Includes a historical review of the subject from the time of the Ancient Egyptians to Corvisart, and a summary of the advances in pathology during the preceding 50 years. Vol. 2, pp. 553-600 deals with diseases of the arteries. Lobstein wrote an important section on ossification of arteries, and was first to use the word “arteriosclérose” (on p. 550). Vol. 2, pp. 204-12  "De la fragilité des os, ou de l’ostéopsathyrose" describes osteopsathyrosis (“Lobstein’s disease”), osteogenesis imperfecta, earlier described by Ekman (No. 4304.1).

Page 361 contains the first description of intermittent claudication in man. This was first reported (in the horse) by “Boullay” [?J. Bouley] in Arch. gén. Méd.,1831, 27, 425.  P. 186: Brodie's test for insufficiency of the valves in varicose veins, later associated with the name of Trendelenburg.

One of Rokitansky’s best works. He described atheroma and calcification in the intima of arteries, and various congenital malformations.  Rokitansky "is credited with the initial case report of polyarteritis nodosa in 1852. He described the presence of aneurysmal lesions with nodes in multiple arteries observed at autopsy. . . . Rokitansky provides a compelling gross pathological description [see plate VI]. . ." (Matteson, Inflammatory Diseases of Blood Vessels, p. 211).

Charcot was among the first to report intermittent claudication in man.

First description of periarteritis nodosa.

Mahomed proved that cases of “arteriocapillary fibrosis” were hypertensive, and showed that they may occur without renal involvement.

Early description of thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger’s disease, No. 2912).

A comprehensive account of the schlerosis of the coronary arteries and the morbid states arising from them, including a historical review of the problems.

“Huchard’s disease” – continued hypertension causing arteriosclerosis. Huchard did much to develop the knowledge concerning arteriosclerosis and summarized his work in a classic monograph published in 1909.

Jassinowsky experimented with arterial sutures on animals. His thesis, Die Arteriennaht: Eine experimentell-chirurgische Studie, Dorpat, 1889, was an experimental-surgical study of the subject.

All-layer intima-to-intima arterial anastomosis.

Carrel perfected the operation of arterial suture, end-to-end anastomosis of severed vessels with triple-threaded sutures. See also No. 3026.

Experimental production of arteriosclerosis.

“Mönckeberg’s sclerosis”. He described a form of medial sclerosis of the blood-vessels of the extremities. See also his later papers in Klin. Wschr.,1942, 52,1473-78, 1521-26.

Buerger’s important paper on thrombo-angiitis obliterans gives the first comprehensive report of the clinical and pathological aspects of the disease. Buerger gave the condition its present name; it is also known as “Buerger’s disease”.

Experimental atherosclerosis produced by a cholesterol-rich diet of whole milk, egg yolks, and meat. French translation as" Influence de la nourriture animale sur l'organisme des lapins," Arch. Méd. exp. Anat. path.,1908, 20,1-20. German translation as "Wirkung des tierischen nahrung auf den kaninchenorganismus," Ber. Milit. Med. Akad. 1908, 16, 154–76.

A classical description of “Ayerza’s syndrome or disease” (cor pulmonale), to which Arrillaga named after Abel Ayerza, who first mentioned the disease in a lecture given in 1901. Corvisart mentioned the condition in 1806. See No. 2917. Digital facsimile of Arrillaga's work from the Hathi Trust at this link.

Anichkov and Chalatov of St. Petersburg, Russia, discovered that atherosclerosis of large arteries is critically dependent on cholesterol. (Translated in Arteriosclerosis, 1983, 3, 178-182). The inflammatory nature of atherosclerosis was first observed and suggested by Rudolf Virchow in 1856.

Jeger was the first to advocate the bypass principle for management of peripheral aneurysms.

Arteriography. First angiogram of a living patient.

Clinical angiography.

Femoral arteriography.

In 1901 Argentinian physician Abel Ayerza (1861-1918) lectured on the syndrome of chronic cyanosis, dyspnoea, erythremia, and sclerosis of the pulmonary artery, “Ayerza’s disease” (cor pulmonale). He did not publish this work, but an important discussion on the nomenclature was given by Luis Ayerza in the above paper, and in a previous paper in the same journal, 1925, 32,pt. 1, 43. See No. 2914.

Klotz, eminent Canadian pathologist, is particularly remembered for his contributions to the subject of arteriosclerosis.

Temporal arteritis is first described in Case 24 (p. 532). Schmidt’s paper also appeared in Bibl. Laeger, 1930, 122,269 (Case 24, p. 320). Temporal arteritis was also described as a new condition by B. T. Horton, T. B. Magath, and G. E. Brown, Proc. Mayo Clin.,1932, 7,700-01.

Thorotrast first used in arteriography.

The carotid sinus syndrome.

The Keith–Wagener classification of fundal lesions. They classified essential hypertension into four groups.

Idiopathic dilatation of the pulmonary artery reported. With D. Routier and R. Heim de Balsac.

Rich considered hypersensitivity to be an important factor in the aetiology of periarteritis nodosa.

Kunlin, an associate of R. Leriche, first reported the use of a bypass venous graft for femoropopliteal occlusive arterial disease.

Percutaneous arterial catheterization.

Coronary arteriography. Sones first performed this technique in 1958, and first published a more detailed account of it in a 1960 book chapter: "Cinecardioangiography," pp. 130-144 in B. L. Gordon (ed.) Clinical cardiopulmonary physiology, 2nd ed., New York, 1960. "The 1960 book chapter includes a 6-page discussion of the technique of selective coronary arteriography (which is illustrated with 12 frames depicting the opacification of the right and left coronary arteries). Sones describes the special coronary catheter he had designed in 1959 and explains that he had performed the selective procedure in more than 200 patients" (W. Bruce Fye).

