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Backround. John Watson (1807-1863) was the first surgeon in USA who performed and published his results on esophagotomy. Methods. His pioneer surgical work was a gold standard reference for the later surgeons. Results. Watson was a devoted surgeon and his innovative operating techniques secured him a place in the hall of fame of the history of medicine. © The Author(s) 2021.

In ancient Greece, many textbooks were written in order to provide comprehensive, pioneering, and ingenious guides on the philosophy and medical aspects of sexual behaviour. Unfortunately, only fragments of these texts have survived among the treatises from Greek and Roman antiquity. The aim of this study is to examine these texts and understand the triad of the female prostitution-hygiene-medicine in ancient Greek populations. We conduct a thorough study of ancient texts, using PubMed, Google Scholar, and medical libraries of Athens, Greece. Prostitution in ancient Greece symbolized both lust and sexual freedom of women, while at the same time it could signal the relationship of female potency to control men. Most prostitutes served men in need of medical and psychological services. They also addressed issues like physical violence, sexually transmitted infections, post-Traumatic stress, and unplanned pregnancies. The contribution of female prostitution in ancient Greece, demonstrates the polysemous development of terms such as sexual pleasure , lust , and eroticism in the medico-philosophical texts of that era. © 2021 Balkan Medical Union. All rights reserved.

Theophrastus Bombastus Von Hohenheim known as Paracelsus was a German-Swiss homo universalis, or Renaissance man, whose interests included medicine, chemistry and toxicology. Characterized as a rebellious and great reformer of established medicine of his era, Paracelsus preferred observing nature, over studying ancient texts to find appropriate treatments for various diseases. He also used unconventional curative methods, such as minerals and other inorganic substances, which caused much controversy among his contemporaries. The main purpose of this article is to highlight his contribution on toxicology and the use of mercury. © 2021 The Author(s)

In ancient Greek literature the adjective toxic (Greek: τoξικόν) derives from the noun τόξo, that is the arc. This noun according to the Liddell – Scott – Jones lexicon had several meanings. Apart from the meaning that someone is able to use a bow or the military department of the archers, the medical context of the term is that a substance has the characteristic of a poison. This concept of the term survived until today with little differentiation. © 2021 The Author(s)

Professor William Macewen (1848-1924) is one of the most important figures in world’s surgery during 18th and early 19th century. He managed to provide numerous innovative techniques and instruments in various fields of surgery such as general surgery, orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, and thoracic surgery. His innovations had a great impact after his time and constituted the fundaments for further surgical developments. He also was a pioneer in clinical photography with the creation of a huge archive. During his surgical career, he received many honors. © The Author(s) 2020.

Aristotle (384-322 BC), the founder of the peripatetic sect of philosophers was a polymath and his work covers almost every major area of human inquiry such as physics, biology, metaphysics, ethics, rhetoric and politics. However, it seems that he had an inclination for the investigation of nature and human being. The heart is considered by Aristotle as the source of life, the part wherein the “psychical fire“is kept burning, the place of passions where all the feelings end and the true seat of the soul. His notions on anatomy were revised by the physicians of the Alexandrian school of medicine, but they prevailed over centuries till the leading discovery of William Harvey (1578-1657) on blood circulation. Copyright © 2020 Balkan Medical Union.

Mathieu Jaboulay (1860-1913) was an inventor in vascular and general surgery. He fabricated many new surgical techniques and instruments such as Jaboulay method for vascular sutures, Jaboulay anastomotic button, and Jaboulay amputation, known also as hemipelvectomy. In addition, he was a pioneer in heterologous transplantation and sympathectomy. He found death suddenly in a terrible train crash. He was a reputable Professor of Surgery at Lyon Faculty of Medicine with prestigious students in vascular surgery. © The Author(s) 2019.

Aim of the study: The purpose of this historic review is to summarize the life and work of Avicenna (980–1037) and his contribution to the diagnosis and treatment of spinal deformities and trauma. Method: We conducted an extensive search in libraries as well as online in Pubmed and Google Scholar. Results: Avicenna in his work Canon of Medicine combines the knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman physicians and surgeons and he combines them with the extensive of Arabic medicine and pharmacology. Conclusion: Avicenna made an impact with his medical writings in which he summarized the works of ancient Greek and Roman physicians like Hippocrates and Galen with the influence of medieval authors and the knowledge of the Arabic medicine and pharmacology. His descriptions and comments in his work Canon of Medicine summarize and comment the work of his predecessors and it remained a work of reference until at least the sixteenth century. © 2018, SICOT aisbl.

