Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1547

JEAN ZULéMA AMUSSAT (1796-1856) Recherches sur l'introduction accidentelle de l'air dans les veines. Germer Baillière 1839 [6] 255 [3] pp. 23 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 1545

Amussat was an innovative, observant, and skillful surgeon during the early nineteenth century when French surgery was in its ascendancy. In this book he notes that although the effects of deliberate introduction of air into the circulatory system had been known from animal experiments as early as Morgagni and Haller, it was not until a report by Beauchêne in 1829 that the danger of air entering the veins in traumatic or surgical wounds was realized. A long series of reports of animal experiments is given, followed by his own surgical experiences. His case histories dramatically show the typical chain of events that occur when air enters one of the large veins. Frothy blood and air was always found in the right side of the heart at autopsy. Amussat's experiences were similar to those of his famous contemporaries and this is the earliest report of the spontaneous introduction of air during an operative procedure.

Cited references: Waller 394

Gift of John Martin, M.D.