Harvey Cushing's Influence on Norman Dott's Work on Acromegaly: Pituitary Research, Treatment Modalities, and Research Dissemination c.1900-c.1960.

OBJECTIVE: To review Dr. Harvey Cushing's influence on Mr. Norman Dott's work on acromegaly and other subjects surrounding the pituitary gland such as pituitary research, treatment modalities, and research dissemination. Dott was the first Professor of Neurosurgery in Scotland during 1947 and was considered a pioneer of the understanding and treatment modalities for pituitary disorders such as acromegaly. During 1923, he published an article regarding pituitary physiology that won him the award for the Rockefeller Fellowship Trust, to travel to Boston Massachusetts, giving him the opportunity to train under Cushing's supervision for the years of 1923-1924. However, similarities can be seen between Dott's physiology project that was completed before he ever met Cushing, as well as his treatment suggestions for acromegaly, after he had finished his training under Cushing's supervision. METHODS: This was a historical perspective based on literature review. We reviewed Norman Dott's archives held by University of Edinburgh Library or online sources and we compared these with the work Cushing had previously performed in a chronological fashion. Cushing's work on the pituitary gland and acromegaly can be largely found online, in biographical books, and in other secondary sources. The search included words such as "transsphenoidal surgery," "x-ray," "Harvey Cushing," "Norman Dott," "Acromegaly," "Annual Meetings," and "Pituitary physiology." We excluded any primary sources that were not published between 1900 and 1960 regarding either pituitary physiology or the treatments for acromegaly. CONCLUSIONS: Sir Norman Dott was the first Professor of Neurosurgery in Scotland during 1947 and is well known for his pioneering work on intracranial aneurysms. Although less well known for his contribution to pituitary pathologies, we would like to share his contribution in this regard and correlate it with Cushing's influence.

[Brain X-radiation for Childhood Epilepsy, Hydrocephalus or Mental Retardation? Research at Tuebingen University, 1940-1946]. / Röntgenbestrahlung des Gehirns zur Behandlung von kindlicher Epilepsie, Hydrocephalus oder Schwachsinn? Forschungen an der Tübinger Universitätsklinik von 1940-1946.

Brain X-radiation for Childhood Epilepsy, Hydrocephalus or Mental Retardation? Research at Tuebingen University, 1940-1946 We reconstructed 65 cases out of a series of "experimental" X-ray-therapy by chart review and reanalysis of publications from a contextual historical perspective. The research procedures in the context of NS-pressure for effectiveness soon dismissed structured scientific procedures and surrendered own standards, whereas radiation impact did not transgress the contemporary guidelines.

[History of cranial surgery, cerebral tumor surgery and epilepsy surgery in Mexico]. / Historia de la cirugía de cráneo, de los tumores cerebrales y de la epilepsia en México.

The first report of intra-cerebral tumor surgery was provided by Bennett & Goodle, in London, 1884. Worldwide this kind of surgery was performed in France by Chipault, in Italy by Durante, in the United States by Keen and in Deutchland by Krause & Oppenheim. Lavista in Mexico City operated on intra-cerebral tumor in 1891, and the report was printed in 1892. In the same publication, Lavista exhibited the first cases of epilepsy surgery. Since now, it is the first report of this kind of surgery in the Spanish-speaking world.

Therapeutic radiation and the neurosurgeon.

For nearly a century, neurosurgeons have been involved in the use of therapeutic radiation. Long before there was a separate discipline of radiology or radiation therapy, pioneers such as Cushing and Frasier explored the effects of X-rays and radium on patients with brain tumors and arteriovenous malformations. This interest was never completely abandoned and was again pursued with vigor with the emergence of image-guided sterotaxy for use in intracranial brachytherapy and radiosurgery. Neurosurgeons have been and will remain at the forefront of these and other emerging techniques.

Head and neck cancer and its treatment: historical review.

Head and neck cancer has been known to physicians since antiquity, but until relatively recently any material advance was limited by the lack of anaesthesia. The factors and people that helped to develop the subject of head and neck surgery have been traced through history, and this paper provides a broad historical perspective with which to compare the current standard of management for head and neck cancer.