Errors and difficulties in the diagnosis of bladder cancer in the 19th century: about an uncommon case reported by Professor Claude-François Lallemand (1790-1854).

Before the official foundation of the specialty of urology in 1870 from Félix Guyon, its exercise was in the hands of general surgeons. One of the most distinguished surgeons interested in urology was Claude-François Lallemand, Professor of Surgery in Montpellier. Despite his enormous experience in the diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract diseases as well as the invention of various surgical instruments for the lower urinary system, Lallemand, however, did not avoid serious diagnostic errors because of the lack of diagnostic tools. Characteristically in the present article we present a serious diagnostic mistake in a patient with bladder cancer with fatal outcome.