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  • Article

The mystery of the malignant brain

In 1884 a neurologist successfully used a patient’s symptoms, plus a new kind of map, to locate a brain tumour. Discover how his best-laid plans for treatment worked out.

  • Article

The blight of the ballooning blood vessels

In 1817 an emergency operation on a London porter was hailed a ‘success’ despite the patient’s swift demise. Find out how this case became a landmark in vascular surgery.

  • Article

The problem of the punctured heart

During World War II a young American surgeon working in England perfected shrapnel-removal techniques that saved dozens of lives. Discover how one case sealed his reputation as the founder of cardiac surgery.

  • Article

The case of the cancerous stomach

Steak and schnitzel were on the menu again after Theodor Billroth successfully excised a woman’s stomach cancer in 1881. Remarkably, today’s surgeons still perform the same procedure, with slight modifications.

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  • Medicine of Aborigenal Peoples in the British Commonwealth Exhibition. Section VIII. Surgery, instruments, appliances, operations.
  • page 111 "Illustrations of the Great Operations of Surgery", 1820
  • pls viii "Illustrations of the Great Operations of Surgery", 1820
  • page 2 "Illustrations of the Great Operations of Surgery", 1820
  • page 132 "Illustrations of the Great Operations of Surgery", 1820
  • page 1 "Illustrations of the Great Operations of Surgery", 1820
  • page 3 "Illustrations of the Great Operations of Surgery", 1820
  • pls vii "Illustrations of the Great Operations of Surgery", 1820
  • plate xx "Illustrations of the Great Operations of Surgery", 1820
  • title page of "Illustrations of the Great Operations of Surgery", 1820
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