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.
Department of Neurosurgery, Rambam (Maimonides) Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa. mfeinsod@rambam.health.gov.il
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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