Ioannis Kardamatis was born in Athens in 1859. He studied medicine at the National University of Athens (in 1932, it was renamed to National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) and specialized in internal medicine and pediatrics in Paris and Brussels. He pioneered the anti-malaria battle in Greece in 1905. In 1909, he was elected lecturer at the Chair of Tropical Diseases and Parasitology at the Medical School of Athens. Moreover, he debated on the erroneous theory of Sir Ronald Ross (1857-1932) and William Henry Samuel Jones (1876-1963) proving that malaria did not provoke the fall of ancient Greece. His original work on malaria comprised more than 150 scientific papers, including monographs. The French Government and Paris Medical Academy awarded his work and research on malaria. In 1915, the Medical School of Athens abolished the chair of Tropical Diseases and Parasitology but Kardamatis continued to contribute to the field of the disease. Copyright © 2019 Balkan Medical Union.

Jules Cotard (1840-1889), a Parisian neurologist, described a syndrome of delirium negations which was later named after him. Some physicians in antiquity and medieval times, especially in Asia, have noticed this syndrome and categorized it as a symptom of melancholy. They have presented it as a “walking corpse syndrome”, inflicting most probably veteran soldiers after suffering during ferocious battles, presenting the first cases of a post war traumatic stress disorder. Philotimus (3rd-2nd century BC) was the first to record it around 3rd century BC, and proposed a simple but pioneering treatment, by just putting a lead hat on the men’s heads. Although various combined treatment strategies were proposed by modern psychiatry including pharmaceutical, electroconvulsive therapy, behavioural therapy and supportive psychotherapy, it seems that in antiquity a simple external intervention of supportive therapy was the main concept of confrontation, while drug administration was to be avoided. © 2019, University of Valparaiso. All rights reserved.

Pierre Franco (1505-1578) was a brilliant surgeon of the Renaissance, a contemporary of Ambroise Paré. He made an impact on the history of surgery with his innovative approaches in the treatment of hernia, lithotomy, and the use of the suprapubic incision. The purpose of this study is to present a detailed account of his work, innovations, and achievements as well as the impact he made on the surgery of the Renaissance. © The Author(s) 2018.

Born in an island with huge medical tradition in ancient Greece, Praxagoras of Cos became an esteemed medico-philosopher and surgeon. The evolution made by the Hippocratic School of Medicine further boosted his talent and helped him perform surgical operations, which were believed impossible for his era. Praxagoras introduced an innovative surgical technique to confront small bowel obstruction, by creating an enterocutaneous fistula. This historical review connects all available data to present the life and work of an important medical figure of the ancient Hellenic School. © The Author(s) 2019.

The purpose of this study is to summarize the life and work of the French anatomist and surgeon Antoine Ferrein (1693-1769). Ferrein made an impact in the history of anatomy and physiology through his work and especially with the description of phonation, renal anatomy, and liver and biliary structure. He also made an impact on ophthalmology with the description of the eyelid and its diseases. After a thorough review of the literature, we present in this review his life and his main discoveries with special emphasis on the anatomic description of the vocal chords resembling the chords of a violin tempered by the air exhaled from the lungs and how the physiology of phonation and the surgery of the larynx were revolutionized after that. © The Author(s) 2019.

Drugs with psychedelic, hypnotic, narcotic, analgesic, suppressive, euphoric and stimulating effects were used in various ways during the ancient times. We can classify drug use in ancient times into two main categories. On the one hand, ancient physicians prescribed drugs based on their pharmaceutical-therapeutic actions. On the other hand, people not pertaining to medicine and not relating to its accurate implementation often abused drugs to achieve an euphoric state of mind, either for personal gratification or as an indispensable element of religion and mythology. Ancient Greek medical literature contains ample prescriptions and recipes indicating that plants were the essential components of drugs. Pedanius Dioscorides dedicated his lifetime's work to the synthesis of ancient drugs. One can find a plethora of information concerning the production methods and the plants used in drugs for the treatment of psychiatric diseases. These were herbs like black and white hellebore, mandrake, hyoscyamus (henbane), Papaver somniferum (also known as opium poppy), Strychnos, Frankincense-tree and dorycnium. The preparation of narcotics included the addition of other elements, mainly wine, to the opus of plants or to their extracts. Drugs were produced via methods of dehumidification/desiccation, grinding, squeezing or boiling of the plants' roots with a formation of a juice, oil or mush extract. In addition, drugs could also be inhaled if burnt. Many physicians of antiquity, such as Hippocrates, Galen, Ctesias and Aretaeus of Cappadocia, all refer to many of these aforementioned drugs analyzing the different symptoms which they could address, and the risks accompanying their use. Physicians of antiquity used drugs for the treatment of somatic, as well as psychiatric disorders. Most of these drugs affected the central nervous system. Taking advantage of their analgesic properties, physicians used them for the management of severe and chronic painful conditions. The hypnotic effects of some drugs were desirable in order to be used as anesthetics for surgical operations and cauterization. Drug use was also established in the initial treatment of epilepsy and seizures, regardless of their cause. Public rituals and mythology were the two main contexts in which drug use flourished, outside the realms of medicine. The psychotropic and especially the hallucinatory effects of drugs caused the person under their influence to lose control, rendering him incapable of governing his actions and thoughts. These consciousness-altering medications were frequently the central focus of mythology. In this case, one would dictate and give orders to another person, which under any other circumstances would not be carried out. This led to the formation of the concept of the magic potion. Theophrastus frequently referred to magic potions.

