Unravelling dropsy: from Marcello Malpighi's discovery of the capillaries (1661) to Stephen Hales' production of oedema in an experimental model (1733).
A modern understanding of oedema formation traditionally begins with Starling's description in 1898 of hydrostatic and oncotic forces acting on the capillary membrane. Clearly, hypotheses of oedema formation predating the knowledge of the existence of capillaries must have been incomplete. Marcello Malpighi first described capillaries in 1661, but although he displayed a good grasp of the principles of the Harveian circulation and believed that oedema fluid (the clinical entity dropsy) was derived from the blood rather than the tissues, we have found no evidence that he realised the central role played by his discovery. However, only 60 years later, Stephen Hales' Haemastaticks reveals the creation of an experimental model for dropsy which led him towards an understanding of oedema formation not far behind Starling.
Andreae
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Department of Medicine, University College London Medical School, UK.
Fine
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LG
D000715:Anatomy / Q000266:history; D000818:Animals; D004487:Edema / Q000266:history*; D004739:England; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008374:Manuscripts, Medical as Topic / Q000266:history; D009398:Nephrology / Q000266:history