Corning and cocaine: the advent of spinal anaesthesia
by Alex Looseley
The inception of spinal anaesthesia can be traced to James Leonard Corning, a New York neurologist who inadvertently administered cocaine spinal anaesthesia in 1885. In 1898 August Karl Gustav Bier, a German surgeon, pioneered the successful use of operative spinal anaesthesia in lower limb surgery. Early spinal anaesthesia was fraught with complications but through advances in aseptic technique, anaesthetic agents and equipment, the seminal work of Corning and Bier has evolved into a widely established anaesthetic modality. (Landmark Case Report; 15th September 2009) More...

Henri Hartmann and his operation
by Alex Hotouras
Hartmann's procedure, first described by the French surgeon Henri Albert Hartmann in 1921, is one of the most commonly performed operations. This paper examines the history behind this operation and assesses its significance in modern surgical practice. (Landmark Case Report; 13th May 2008) More...

Whipple pancreaticoduodenectomy: a historical comment
by Adrian O'Sullivan

Allen Oldfather Whipple is a name that will be forever eponymously associated with pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic cancer. This paper presents the history behind this procedure. (Landmark Case Report; 5th September 2007) More...

Paget's disease Ali S. M. Jawad and J. David Perry
The Royal London Hospital, Bancroft Road, London
E1 4DG, UK. More...

The epic 1954 operation that led to one of surgery's major advances: carotid endarterectomy ......................... .......................... John E. Connolly
University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. More...

`A Yankee dodge': the first British public demonstration of anaesthesia ......................... . S. M. Usher and S. Chieveley-Williams
Centre for Anaesthesia, Royal Free and University College Medical School , University College London.. More...

Harvey Cushing and Cushing's syndrome . ... A B Grossman
Department of Neuroendocrinology at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. More...

Thomas Addison and his disease
A B Grossman
Department of Neuroendocrinology at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London More...



A breakthrough in the treatment of empyema: what we have learnt 50 years on from Tillett and Sherry’s original case report
N C Barnes, S M Benjamin
Department of Respiratory Medicine, London Chest Hospital, London, UK More...

Cardiac transplantation: since the first case report
S M Benjamin, N C Barnes.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, London Chest Hospital, London, UK More...