Louis Hubert Farabeuf (1841-1910) was a reformer of the study of topographical, clinical and surgical anatomy during the 19th century. He was a reputable professor of anatomy and many anatomical terms, clinical signs and surgical instruments bear his name. © 2018 Firenze University Press.

The purpose of this study is to summarize the innovations of Ambroise Paré (1510-1590) on the treatment of war wounds and improving amputation technique through ligature in arteries and veins. Ambroise Paré debunked the widely accepted idea that gun powder was poisonous for wounds. He also minimized the use of cautery of wounds by his dressing methods and the application of ligature during amputations. All these innovative rationales revolutionized the practice of war surgery during the Renaissance and paved the way for the introduction of modern surgery. Nevertheless, although his wound dressing innovations became widely accepted, the same did not happen with ligature and amputation; those techniques could become widely applicable if one could somehow control bleeding until the blood vessels had been tied. This became possible much later in the 18th century when Jean Louis Petit invented the first useful and efficient tourniquet. © The Author(s) 2017.

The purpose of this historical review is to summarize the work of Paul of Aegina, especially his contribution to the treatment of neurosurgical disorders and trauma. Paul performed trephinations for head injuries in the tradition of the Egyptian and the Greek schools of medicine. However, he was an innovator in the treatment of several spine injuries, as his choice to perform laminectomies and his description of them as safe and successful is unprecedented in the history of the recorded medicine and surgery. Our search of the literature shows that Paul was the first to include in his practice such a surgical technique, and, in this way, he is an innovator, since Hippocrates described the results of spine surgery as disastrous for the patient. Thus, he may be considered the historic father of spine surgery for his pioneering surgical innovations. This shows clearly that innovation in science and medicine was significantly increased through the rise of Islam and the Arabic conquest of the Middle East. The so-called “Dark Ages” were not so dark after all. © 2017 Elsevier Inc.

Colchicine is a tricyclic alkaloid extracted from the herbaceous plant Colchicum autumnale. Known since antiquity for its therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of gout, colchicine was reintroduced in 19th century pharmacopeia, thanks to the work of the French chemists and pharmacists Pierre-Joseph Pelletier (1788-1842) and Joseph Bienaimé Caventou (1795-1877) who in 1819, isolated a peculiar substance in the roots of Colchicum autumnale. In 1833, the substance was further analyzed by the German pharmacist and chemist Philipp Lorenz Geiger (1785-1836), who coined the name colchicine. In 1884, the French pharmacist Alfred Houdé (1854-1919) produced for the first time pure crystallized colchicine in granules of 1milligram which is still sold under this trade name in several countries. In the last two centuries, colchicine’s indications were furthermore expanded. From anti-gout drug during antiquity and a diuretic in 19th century, colchicine is currently administered in several affections such as Adamantiades-Behcet's disease, familial Mediterranean fever, pericarditis and atrial fibrillation. © 2017 Bentham Science Publishers.

The purpose of this study was to summarise the life and work of the Cypriot physician Apollonius of Citium (first century BC). His overall work on medicine is presented, and special emphasis is given to his work on the treatment of joint dislocations. The most famous work of Apollonius is Treatise On Joints, which was preserved on the whole in a manuscript of the tenth century AD. In that manuscript, Apollonius is obviously influenced by the Hippocratic Corpus of Medicine. His description, diagnostic methods and reduction techniques are all based on those described by Hippocrates in his work “On Joints”. Apollonius’ contribution to this subject concerns accurate depiction in images of the reduction techniques he proposes. His simplifications describe the techniques of Hippocrates in a way they can be understood and used by athletes and nonphysicians in the Greek gymnasia. Perhaps his treatise is one of the earliest works of popularised medicine and surgery in the history of human civilisation. © 2018, SICOT aisbl.

