Antonio Maria Valsalva

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Antonio Maria Valsalva (1666-1723)

Antonio Maria Valsalva (born June 17, 1666 in Imola , † February 2, 1723 in Bologna ) was an Italian anatomist and surgeon .

family

Valsalva was born as the son of the well-respected goldsmith Pompeo Valsalva and his wife Caterina Tosi, he was one of eight children. At the age of 43, he married Elena Lisi on April 22, 1709, the 17-year-old daughter of a noble Bolognese senatorial family. They had six children together, three of whom died early.

education and profession

Of the Jesuits in philosophy , mathematics and science teaching, he developed a special interest in the morphology of animals and entomology . In Bologna, where he enrolled in medicine and philosophy at the university , Valsalva continued his studies in botany with Lelio Trionfetti in mathematics and philosophy, with Pietro Mengoli in medicine, with Paolo Salani and with Gian Galeazzo Manzi in surgery.

Valsalva can be seen as a supporter of Galilean beliefs, which was mainly due to the influence of his teachers Marcello Malpighi (1628–1694), the founder of microscopic anatomy, and Giovanni Alfonso Borelli , physiologist and physicist. Valsalva became Malpighi's favorite student in Bologna.

In 1687 he received his doctorate in medicine and philosophy (entry in the medical role of Bologna). With Santi, Beccari, Guglielmini, Giacomo Beccari and Albertini to Valsalva met in joint scientific studies and discussions in the house of the mathematician Eustachio Manfredi . The group was constituted as the Accademia degli Inquieti to combat the relics of scholastic philosophy and in 1714 merged into the Academy of Sciences in Bologna founded by the naturalist Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli .

Because of his achievements, Valsalva was appointed to the chair of anatomy in 1697. In 1705 Valsalva was appointed anatomical teacher and demonstrator, in which position he remained until his death.

power

Title page Valsalva work edition, Leiden 1742

Valsalva was an excellent teacher and scientific researcher, he also worked successfully as a doctor for 25 years, especially in the surgery department of the Bolognese hospital Sant'Orsola, and spent a lot of time in the anatomical theater.

His medical work focuses on the anatomical investigation of diseases and innumerable observations, a precise clinical and pathological-anatomical case history . Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682–1771) had been a pupil of Valsalva from 1698, helped him with his famous writing on the organ of hearing in 1704 and supported him as a collaborator in public mortuary sections and demonstrations.

As an anatomist, Valsalva described the aortic sinus, the tänien of the colon and the roots and connections of the vagus nerve . As a surgeon, he recognized the importance of nephrectomy and splenectomy , and also worked in ophthalmology , rhinology, and vascular and tumor surgery.

As a therapist, Valsalva suggested the hypotensive method in the treatment of aneurysms .

Valsalva also called for human treatment of the insane and acted accordingly. Like Vincenzo Chiarugis and Philippe Pinels (1745–1826), he considered mental illnesses analogous to organic illnesses, with corresponding treatment guidelines.

Valsalva, together with Vittorio Stancari, was appointed censor of the first volume of Morgagni's Adversaria anatomica by the Bologna Academy .

Valsalva over the ear

His major work on the human hearing organ 1704 contains a detailed anatomical commentary and excellent illustrations of the parts of the ear. In two parts, each with three chapters, he dealt with the anatomy and physiology of the ear. He divided the ear into three parts (outer, middle, inner ear) and for the first time described the outer ear muscles (based on a wax model) and the course of the external auditory canal . In the middle ear he represented the hammer and the auditory tuba ( Tuba Eustachii , after Bartolomeo Eustachio , 1520–1574), whose cartilaginous, membranous and bony components he identified as well as the muscles of the middle ear. He described the pharyngeal muscles and the function of the muscle fascia of the eustachian tube. In doing so, he anticipated the concept of the unity of otorhinopharyngeal (morphological) pathology . He used the term labyrinth for the first time , but for the entire inner ear , and he had also observed the endolymph . Valsalva also understood the function of the eardrum , the auditory tuba and the sebum glands , but did not attach particular importance to the tympanic cavity . He considered the semicircular canals, the cochlea, and the terminal ends of the auditory nerve to be the primary auditory organ . The sound transmission function of the lamina cochleae remained unknown until the early 19th century.

