The Byzantine physicians on epilepsy.

The aim of this study is to present epilepsy according to the most famous and representative Byzantine physicians throughout the whole period of the Byzantine empire. Mainly Byzantine medical texts were used as sources. The Byzantine physicians considered epilepsy to be a serious medical problem and followed the Hippocratic tradition as far as the etiology of this disease is concerned.

The ophthalmic wound of Philip II of Macedonia (360-336 BCE).

The aim of this report is to present the ophthalmic wound of King Philip II of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great. From a series of ancient literary and historical sources, a number of archaeological finds, and the paleopathological remains in the supposed tomb of Philip in Vergina, it can be deduced that the king was seriously wounded in his right eye during the siege of Methoni. The renowned physician Critobulos undertook the removal of the arrow that had injured the eye and the postoperative follow-up.

Nursing homes for the old ('Gerocomeia') in Byzantium (324-1453 AD).

Background: Research into the welfare institutions for the elderly, which were established in the Byzantine Empire.

Objective: The purpose of the study is the research into the texts of the Byzantine chroniclers and the contemporary historical sources so as to determine the social policy of the Byzantine State regarding the homes for the aged.

Methods: The histories and chronicles of the Byzantine writers, written in the original Greek language, were studied and analysed, so as to locate the extracts in the texts concerning the interest shown by the Byzantine State to establish institutions for old and ailing people.

Greek professors of the Medical School of Constantinople during a period of reformation (1839-76).

A medical school was founded in Constantinople in 1827. Greek medics were involved with the new school right from its foundation, mainly because they had studied in Europe and knew other European and Asian languages. This paper reviews the lives of five of them: Stefanos Caratheodory; Constantinos Caratheodory; Sarantis Archigenis; Spyridon Mavrogenis; and Marco Pitsipio (Apostolidi Pasha), who was appointed a director of the Medical School.

Surgery for inguinal hernia in Byzantine times (A.D. 324-1453): first scientific descriptions.

The aim of this article is to present the techniques applied by Byzantine physicians for inguinal hernia repair and to note their influence on the development of surgery after that time. A study and analysis of the original texts of the Byzantine medical writers, written in Greek, and containing the now mostly lost knowledge of the ancient Hellenistic and Roman periods, was undertaken. Two Byzantine physicians, Aetius of Amida (6th century A.

Professor Nicolas Taptas (1871-1955): a pioneer of post-laryngectomy voice rehabilitation.

Objective: To report on the career of Professor Nicolas Taptas of Constantinople (1871-1955) and his contribution to the development of an artificial larynx.

Study Design: Historical review.

Methods: The unpublished documents of Taptas's family archives and one of his papers, describing his own original technique for voice rehabilitation after total laryngectomies, were studied.

From the roots of rhinology: the reconstruction of nasal injuries by Hippocrates.

The goal of this report is to describe the therapeutic methods and surgical techniques used by Hippocrates (5th century BC) in the treatment of nasal injuries. We studied the original Greek texts of the (generally considered genuine) Hippocratic book Mochlicon and, especially, the analytical On Joints. We identified the treatments and techniques applied to the restoration of injured noses.

Oribasius (fourth century) and early Byzantine perinatal nutrition.

Background: The purpose of the study is the investigation of perinatal nutrition in the early Byzantine period.

Methods: The original Greek language works of the celebrated physician of the fourth century, Oribasius, were studied.

Results: The first Byzantine author who studied perinatal nutrition, Oribasius, provided his own concepts about the topic, focusing on the suitable choice of wet nurse and evaluation of the quality of the milk.

Sperm disorders according to the Byzantine medical writers (4th - 14th centuries).

Research in the works of the Byzantine medical authors brought to light significant information concerning disorders of the sperm as causes of infertility. The eminent Byzantine physicians give detailed accounts about the anatomy of the genitals, the creation of the sperm and its disorders as regards its quantity, quality, appearance, consistency, colour, ejaculation etc. According to those authors, the disorders of the sperm are due to, dietetic reasons (a list of foods and drugs influencing the production of sperm is referred to by many Byzantine physicians); constitution and age of the patient; obesity; diseases, such as "gonorrhea" (involuntary loss of sperm), oneirogmus, stenosis of the spermiducts, hypospadias and atrophy of the genitals; iatrogenic reasons (traumatic cutting off of the spermiducts during a lithotomy); castration.

A tragic case of complicated labour in early Byzantium (404 A.D.).

Objectives: Presentation and comment on the problematic delivery of the Byzantine empress Eudoxia's stillborn child.

Study Design: The original Greek language Byzantine histories, chronicles and hagiographical sources were investigated. Comparisons were then made of the knowledge of obstetrics among contemporary and ancient physicians.

Surgery on varices in Byzantine times (324-1453 CE).

Objectives: The purposes of this article are to describe Byzantine varicose vein surgery and to note its influence on the development of these operations after that time. A study and analysis of the original texts of the Byzantine physicians, written in Greek and containing the now mostly lost knowledge of the earlier Hellenistic and Roman periods, was undertaken.

Results: The Byzantines paid special attention to varicosis surgery from the early period of the empire.

Treatment of nasal polyposis in Byzantine times.

The goal of this study was to describe the therapeutic methods and surgical techniques used during Byzantine times (AD 324-1453) for a disease that has occupied physicians since antiquity: nasal polyps. The original Greek-language texts of the Byzantine medical writers, most of which were published after the 17th century, were studied in order to identify the early knowledge of the definition, symptoms, conservative treatments, and surgical intervention in cases of this disease. A considerable number of conservative treatments, etiologic and local (with inunctions or blowing of caustic substances), with evident influence from Roman medicine, were identified even in the early Byzantine medical texts (4th century).

Child sexual abuse: historical cases in the Byzantine empire (324-1453 A.D.).

Objective: The aim of this article is the presentation and brief analysis of some historical cases, unknown in the broader medical bibliography, of child sexual abuse in Byzantine Society (324-1453 A.D.).

The epilepsy of Emperor Michael IV, Paphlagon (1034-1041 A.D.): accounts of Byzantine historians and physicians.

Purpose: Presentation of epilepsy suffered by Byzantine Emperor Michael IV, Paphlagon (who reigned from 1034 to 1041 A.D.) and the attitude of his contemporary society to his disorder.

The carbon monoxide poisoning of two Byzantine emperors.

In this paper, two possible cases of acute carbon monoxide poisoning previously not identified in the medical and historical literature are discussed. The first concerns the famous Byzantine Emperor Julian the Apostate, who may have suffered mild carbon monoxide poisoning from which he quickly and completely recovered. The second case involves his successor, Jovian, who may have succumbed to severe carbon monoxide poisoning.

Unknown ancient Greek ophthalmological instruments and equipment.

Discoveries of some ancient medical instruments and equipment found in the Hellenic world have been published in magazines of general interest and in a rare Greek medical journal, yet none caught the attention of ophthalmologists. Among these instruments are two forms of the famous 'Kenteterion', dating from the Hellenistic period, used for the couching of cataract. These were found on the island of Milos in the last century.