en la neurofisiología, Lev Vygotsky y Alexander Luria en la neuropsicología, y Nikolai Burdenko en la neurocirugía. La llegada al poder de los bolcheviques se acompañó de una concepción progresista de la sanidad, que se modificó durante la época estalinista en beneficio de intereses políticos, sobre todo en el caso de la psiquiatría. Durante el primer tercio del siglo xx, los científicos españoles se interesaron por la reflexología pavloviana, y los soviéticos lo hicieron por la histología española. Entre los 4.500 republicanos españoles emigrados en la URSS a causa de la Guerra Civil se encontraban varias decenas de médicos que fueron testigos privilegiados de las locuras que sacudieron la ciencia y la sanidad de aquella época. Podemos citar en el campo de las neurociencias a Juan Planelles y Ramón Álvarez-Buylla en la neurofisiología, Federico Pascual y Florencio Villa Landa en la psiquiatría, Ángel Escobio y María Pérez en la neurología, Julián Fuster en la neurocirugía, y Manuel Arce en la neurorradiología (AU)

This study analyses the links between the Russian and Soviet neurosciences and their Spanish counterpart, especially with regard to the experiences of the Spanish Republican physicians exiled in the USSR. The Russian neurosciences, which date back to the second half of the 19th century, followed a path that ran parallel to the discipline throughout the rest of Europe and finally displayed signs of being influenced by the German and French schools. Important figures include Alexei Kojevnikov and Vladimir Bekhterev in neurology, Sergei Korsakov in psychiatry, Ivan Pavlov and his disciple Piotr Anojin in neurophysiology, Lev Vygotsky and Alexander Luria in neuropsychology, and Nikolai Burdenko in neurosurgery. When the Bolsheviks came to power, they brought with them a progressive conception of health care, which was modified during the Stalinist era to serve political interests, above all in the case of psychiatry. During the firstthird of the 20th century, Spanish scientists became interested in Pavlov’s reflexology and the Soviets took a similar interest in Spanish histology. Among the 4500 Spanish Republicans who emigrated to the USSR because of the Spanish Civil War, there were several dozen physicians who were privileged witnesses of the madness that shook the science and the health care of that period. Relevant names worth citing here from the field of the neurosciences include Juan Planelles and Ramón Álvarez-Buylla in neurophysiology, Federico Pascual and Florencio Villa Landa in psychiatry, Ángel Escobio and María Pérez in neurology, Julián Fuster in neurosurgery and Manuel Arce in neuroimaging (AU)

[Neurosciences and the ravings of the Soviet era. Spanish Republican physicians, a set of privileged witnesses]. / Las neurociencias y los desvaríos de la época soviética. Los médicos republicanos españoles, testigos de excepción.

This study analyses the links between the Russian and Soviet neurosciences and their Spanish counterpart, especially with regard to the experiences of the Spanish Republican physicians exiled in the USSR. The Russian neurosciences, which date back to the second half of the 19th century, followed a path that ran parallel to the discipline throughout the rest of Europe and finally displayed signs of being influenced by the German and French schools. Important figures include Alexei Kojevnikov and Vladimir Bekhterev in neurology, Sergei Korsakov in psychiatry, Ivan Pavlov and his disciple Piotr Anojin in neurophysiology, Lev Vygotsky and Alexander Luria in neuropsychology, and Nikolai Burdenko in neurosurgery. When the Bolsheviks came to power, they brought with them a progressive conception of health care, which was modified during the Stalinist era to serve political interests, above all in the case of psychiatry. During the first third of the 20th century, Spanish scientists became interested in Pavlov's reflexology and the Soviets took a similar interest in Spanish histology. Among the 4500 Spanish Republicans who emigrated to the USSR because of the Spanish Civil War, there were several dozen physicians who were privileged witnesses of the madness that shook the science and the health care of that period. Relevant names worth citing here from the field of the neurosciences include Juan Planelles and Ramon Alvarez-Buylla in neurophysiology, Federico Pascual and Florencio Villa Landa in psychiatry, Angel Escobio and Maria Perez in neurology, Julian Fuster in neurosurgery and Manuel Arce in neuroimaging.