Clinical bibliography of Luis Simarro: a patient with brain tumour, 1895

Í. Corral, C. Corral
Neurosciences and History 2017; 5(4): 114-122

Type of article: ORIGINAL

AUTHOR

Í. Corral¹, C. Corral^2
1Department of Neurology. Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
²Specialist in Internal Medicine.

ABSTRACT

Introduction. Luis Simarro (1851-1921) was a precursor to Spanish neurology, psychiatry, neurohistology, and experimental psychology. He published very few clinical works.

Methods. We present an as-yet unknown case report by Luis Simarro, and perform a literature search to identify other clinical works published over his career.

Results. The case report concerns a patient who underwent surgery for a brain tumour in 1894, probably one of the first neurosurgical procedures reported in Spain. We identified four other clinical studies published by Simarro, two of which were also unknown until now; the first, published in 1877, describes a case of status epilepticus and the treatment administered.

Discussion. From a young age, Simarro displayed mastery of the clinical description of neurological patients and familiarity with the latest research on diseases of the nervous system. From 1885, he comprehensively analysed medical history and examination of neurological patients in order to correctly locate lesions, and addressed in detail the application of the anatomo-clinical method and the understanding of nervous system physiopathology. Simarro’s limited clinical bibliography demonstrates his skill as a clinician, with the capacity to use his clinical experience as the basis to train his students.

KEYWORDS

Bibliography, brain tumour, craniectomy, epilepsy, history of 19th century medicine, Luis Simarro

Neurosciences and History 2017; 5(4): 114-122