Leeches for the unfortunate locksmith: self-inflicted posttraumatic transient cerebral blindness--mode of treatment and underlying mechanism (1826).
In 1826, Jean-Pierre Gama, a French military surgeon, treated a young locksmith who had self-inflicted posttraumatic transient cortical blindness. This may be the earliest detailed, firsthand description of this condition by a medically and scientifically trained observer. Gama's report sheds light on the concept of the mechanism of coup-contrecoup of cerebral concussion and its treatment in the early 19th century and on the germinating discipline of cerebral localization.
Feinsod
M
M
Department of Neurosurgery, Rambam (Maimonides) Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa. mfeinsod@rambam.health.gov.il
D000062:Accidents, Occupational; D000818:Animals; D019575:Blindness, Cortical / Q000266:history* / Q000628:therapy; D001815:Bloodletting / Q000266:history*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000266:history* / Q000628:therapy; D005602:France; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D007865:Leeches; D009493:Neurosurgery / Q000266:history