Thomas Aitchison Latta

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thomas Aitchison Latta (* 1796 or soon after in Jessfield near Newhaven ; † October 19, 1833 ) was a Scottish doctor, known for the introduction of infusion therapy with saline solution, which he used in cholera patients in 1831.

Latta was born in Jessfield in Newhaven, a fishing village near Leith (the port of Edinburgh) in the late 1790s , on the estate of his father Alexander Latta acquired in 1796. He studied in Edinburgh with the degree in 1815 and received his doctorate there in 1819 (MD) with a dissertation on scurvy . He practiced in Leith from 1822. As a medical student he was a ship's doctor on a whaler. As a doctor in Leith, he was involved in combating the great cholera pandemic of 1831/32. In experiments in Edinburgh (Drummond Street Hospital), infusions with physiological saline solution were found to be successful. This was based on the theories of William Brooke O'Shaughnessy , who at the same time made unsuccessful experiments on cholera patients and (including in the Lancet ) made suggestions for an infusion solution that is as similar as possible to human blood. The results were published in the Lancet of June 23, 1832. Then it was forgotten again until the beginning of the 20th century. Latta's post and his name have been forgotten. It was also successful to varying degrees, as the correct electrolyte composition was only known from around 1902. A colleague (Robert Lewins) from Latta in Leith reported that 12 of 15 patients treated in this way died (which was still considered a success). As another colleague John MacKintosh wrote in 1836, however, only almost hopeless patients in Edinburgh were selected for the infusion shortly before death. More damaging was that some doctors were adding more substances to the infusion solution in an uncontrolled manner, according to a doctor in Liverpool protein. Leading medical professionals in Edinburgh were negative about infusion therapy and preferred to treat with bloodletting, opium with wine or brandy or calomel . When the next cholera epidemic hit Edinburgh 16 years later, IV therapy was forgotten.

Latta died of tuberculosis .

A street in Edinburgh is named after him.

literature

  • G. Janakan, H. Ellis: Dr Thomas Aitchison Latta (c 1796-1833): Pioneer of intravenous fluid replacement in the treatment of cholera, Journal of Medical Biography, Volume 21, 2013, pp. 70-74. PMID 24585745 .
  • N. MacGillivray: Dr Latta of Leith: Pioneer in the treatment of cholera by intravenous saline infusion, The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Volume 36, 2006, pp. 80-85, PMID 17146955 .
  • TF Baskett: William O'Shaughnessy, Thomas Latta and the origins of intravenous saline, Resuscitation, Vol. 55, 2002, pp. 231-234, PMID 12458058 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biographical information according to MacGillivray, see literature. This she got from AHB Mason, Dr. Thomas Latta, Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, Volume 33, 1972, pp. 143-149
  2. ^ The Lancet, Vol. 2, 1832, pp. 275, 276, 280
  3. ^ MacKintosh, Principles of pathology and practice of physic, London: Longman 1836
personal data
SURNAME Latta, Thomas Aitchison
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British doctor
DATE OF BIRTH around 1796
PLACE OF BIRTH Jessfield
DATE OF DEATH October 19, 1833