For three decades after Marshall Hall's 1856 strictures against "forcing methods" and bellows for artificial ventilation (AV), human "forced respiration" (equivalent to intermittent positive pressure ventilation) was virtually abandoned. Various arm-chest manoeuvres often proved inadequate to save life. After doctor and engineer George Fell, of Buffalo (New York) (1849-1918), failed to save the life of an opiate-poisoned patient using Silvester's popular method, he resolved to try his animal laboratory AV method (bellows and tracheotomy). Following his first success in a landmark case (1887), he better adapted the apparatus for human use and soon succeeded with further difficult cases, but was unable to raise enthusiasm for his "Fell method" of AV. His reports of successful rescues to prestigious Washington Congresses met derision (1887) and indifference (1893), although by then they detailed 28 "human lives saved", mostly after opiate poisoning, and a switch from tracheotomies to face masks (simpler, but with a few complications). Continuing with rescues throughout the 1890s, Fell personally achieved recoveries after AV for as long as 73.5 hours (1896), and over 78 hours (1899). He argued for his method repeatedly with many talks, much documentation, and pleas for its use in other ventilatory crises. Despite his endeavours and successes, Fell was unable to secure widespread uptake of forced respiration, but others adopted his principles. Joseph O'Dwyer modified Fell's face mask-tracheotomy system by incorporating an intralaryngeal tube, and this "Fell-O'Dwyer apparatus" was used for neurosurgical cases (1894), also revolutionising intrathoracic surgery (1899).
The article is devoted to the history of creation and development of the Far Eastern health resort Kuldur located in the spurs of the Khingan range at the territory of the Jewish Autonomous Region. The historical sketch spans the period from 1897 to the present time including the phases of the resort activities at different stages of its developments in pre-revolutionary and post-revolutionary Russia (from the epoch of developed socialism to our time). The authors describe the contribution of the personnel of the resort, geologists, scientists of the Khabarovsk Medical Institute and other research institutions to the elucidation of the mechanism of action and therapeutic effectiveness of nitric-siliceous thermal waters.
The first children's hospital in Sweden (Kronprinsessan Lovisa's Children's Hospital) was established in Stockholm in 1854. In 1885 it was divided into a medical and a surgical department. This constituted the birth of pediatric surgery in Sweden. Pediatric surgery has been included in undergraduate teaching programs since 1945. A personal Associate Professorate in Pediatric Urology was instituted at the Karolinska Medical School in Stockholm for N. O. Ericsson in the late fifties. Upon his retirement in 1976 this personal chair was converted into an established Professorship in Pediatric Surgery. Pediatric surgery has been recognized as a specialty by our Medical Association since 1947. A survey of the Annual Reports from the Lovisa Hospital from 1885 to 1969 shows three phases in the development of our specialty in Sweden. The first stage extends from 1885 to 1932. During this period the disease pattern was dominated by septic and tuberculous infections, by empyemas, and by ENT diseases. Few cases of congenital malformations were reported. The bulk of general surgery in childhood was performed in the departments of general surgery. The second stage (1932-1945) was characterized by a decreasing incidence of tuberculous infections, by a successive transfer of orthopedic and ENT patients to the Departments of Orthopedic and ENT surgery respectively. During this period, a marked increase occurred in the volume of malformation surgery. This was due to the centralized treatment of congenital anomalies. The third stage started in 1945. The war had ended and we became acquainted with the dramatic development of pediatric surgery in other countries, in particular in the USA. The main advance was the possibility of opening the chest for repair of congenital anomalies of the heart and the great vessels, of the esophagus, and of the diaphragm. Soon afterwards, rectosigmoidectomy was introduced for the treatment of Hirschsprung's disease. In 1952, a second department of pediatric surgery was opened in Stockholm as a part of a new Children's Clinic at the Karolinska University Hospital. The major part of general surgery from the Stockholm area and all of the cardiovascular surgery stayed with the "Lovisa Hospital", while the major part of neonatal surgery and specific abdominal surgery was performed at the Karolinska Hospital. In order to improve the rather underdeveloped situation of pediatric urology, N. O. Ericsson was appointed to the post of Associate Head of the Karolinska Department, soon bringing this field to the frontlines of international standards. This historical review ends with some of the author's personal memories from the last 50 years.
