The 1918 Influenza Pandemic Versus COVID-19: A Historical Perspective From an Italian Point of View.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has a major precedent almost exactly a century ago: the world-famous H1N1 influenza virus pandemic, sometimes known to the general public as the Spanish flu. From a history of medicine perspective, it is possible to underline many potential common traits between the two. In this article, hygiene and prophylaxis strategies are analyzed in a review of the most popular Italian general medical journals at the time of Spanish flu, Il Policlinico being the most representative of them. The analysis included 40 original journal articles as well as important references to the most influential coeval national manuals and international journals. The main issues in the context of public hygiene are prophylaxis with quinine and quinine derivatives, vaccinations, face masks, disinfection, and social distancing. We draw a comparison between these and the most recent international World Health Organization and Italian national guidelines on the topic. Sadly, little has changed since those times in terms of most of the prevention techniques, even with technical improvements, showing how shortsighted doctors and physicians can be when dealing with medical history. (Am J Public Health. 2021;111(10):1815-1823. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306412).

Back to the Future - Part 2. Post-mortem assessment and evolutionary role of the bio-medicolegal sciences.

Part 2 of the review "Back to the Future" is dedicated to the evolutionary role of the bio-medicolegal sciences, reporting the historical profiles, the state of the art, and prospects for future development of the main related techniques and methods of the ancillary disciplines that have risen to the role of "autonomous" sciences, namely, Genetics and Genomics, Toxicology, Radiology, and Imaging, involved in historic synergy in the "post-mortem assessment," together with the mother discipline Legal Medicine, by way of its primary fundament, universally denominated as Forensic Pathology. The evolution of the scientific research and the increased accuracy of the various disciplines will be oriented towards the elaboration of an "algorithm," able to weigh the value of "evidence" placed at the disposal of the "justice system" as real truth and proof.

Back to the Future - Part 1. The medico-legal autopsy from ancient civilization to the post-genomic era.

Part 1 of the review "Back to the Future" examines the historical evolution of the medico-legal autopsy and microscopy techniques, from Ancient Civilization to the Post-Genomic Era. In the section focusing on "The Past", the study of historical sources concerning the origins and development of the medico-legal autopsy, from the Bronze Age until the Middle Ages, shows how, as early as 2000 BC, the performance of autopsies for medico-legal purposes was a known and widespread practice in some ancient civilizations in Egypt, the Far East and later in Europe. In the section focusing on "The Present", the improvement of autopsy techniques by Friedrich Albert Zenker and Rudolf Virchow and the contemporary development of optical microscopy techniques for forensic purposes during the 19th and 20th centuries are reported, emphasizing, the regulation of medico-legal autopsies in diverse nations around the world and the publication of international guidelines or best practices elaborated by International Scientific Societies. Finally, in "The Future" section, innovative robotized and advanced microscopy systems and techniques, including their possible use in the bio-medicolegal field, are reported, which should lead to the improvement and standardization of the autopsy methodology, thereby achieving a more precise identification of natural and traumatic pathologies.

A glimpse into the early origins of medieval anatomy through the oldest conserved human dissection (Western Europe, 13(th) c. A.D.).

INTRODUCTION: Medieval autopsy practice is very poorly known in Western Europe, due to a lack of both descriptive medico-surgical texts and conserved dissected human remains. This period is currently considered the dark ages according to a common belief of systematic opposition of Christian religious authorities to the opening of human cadavers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The identification in a private collection of an autopsied human individual dated from the 13(th) century A.D. is an opportunity for better knowledge of such practice in this chrono-cultural context, i.e. the early origins of occidental dissections. A complete forensic anthropological procedure was carried out, completed by radiological and elemental analyses. RESULTS: The complete procedure of this body opening and internal organs exploration is explained, and compared with historical data about forensic and anatomical autopsies from this period. During the analysis, a red substance filling all arterial cavities, made of mercury sulfide (cinnabar) mixed with vegetal oil (oleic and palmitic acids) was identified; it was presumably used to highlight vascularization by coloring in red such vessels, and help in the preservation of the body. CONCLUSIONS: Of particular interest for the description of early medical and anatomical knowledge, this "human preparation" is the oldest known yet, and is particularly important for the fields of history of medicine, surgery and anatomical practice.

Situs inversus with dextrocardia in a mummy case.

A mummy of a young woman, who died due to tuberculous peritonitis and salpingitis, is conserved in the Pathological Anatomy Museum of the University of Padua. It was found at autopsy to have situs inversus of viscera with dextrocardia, apparently in the absence of other congenital defects. A 64-section scanner computed tomography (CT) on the specimen was carried out to investigate the internal condition of organs. The CT revealed the presence in the heart of a muscular ventricular septal defect and of calcific deposits on visceral pericardium and aortic wall, in keeping with sequelae of previous tuberculous pericarditis.

[For a socio-medical iconography of Ramazzini's De Morbis: the manuscript of Giovanni Grevembroch (1731-1807)]. / Per una iconografia medico-sociale del de Morbis di Ramazzini: il manoscritto di Giovanni Grevembroch (1731-1807).

Since 2002, a group of historians of medicine in Padua has been working on the creation of a iconographic database related to the professions described by Ramazzini, founder of occupational medicine, in his 1700's De morbis artificum diatriba. A specific example of iconography relevant to De morbis can be found in a 17th century manuscript written and illustrated by Giovanni Grevembroch (1731-1807), Venetian painter probably from a family of Flemish origins. This manuscript describes typical Venetian dress and costumes, accompanied by commentaries made by the artist himself. Here we can find costumes related to some of the very same professions described by Ramazzini and a comparative analysis reveals interesting elements. First of all, in his commentary Grevembroch frequently invokes concepts very similar to those of Ramazzini, related both to the dangers of the environment characteristic of a given profession and to the illnesses typical to each profession. Moreover, analysis of Grevenbroch's images and text often provides supplemental insights into to the context of and risks associated with selected occupations. Finally, the Grevembroch manuscript also supplies supplemental material pertinent to the social and cultural life of the epoch that, even if not strictly linked to questions of occupational medicine.

[The enigma of the "punished suicide": an anatomical preparation of Lodovico Brunetti winner of the gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867]. / L'enigma della "suicida punita": un preparato anatomico di Lodovico Brunetti vincitore della medaglia d'oro all'esposizione universale di Parigi del 1867.

This article reconstructs the figure of Lodovico Brunetti, the first Chair of Pathological Anatomy at the University of Padua, and Director of the homonymous Institute from 1869 to 1887. He was the inventor of a technique known as "tannization," for the conservation of animal tissue. In particular, we have reconstructed the episode related to a particularly choking anatomical preparation, created by Brunetti in 1863, called "The Punished Suicide." This composition, together with a series of 66 preparations, allowed him to win the "Gran prix" at the Universal Exposition of Paris in 1867.