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Review
. 2024 Nov 21;16(11):e74195.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.74195. eCollection 2024 Nov.

Maxillofacial Surgery Within the Archive of the Greek Surgeon of the 19th Century Theodoros Aretaios (1829-1893)

George Filippidis  1 , Georgia Fragou  1 , Irina Noskova  2 , Evangelia Mourellou  3 , Dimitrios Zisiadis  1 , Konstantinos Laios  4
Affiliations
Review

Maxillofacial Surgery Within the Archive of the Greek Surgeon of the 19th Century Theodoros Aretaios (1829-1893)

George Filippidis et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

One of the most important figures of the Hellenic surgery of the 19th century, professor of the Othonian University of Athens, Theodoros Aretaios (1829-1893), portrays in his personal archives a series of surgical operations in the field of maxillofacial surgery. During his career, he operated the following surgical diseases, these are adenosarcomas or inosarcomas of the parotid region, osteofibroma of the sinus antrum, osteosarcomas of the upper and lower jaw, and lycostoma (cleft palate). He was able to perform radical enucleations of the tumorous masses. He reconstructed the area as a plastic surgeon. He had great surgical speed. In addition, the use of modern surgical tools, his ability to drain with catheters surgical wounds, and his skills to manipulate soft tissues, bones, and teeth, resulted in satisfactory outcomes. This historical vignette, by conducting documentary research in Theodoros Aretaios Archives, kept in the National Library of Greece, unveils one more surgical edge of a great surgeon.

Keywords: cleft palate; facial oncology; hellenic surgery; parodit gland; scirrhus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Theodoros Aretaios, by Solon Vathis, photographed in Paris, date unknown.
Holding no rights
Figure 2
Figure 2. Parotid region and the deep relations of the parotid region by Bruno Jacques Béraud in his work Atlas of surgical and topographical anatomy, 1867.
That is superficial and deeper lobes as well as the connection to the facial artery. Image credit: Open Government License, ODC-BY, and CC-BY 2.0 terms
Figure 3
Figure 3. Cleft palate and sutures by Francis Mason in his work “On Harelip and Cleft Palate” in 1877.
Cleft palate on the left and the scheme of the sutures on the right. Image credit: Open Government License, ODC-BY, and CC-BY 2.0 terms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

    1. Theodoros Aretaios (1829-1893) the Most Eminent Surgeon of His Era and the First Pediatric Tracheotomy Due to Laryngeal Diphtheria in Modern Greece. Kokkolatos K. Weekly Rev. 1893:507–508.
    1. Dimitriadis D. Tarousopoulos Press, Athens. Athens, Greece: Tarousopoulos Press; 1921. The benefactors of universities: Biography with images, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
    1. Kouzis A. Pyrsos Press, Athens. Athens, Greece: Pyrsos Press; 1837. History of the Medical School, One Hundred Years.
    1. Aretaios T. Athens, Greece: 1870. Surgery (Ἐγχειριστικῆ)
    1. Aretaios T. Athens, Greece: 1880. Surgical Pathology (Χειρουργική Παθολογία)

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