Valsalva eponyms

  • Valsalva test: pressure test to test cardiac function (Valsalva maneuver).
  • Valsalva antrum : largest mastoid attachment point , which connects the pneumatic system of the mastoid process with the tympanic cavity via the aditus ad antrum.
  • Valsalva fold : anatomical name Taenia coli , a ribbon-like formation on the colon , which is formed by three longitudinal strips consisting of smooth longitudinal muscles .
  • Valsalva Doctrine : Contralateral Relationship of Body and Brain
  • Valsalva double attempt : Maneuver to check the patency of the Eustachian tube : Test of pressure when closing the mouth and nose by exhaling vigorously .
  • Valsalva dysphagia : swallowing disorder after dislocation or after fracture of the hyoid bone .
  • Valsalva sinus : Sinus aortae , almost intracardiac expansion between each of the three semilunar valves and the aortic wall (bulb aortae). In the anterior (right) and left branch of the coronary arteries , it is also called the coronary sinus.

Works

Opera , 1741
  • Sulla superiorità delle dottrine sperimentali . 1687.
  • De aure humana tractatus, in quo integra ejusdem auris fabrica multis novis inventis et iconismis illustrata describitur etc. Bologna 1704 (Utrecht 1717, Leiden 1735, Geneva 1737, Venice 1740 (edited by Giovanni Battista Morgagni ), Leiden 1742)

literature

  • Eberhard J. Wormer : Syndromes of cardiology and their creators. Munich 1989, pp. 229-234.
  • HH Yale: Antonio Maria Valsalva (1666-1723). In: Clin Med Res. , 3, 2005, pp. 35-38. PMID 15962020
  • R. Kazi, S. Triaridis, P. Rhys-Evans: A short biography on the life of the dedicated anatomist - Valsalva. In: J Postgrad Med. , 50, 2004, pp. 314-315.
  • S. Fransson S, A. Rubboli: Antonio Maria Valsalva. In: Clin Cardiol. , 26, 2003, pp. 102-103.
  • RF Canalis: Valsalva's contribution to otology. In: Am J Otolaryngol. , 11, 1990, pp. 420-427.
  • GB Morgagni: De vita et scriptis Antonii Mariae Valsalvae commentariolum. Venice 1740.
  • Guglielmo Bilancioni: La figura e l'opera di Valsalva. Imola 1923.
  • PM Dawson: A historical sketch of the Valsalva experiment. In: Bull Inst Hist Med. , 14, 1943, p. 295.
  • V. Busacchi: Antonio Maria Valsalva (1666-1723). In: Münchn Med Wochenschr. , 110, 1968, p. 60.
  • Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Volume 8, p. 566.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Francesco Trevisani: Antonio Maria Valsalva , In: Wolfgang U. Eckart and Christoph Gradmann (eds.): Ärztelexikon. From antiquity to the present , 1st edition 1995 CH Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung München pp. 360 + 316, 2nd edition 2001 pp. 314 + 315, 3rd edition 2006 Springer Verlag Heidelberg / Berlin / New York, p. 328. Medical glossary 2006 , doi: 10.1007 / 978-3-540-29585-3 .
  2. ↑ HS Schutta, KK Abu-Amero, TM Bosley: Exceptions to the Valsalva doctrine. In: Neurology , Volume 74, Number 4, January 2010, pp. 329-335, doi: 10.1212 / WNL.0b013e3181cbcd84 , PMID 20101039 (Review).
personal data
SURNAME Valsalva, Antonio Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian anatomist and surgeon
DATE OF BIRTH June 17, 1666
PLACE OF BIRTH Imola
DATE OF DEATH February 2, 1723
Place of death Bologna