Sudden Unexpected Deaths and Vaccinations during the First Two Years of Life in Italy: A Case Series Study

Background The signal of an association between vaccination in the second year of life with a hexavalent vaccine and sudden unexpected deaths (SUD) in the two days following vaccination was reported in Germany in 2003. A study to establish whether the immunisation with hexavalent vaccines increased the short term risk of SUD in infants was conducted in Italy. Methodology/Principal Findings The reference population comprises around 3 million infants vaccinated in Italy in the study period 1999–2004 (1.5 million received hexavalent vaccines). Events of SUD in infants aged 1–23 months were identified through the death certificates. Vaccination history was retrieved from immunisation registries. Association between immunisation and death was assessed adopting a case series design focusing on the risk periods 0–1, 0–7, and 0–14 days after immunisation. Among the 604 infants who died of SUD, 244 (40%) had received at least one vaccination. Four deaths occurred within two days from vaccination with the hexavalent vaccines (RR = 1.5; 95% CI 0.6 to 4.2). The RRs for the risk periods 0–7 and 0–14 were 2.0 (95% CI 1.2 to 3.5) and 1.5 (95% CI 0.9 to 2.4). The increased risk was limited to the first dose (RR = 2.2; 95% CI 1.1 to 4.4), whereas no increase was observed for the second and third doses combined. Conclusions The RRs of SUD for any vaccines and any risk periods, even when greater than 1, were almost an order of magnitude lower than the estimates in Germany. The limited increase in RRs found in Italy appears confined to the first dose and may be partly explained by a residual uncontrolled confounding effect of age

When neurosurgery and orthopaedics were close in the past: Harvey Cushing and Vittorio Putti

BACKGROUND: Harvey Cushing and Vittorio Putti are well recognised medical eminence. The Italian orthopaedic surgeon Vittorio Putti was a promoter of modern orthopaedics and a scholar of orthopaedic history. Putti was a frequent world traveler and lecturer, and a close friend of the American neurosurgeon, pathologist and writer Dr. Harvey Cushing. Correspondence between the two surgeons can be found at Yale medical historical library and the Rizzoli Institute. METHODS: A research was performed: an extensive documentation on the correspondence between the two surgeons was found. RESULTS: The research allowed to analyze and confirm the strong relationship between the two surgeons and highlighted their passion for collecting antique medical books. CONCLUSIONS: The present paper represents a tribute to two great surgeons in the history of medicine with the aim of describing their personality and witnessing their great friendship through an unprecedented documentation. Both surgeons still live on through those who can continue to admire and study the fruit of their passion, as both men donated their precious collection of antique texts to public institutions, Putti to the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute in Bologna, and Cushing to Yale University

Nicolaes Tulp: The Overshadowed Subject in The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

In and out of prison most of his life, Aris Kindt [12] was known as a petty thief prone to violence. Such a misery was Kindt that he was even banned from his hometown of Leiden in South Holland. In the winter of 1632, Kindt was back in a Holland prison for assault and robbery, having been apprehended while stealing a man’s cloak [10]. Worse yet for the jailed thief, the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons’ annual ‘‘anatomy lesson’’ was fast approaching, and the Guild needed a body

Nicolaes Tulp: The Overshadowed Subject in The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

In and out of prison most of his life, Aris Kindt [12] was known as a petty thief prone to violence. Such a misery was Kindt that he was even banned from his hometown of Leiden in South Holland. In the winter of 1632, Kindt was back in a Holland prison for assault and robbery, having been apprehended while stealing a man’s cloak [10]. Worse yet for the jailed thief, the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons’ annual ‘‘anatomy lesson’’ was fast approaching, and the Guild needed a body

The Masters of the Bolognese Orthopaedic School

Bologna is one of the most ancient cradles of medical knowledge, as the city hosts one of the oldest medical faculties in the world. Among its best known institutions there is the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, founded in the late nineteenth century, whose history is strictly connected with the evolution and development of the Italian orthopaedic practice of the last 120 years. The present manuscript acknowledges the main contributions by Francesco Rizzoli, Alessandro Codivilla and Vittorio Putti, who prompted the foundation and the international recognition of the Rizzoli Institute and the related Bolognese Orthopaedic School

A historical perspective on ankle ligaments reconstructive surgery

Ankle sprains are by far the most common injuries treated by sport medicine physicians. Treatment is mainly conservative, but in some cases surgical intervention is required. The aim of the present manuscript is to give an insight into the origins and developments of ankle ligaments reconstructive surgery, underlining the fundamental steps that marked the transition from a mere conservative approach to surgical treatment options. In this historical note, the most illustrious figures who contributed to this particular field of orthopaedic practice are also acknowledged. Level of evidence

The codivilla spring: From then to now and beyond

The ankle-foot-orthosis (afo), originally called codivilla spring, is an orthotic device prescribed to the patients with foot drop due to neurological diseases in order to control the range of motion of the ankle joint and to compensate the muscle weakness/spasticity, thus optimizing the gait function. In this paper, a historical revision of the most known and used AFO worldwide from the origin of its name and the first applications at the rizzoli orthopedic institute to the most advanced solutions in use today is covered. through the critical analysis of the historical documents available, the paper reports on the controversy about the true inventor of the Codivilla spring during the first decades of the XX century. In terms of their design and indications, adult and child afos are presented. finally, possible approaches for the selection of the correct orthosis and the individual prescription are discussed in order to manage specific mechanical neuromuscular deficiencies of the subject’s ankle-foot complex, optimizing walking efficiency.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Biomechatronics & Human-Machine Contro