the purpose of this historical review is to summarize the work of paul of aegina and especially his contribution to the treatment of spine disorders and trauma. a major review of the literature was undertaken with emphasis on the treatise of paul himself as well as those of later scholars and historians. paul expanded the horizons of surgery of his time, using his talent to perform very complic...

Byzantine physicians recognized uterine cancer as a distinct disease and tried to suggest a therapeutic approach. The work of Oribasius, Aetius of Amida, Paul of Aegina, Cleopatra Metrodora and Theophanes Nonnus reflects the Hippocratic-Galenic scientific ideas as well as their own concept on this malignancy. According to their writings uterine cancer was considered an incurable disease and its...

the period. However, in his book De Glandulis, Hippocrates (460-337 BC) states in relation to the glands: “……when glands of the neck become diseased themselves, they become tubercular and produce struma……”. The term “struma” is still used in some European countries (e.g. Austria, Italy) as the medical designation of goiter. In addition, in the Hippocratic writings of the 4 century BC, we encoun...

Habitual dislocation of the shoulder joint was known to Hippocrates and to Paul of Aegina. The ifiustration of Broca and Hartmann, taken from Bulletins of the Anatomical Society of Paris of 1890, illustrates how comprehensive was the knowledge of gleno-labrial detachments and deformation of the humeral head more than sixty years ago (Fig. 1). Little has since been added to this knowledge, thoug...

This article focuses on cesarean section carried out after the mother's death to rescue the living infant and on embryotomy, a medical procedure to save the mother described as early as the Hippocratic writings (5th to 4th century B.C.) and practiced until the times of Paul of Aegina (7th century A.D). The available sources do not mention cesarean section on a living mother to save the infant. ...

Occlusion of the preferred fixing eye has been a mainstay of amblyopia therapy for centuries. Credit for initially suggesting this treatment often has been given to the French polymath George Louis Leclerc, Count de Buffon (1743). However, evidence exists to suggest that attribution should go to Thabit ibn Qurra, who, although he was a Sabian and born in Harran (Turkey), was invited to join the...

modern medicine owes much to the endeavours and contributions made by the ancients that are unfortunately anonymous or even neglected intentionally today. this study was done to give attention to “the ancient golden times”, as the author believes it deserves the nomination, to give credit to the manner our ancient physicians and masters practiced medicine and managed traumas in particular in a ...

During the last 20 years, we have observed an increasing recognition of the high prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in children. Adenotonsillar enlargement, leading to a partial or a complete obstruction of the nasopharynx (or epipharynx, or rhinopharynx) and/or of the oropharynx, accounts for the vast majority of cases. Consequently, the number of adenoidectomies performed in child...