The original version of this article was revised: The published online version contain mistake in author list. The corrected name is shown above. © 2017, SICOT aisbl.

The concept of psychosomatic disorders, as defined by modern medicine, was difficult to be perceived by the ancient Greek physicians. Two main reasons contributed to this. One was that physicians in Greek antiquity had formed the idea that the mental illnesses that were recognized at that time, namely mania, melancholy, frenzy, caros, lethargy, apoplexy, but even epilepsy, was the result of a disturbance of the essential elements of the body, the balance of them contributed to the preservation of health. Thus, depending on the school of medical thought of each physician in antiquity, mental and corporal illnesses were the result of various disorders such as the dyscrasia of humors for the physicians of the Dogmatic school that followed the Hippocratic principles or the disorder of the qualitative characteristics of the humor and the pneuma (air), as the physicians of the Pneumatic School considered, but also of the stenosis or the expansion of the pores as the physicians of the Methodic school thought. Although there was the perception that the diseases were the result of various combinations of the previous theories, as concluded by the physicians who constituted the Eclectic school. The second reason was that ancient physicians could not perceive the autonomy of man's psychic world as an element of human nature in which emotional distress and irrational mental processing of stimuli from the social, cultural and natural environment of the individual would be aggravating to the challenge of mental imbalance. Nevertheless, many physicians such as physicians who wrote various work of Corpus Hippocraticum, Soranus of Ephesus (1st - 2nd c. AD) Galen (1st - 2nd c. AD), Aretaeus of Cappadocia (1st - 2nd or 4th c. AD) and Caelius Aurelianus (5th c. AD) did not forget to describe in their works psychosomatic disorders as they are defined by modern medicine. In their works there are the observations about intense sweating, tremor, eating disorders, hysteria and even death as a result of an intense and long psychological unrest. These corporal symptoms, although were onset due to a psychological unequilibrium they could not been listed by the ancient Greek physicians in any of the mental diseases as they were defined in antiquity. The psychological disturbance which could provoke the above corporal disorders arose by various phobias, shame, sorrow, anger, envy, excessive drinks and food, excessive sexual desire, passion for gambling and anxiety of everyday life.

Purpose: The purpose of this review is to summarize the life and work of Jean-Louis Petit, his inventions, his discoveries, and his impact on the evolution of surgery of his era. Method: A thorough search of the literature was undertaken in PubMed and Google Scholar as well as in physical books in libraries to summarize current and classic literature on Petit. Results: Jean-Louis Petit (1674–1750) was an eminent anatomist and surgeon of his era with an invaluable contribution to clinical knowledge, surgical technique, and instrumentation as well as innovative therapeutic modalities and basic scientific discoveries. Conclusion: Jean-Louis Petit was an innovative anatomist and surgeon as well as an excellent clinician of his era. He revolutionized the surgical technique of his era with a significant contribution to what would later become orthopaedic surgery. © 2018, SICOT aisbl.

Pycnodysostosis or Maroteaux–Lamy syndrome is a genotypic bone disorder, with autosomal recessive inheritance, individualized by Lamy and Maroteaux in 1962. It is characterized by diffuse condensation of the skeleton with thickening of the cortex and narrowing of the medullary cavity. This condensation is reminiscent of the one observed in Albers-Schönberg disease, which differs essentially in dysmorphism of the skull (no closure of fontanelles, gaping sutures, hypoplasia of the lower jaw with open mandibular angle) and extremities (hypoplasia or osteolysis of the phalanges). The patients have a short stature, short hands and feet, and malformed nails. The first scientifically correct diagnosis was made by Dr. G. Séjournet who, under the guidance of his teacher Professor J.-A. Lièvre, performed extensive research and diagnosed Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec with achondroplasia-related dwarfism. This article describes pycnodysostosis and reports the life of the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec who died from the disease. © 2018, Springer-Verlag France SAS, part of Springer Nature.

The objective of this article is to showcase the use of opium in ancient times, as well as the beliefs surround‑ ing it, focusing on the opinion of Diagoras of Cyprus, a physician with great knowledge of pharmacology who probably practiced ophthalmology, composing a rose‑based collyrium. Opium, a drug produced from poppy, used to have several uses such as in anesthesia, pain relief and ritualistic purposes. There is evidence of its creation since before 5000BC. In Greece, the first documentation dates back to around 2600‑1100 BC in Crete. Many ancient medico‑philosophers used to utilize it in their practice, mentioning it in the majority of the medical texts of that time. However, there were others that disapproved of its use due to the possible side effects. Diagoras was one of them, as he categorized opium as a lethal substance that could cause severe problems to the vision. He may even have thought of the possible addiction that it can cause be‑ cause of the euphoric state it puts a person in. Some practitioners mentioned Diagoras’s opinion on opium, such as Erasistratus and Pliny the Elder. Despite his contributions in opium usage and ophthalmology, Diagoras is still unappreciated as a medical figure. Copyright © 2018 Balkan Medical Union.

