[Gout and kidney during XVII and XIX centuries]. / Gotta e rene tra XVII e XIX secolo.

The authors briefly describe the history of gout, mainly focusing their attention on the renal involvement. They report some works and theories on gout of great ancient physicians, such as Paracelsus, Sydenham, Boerhaave, Van Swieten and Morgagni.

[Some historical notes on popliteal cysts] / Qualche annotazione storica sopra le cisti poplitee.

Popliteal cysts, more appropriately those involving the gastrocnemio-semimembranous bursa, are traditionally known as "Baker's cysts", since in 1877 the English surgeon William Morrant Baker published a paper on this topic ("On the formation of synovial cysts in the leg in connection with disease of the knee-joint"). As a matter of facts, some authors described popliteal cysts before Baker. In particular, in 1856 a French physician, E.Foucher, performed a clinical and experimental study on 18 patients, focusing on some important aspects on the semeiology and pathophysiology of popliteal cysts. In 1861, Pietro Antivari, a physician from Friuli, a northeastern region of Italy, graduated at the University of Padova by producing an interesting paper on the popliteal cysts ("Dell'idrope delle borse mucose poplitee con tre osservazioni"). In the present historical note we report in full one out of three cases described by Pietro Antivari.

Palaeodemography of the Nasca valley: reconstruction of the human ecology in the southern Peruvian coast.

This study is based on skeletons and mummies belonging to 582 individuals excavated at sites of Pueblo Viejo, Cahuachi, Estaqueria and Atarco in the Nasca valley, South Coast of Peru. Archaeological evidence distinguishes three cultural phases: Nasca (400 BC-550 AD), Wari (600-1100 AD) and Chincha (1100-1412 AD). Since the Chincha human remains were too exiguous (27 individuals), only Nasca and Wari were considered. For the Nasca population, sex ratio was 113 men to 100 women (53% of males); for the Wari population, sex ratio was 117 men to 100 women (54% of males). The palaeodemographic data show that the infant mortality rate was 33@1000 for Nasca and 105@1000 for Wari. Life expectancy was 38-43 years for Nasca and 31-36 years for Wari. Death percentages in all the age groups increased from Nasca to Wari phase. ANOVA and t-test for paired comparison were applied in order to examine if dental and bone ages were statistically different. Long bones and teeth showed an allometric development, and the age estimated from the tooth formation and eruption was generally higher than the age estimated from the maximum lengths of long bones. The anthropological study of the Nasca valley skeletal populations confirmed the archaeological hypothesis of worse conditions of the Wari population in comparison with the previous Nasca people.

Familial hypertension in Morgagni's De Sedibus et Causis Morborum per Anatomen Indagatis.

Morgagni was a contemporary of Malpighi, but unlike the latter he concentrated on macroscopic clinical and anatomic observations. His De Sedibus et Causis Morborum per Anatomen Indagatis consists of 5 books, written as letters to other scientists and members of foreign academies. He dealt with diseases of the head, the chest and the abdomen and with surgically treatable diseases. The final book contains corrections to the previous 4 in the light of new studies and extended clinical experience. One case history presented, of a patient of Valsalva's who died with edema and a bladder stone, can probably be considered as the first description of familial hypertension. From his clinical and autopsy investigations, Morgagni concluded that the patient died of hereditary bladder stone disease and apoplexy.