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. 2009;36(2):152-3.

Were pneumothorax and its management known in 15th-century anatolia?

Seyda Ors Kaya  1 , Mustafa Karatepe, Turgut Tok, Gokhan Onem, Nese Dursunoglu, Ibrahim Goksin
Affiliations

Were pneumothorax and its management known in 15th-century anatolia?

Seyda Ors Kaya et al. Tex Heart Inst J. 2009.

Abstract

Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard, a student of René Laennec's, first recognized pneumothorax in 1803, and Laennec himself described the full clinical picture of the condition in 1819. Treatment of pneumothorax was not begun as a standard procedure until World War II, but we think that Serefeddin Sabuncuoglu recognized the condition and applied treatment in the 15th century.Sabuncuoglu (1385-1470) was a surgeon who lived in Amasya (in Anatolia). In 1465, he completed Cerrahiyyetül Haniyye (Imperial Surgery), the 1st illustrated surgical textbook in the Turkish-Islamic medical literature. We describe the highlights of the book's recommendations concerning treatment of thoracic trauma, particularly of pneumothorax. We reproduce 2 of the colored miniature illustrations and add our comments regarding the advice of Sabuncuoglu. Most notably, he advocated "mihceme," a cupping therapy, as a simple technique of thoracic aspiration.

Keywords: History of medicine, 15th cent.; medical illustration/history; pneumothorax/therapy; thoracic surgery/history.

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Figures

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Fig. 1 The reduction of sternal fractures. From: Uzel I. Cerrahiyyetü'l Haniyye I, 1st ed. Ankara, Turkey: Turk Tarih Kurumu Yayinlari (Turkish Historical Society); 1992. Used by permission.
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Fig. 2 “Mihceme” is a kind of cupping technique, as illustrated here. From: Uzel I. Cerrahiyyetü'l Haniyye I, 1st ed. Ankara, Turkey: Turk Tarih Kurumu Yayinlari (Turkish Historical Society); 1992. Used by permission.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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