Herophilus of Chalcedon (ca. 330-250 BC) was considered as one of the most important figures of anatomy during the antiquity. Apart from his other works in anatomy very important are also his observations in ocular anatomy. He discovered first the optic nerve and described four tunics in the eye. © 2017 Firenze University Press.

Epilepsy has been known since antiquity and trepanation has been documented as a therapeutic option. The Greek born physician Aretaeus of Cappadocia (2nd century BC) was the first to recommend trepanation for the treatment of refractory epilepsy to drugs, pointing out the efficacy of the method (Fig. 1). Trepanation was practiced throughout the Middle Ages, as it is proved by the book of “Quattuor Magistri” and during Renaissance as well. In 19 th century, Sir Victor Alexander Horsley (1857-1916), combining analysis of clinical presentation with cortical stimulation, performed a series of craniotomies for the treatment of epilepsy Fig. 2. In the following years the advent of electrophysiology and neurosurgery provided a fertile ground for further progress in epilepsy surgery such as the preoperative use of electroencephalography (EEG) to determine the epileptogenic zone by Otfrid Foerster (1873-1941); the research of Wilder Graves Penfield (1891-1976) in Montreal Neurological Institute and the use of stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) by the neurosurgeon Jean Talairach (1911-2007) and the neurologist Jean Bancaud (1921-1994)) Fig. 3. Nowadays, epilepsy surgery remains a valuable therapeutic option in cases of drug resistant epilepsy. © 2017 Bentham Science Publishers.

Giovanni Battista Della Porta (1535?-1615) was a polymath who dealt with many scientific fields. Among his studies very important are those concerning optics and the physiology of vision. Due to his interest in optics it was inevitable to deal also with ocular anatomy. His anatomical description of the eye gives us a lot of information about the development of the knowledge concerning ocular anatomy of his time. © 2017 Firenze University Press.

There has been a great controversy whether the terracotta figurines representing figures with the characteristics of disease found in Smyrna and dated at the Hellenistic period were used as models of clinical anatomy in the nearby famous in the antiquity medical school or were grotesque representations. In order to answer this problem we propose the examination of these figurines using special criteria. Every figurine should be examined separately to decide if it was a medical model, an apotropaic symbol or a portrait. © 2017 Firenze University Press.

The purpose of this historic review is to summarize the life, work, and contribution to anatomy of Charles Estienne (also known by the Latin name Carolus Stephanus). Charles Estienne was an early exponent of the science of anatomy in France. Although he remained under the influence of the Galenic tradition of medicine, anatomy, and surgery throughout his distinguished career, he had a significant influence on the scientific revolution and anatomy reformation of the 16th century. Nevertheless, he cannot be placed at the same level of contribution as Vesalius, because of his lack of discipline in his work, hesitation to diverge totally from traditional beliefs, and his hesitation for a total criticism of the Galenic tradition. © 2017 Elsevier Inc.

George Critchett (1817-1882) and his son George Anderson Critchett (1845-1925) have influenced the development of ophthalmology and ocular surgery for about a century. They presented new ocular operations such as Critchett’s advancement operation, Critchett’s corneal staphyloma operation, and Critchett’s keratoconus operation, and they invented new surgical instruments such as Critchett’s cataract knife, Critchett’s scissors, and Critchett’s fixation forceps. Both were delicate ocular surgeons managing complex and difficult surgeries. © The Author(s) 2016.

In this historical review we summarize the work of the Dutch physician, chemist, and anatomist Gerard Blaes (Blasius). A detailed account of his life and work is presented with emphasis on his contribution to anatomy. In particular, special reference is made to his innovative description of the spinal cord and spinal nerves. Blasius's contributions to neuroanatomy are remarkable when taking into account the limited technology of his era. As a true man of his era, he made significant contributions in research and teaching of anatomy, botany, and chemistry. He published a detailed description of the spinal cord with its gray and white matter and the spinal nerve roots, which significantly increased the knowledge of neuroanatomy in his era. He also is considered one of the founders of comparative anatomy through his work in both humans and animals. © 2017 Elsevier Inc.