The neurovascular studies of Dr Josep Falp i Plana (1873-1913)

Type of article: ORIGINAL

AUTHOR

A. Arboix
Cerebrovascular Disease Unit, Department of Neurology, Hospital Universitari del Sagrat Cor, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

ABSTRACT

Introduction. This article analyses the neurovascular studies by the author of the first series of stroke cases in Spain: Dr Josep Falp i Plana (Barcelona 1873-Tarragona 1913).

Methods. We conducted a literature search on Medline with no date limits to locate the keyword 'Falp Plana'. We also drew from the doctoral thesis by M.G. Fabregas Camps (Història de la Neurologia a Catalunya. De l'any 1882 a l'any 1949), the appendix on stroke in Dr Falp's 1901 medical topography (Estudio general de la apoplejía -feridura- en Solsona), and primary historical literature sources selected from the library of the Academy of Medical and Health Sciences of Catalonia and the Balearic Isles, Barcelona.

Results. Josep Falp i Plana was a multifaceted individual who excelled in medicine and writing, especially poetry, and displayed great civic and social involvement. He was also doctor to Catalan poet Jacint Verdaguer. His main published study was La topografía médica de Solsona y distritos adyacentes, a medical topography published in 1901 that included an appendix on stroke (Estudio general de la apoplejía -feridura- en Solsona). This appendix was awarded the gold medal by the Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia in 1900. Falp i Plana also founded and presided over the  first vegetarian society in Catalonia. He died at the age of 40 of meningitis secondary to an ear infection.

Conclusions. Josep Falp i Plana's neurovascular work was both remarkable and significant. He was one of Spain's pioneers in clinical studies of cerebrovascular disease.

KEYWORDS

J. Falp i Plana, history, neurology, cerebrovascular disease, stroke

Neurosciences and History 2014;2(2):43-48