Palaeopathology of the earlobe crease (Frank's sign): new insights from Renaissance art

Several studies have associated the earlobe crease sign, discovered by Sanders T. Frank in 1973, with cardiovascular pathology, yet very few studies have focused on the antiquity of this trait, with the most ancient one thought to date back to the Roman Emperor Hadrian (76-138CE). This article presents two more cases from the Italian Renaissance in the works of the artist Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506) and examines them in a multidisciplinary fashion.Francesco M. Galassi, Claudio Borghi, Roberta Ballestriero, Michael E. Habicht, Maciej Henneberg, Frank J. Rühl

The teaching of anatomy throughout the centuries: From Herophilus to plastination and beyond

© Mattioli 1885. Cultural changes, scientific progress, and new trends in medical education have modified the role of dissection in the teaching of anatomy in today's medical schools. Dissection is indispensable for a correct and complete knowledge of human anatomy, which can ensure safe as well as efficient clinical practice and the human dissection lab could possibly be the ideal place to cultivate humanistic qualities among future physicians. In this manuscript, we discuss the role of dissection itself, the value of which has been under debate for the last 30 years; furthermore, we attempt to focus on the way in which anatomy knowledge was delivered throughout the centuries, from the ancient times, through the Middles Ages to the present. Finally, we document the rise of plastination as a new trend in anatomy education both in medical and non-medical practice

The art of human anatomy: Renaissance to 21st century.

This session examines the relationship between the art and science of anatomy from the time of Vesalius to the present with particular emphasis on the role of the medical artist and the changing nature of anatomical illustration over the last five centuries. Pivotal changes in the art of anatomy will be examined including the evolution of media and brain imaging from Golgi to Geschwin

The teaching of anatomy throughout the centuries: From Herophilus to plastination and beyond

Cultural changes, scientific progress, and new trends in medical education have modified the role of dissection in the teaching of anatomy in today's medical schools. Dissection is indispensable for a correct and complete knowledge of human anatomy, which can ensure safe as well as efficient clinical practice and the human dissection lab could possibly be the ideal place to cultivate humanistic qualities among future physicians. In this manuscript, we discuss the role of dissection itself, the value of which has been under debate for the last 30 years; furthermore, we attempt to focus on the way in which anatomy knowledge was delivered throughout the centuries, from the ancient times, through the Middles Ages to the present. Finally, we document the rise of plastination as a new trend in anatomy education both in medical and non-medical practice

Die Geschichte einer unbekannten dermatologischen Wachsgusssammlung der Universität „Iuliu Hatieganu“, Klausenburg, Rumänien

Among the dermatological wax collections across Europe, one of the latest created is the collection from Cluj-Napoca University, Romania. The initiator was Professor Coriolan Tataru and the moulage artist employed was Dr. Richard Hoffmann. Between the years 1923 and 1928, around 200 wax moulages were made, all realised after patients hospitalised in the clinic. The majority of cases represent the dermatological infectious pathology of that time: syphilis, cutaneous tuberculosis and mycetomas. Other interesting moulages represent genodermatoses, pelagra, different cutaneous cancers, and atypical aspects of common diseases like psoriasis and eczemas. The models depicting different stages of syphilis won the gold medal at the Ninth International Congress of Dermato-Venereology held in Budapest in 1935. We believe that the collection has a great value from a historical, artistic, didactic and scientific point of view, and it is organised as a museum within the Dermatology Clinic

Wax Anatomical Models and Neuroscience: From Artistic Italian Creation to Therapeutic Approach

Wax modelling has been used since ancient times with its first application in art in the fifteenth century involving famous artists with knowledge of anatomy. It was only in the seventeenth century that coloured ceroplastic began to be used for teaching anatomy as valid alternative to dissected human bodies, including also neuropathological. The origin of this scientific approach was born in central Italy, in Florence and Bologna in the eighteenth century, and immediately spread to other Italian cities, and Europe, and throughout the rest of the world. Wax neuro-models were shown as artefacts and destined to train young doctors in anatomical knowledge. Nowadays, wax is often considered an old-fashioned art form but what is not well known is that wax has a useful therapeutic application in medicine, with a particular emphasis in neurosurgery