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

Selective percutaneous transfemoral arteriography.

First description of John Hunter’s method of treating popliteal aneurysm. This consisted in a single ligature of the artery at a distance high in the healthy tissues. Recorded by his brother-in law. See also Trans. Soc. Improve. med. Knowl.,1793, 1,138. Reprinted in Medical Classics, 1940, 4,449-57.

The first femoral ligation reported in America, and the first paper on a surgical topic to be published in an American medical periodical.

John Bell, the Scottish anatomist and brother of Charles Bell, is regarded as a founder of surgical anatomy. He was first to ligate the gluteal artery (Vol. I, pp, 421-26), and tied the common carotid and internal iliac. His illustrations were his own work, and were of a high standard.

Desault was one of the first professors at the École Pratique de Chirurgie, Paris. He made many suggestions regarding the treatment of fractures and dislocations and is one of the founders of modern vascular surgery. In Remarques et observations sur l’opération de l’anévrisme (Vol. 2,  553-80) he described his technique of tying blood vessels for the treatment of aneurism.  Desault was Xavier Bichat’s teacher, and Bichat edited the first edition of this set.
In the second edition (3 vols., 1801-3) volume 3, which concerns urological diseases, was edited by P. J. Roux. With Chopart, Desault founded urological surgery, and was one of the first to have a clear understanding of urological disease. Vol. 1 was translated into English as A Treatise on Fractures, luxations and other affections of the bones, Philadelphia, 1805. The translation of vols. 2 & 3 was entitled The Surgical Works, 2 vols., Philadelphia, 1814. Desault edited the first journal specifically on surgery: Journal de chirurgie, 4 vols., 1791-92. 

A pupil of John Hunter, Abernethy became a leading surgeon in London. He was most industrious, and it is said that not even on his wedding day did he fail to give his usual daily lecture at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. His book was, in the view of D’Arcy Power, epoch-making; on pp. 234-92 he recorded the first successful ligation of the external iliac artery for aneurysm, an operation carried out by Abernethy in 1796. 

Cooper ligated the common carotid artery on Nov. 1, 1805; the patient died, but a second case (June 22, 1808) proved successful. (See also No. 2955).

First successful ligation of the external iliac artery in America (Aug. 19, 1811).

Goodlad successfully ligated the external iliac on July 29, 1811. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Post, Professor of Surgery and Anatomy at Columbia College, New York, was the first in America to ligate the common carotid artery for aneurysmal disease.

First successful ligation of the internal iliac, Dec. 27, 1812. The patient died in 1822 and an account of the autopsy is given by Richard Owen in Med.-chir. Trans.,1830, 16,219-35.

Colles tied the subclavian artery in 1811 and again in 1813. Garrison reminded us that Colles is credited with the first successful ligation of the innominate artery in Europe, but was unable to verify this. The paper was reprinted in Medical Classics, 1940, 4, 1043-72.

On July 2, 1815, Guthrie successfully ligated the peroneal artery of a German soldier wounded at the Battle of Waterloo.

Post was the first successfully to ligate the subclavian artery outside the scaleni (Sept. 8, 1817).

Cooper, the pupil and great interpreter of Hunter, was the most popular surgeon in London during the Regency. In 1802 he gained the Copley Medal of the Royal Society. Travers was surgeon to St. Thomas’s Hospital, and particularly distinguished himself in vascular surgery and ophthalmology. The book includes a description of “Cooper’s tumor”.

In 1817 Cooper ligated the abdominal aorta. The patient died next day, but examination showed that his aorta was so diseased that he could never have recovered, while the ligation was so well performed that with a lesser degree of aortic disease the man would probably have survived. Cooper published the report of this operation in Vol. 1, 101-30.

First ligation of the innominate artery, May 11, 1818. The artery was tied off half an inch below its bifurcation, and the patient suffered no respiratory or circulatory embarrassment. The ligature separated from the artery on the 14th day, but on the 20th day the patient was able to walk downstairs. A fatal hemorrhage occurred from the wound, however, and the patient died on the 26th day.

Dupuytren successfully ligated the subclavian artery on March 7, 1819.

Gibson was the first to ligate the common iliac, July 27, 1812.

Cogswell ligated the primitive carotid on Nov. 4, 1803.

In 1823 Macgill successfully ligated in continuity both primitive carotid arteries in the same subject within a month. He was the first American to do so.

Successful ligation of the external iliac, Oct. 16, 1815.

In 1823 Key successfully ligated the subclavian artery for aneurysm at the axilla.

Wardrop successfully treated aneurysm of the carotid artery by distal ligation, a procedure suggested by Pierre Brasdor (see No. 2951). Wardrop expanded this paper into a book: On aneurism, and its cure by a new operation, London, Longman, 1828.

First successful ligation of the common iliac.

First application in the United States of the Pierre Brasdor (1721-97) operative technique by distal ligation. Second report, 1830, 6, 532-34.

In his day Mott was the ablest exponent of vascular surgery in the U.S.A. This was the first attempt in America to ligate the subclavian within the scaleni muscles. The procedure had been tried at least twice previously in Europe.

The artery was tied in 1808, and the patient died in 1826.

See No. 2929.

Successful ligation of external iliac artery for femoral aneurysm, 1822.

Second successful reported ligation of the internal iliac artery in the United States.

First successful ligature of the carotid artery (for secondary haemorrhage) Oct. 18, 1807, eight months before Sir Astley Cooper (No. 2929). Published 35 years after the event, this paper may set some kind of record for late reporting.

Syme treated a case of iliac aneurysm by opening the sac and ligating the common iliac and the internal and external iliac arteries.

First successful ligation of the innominate artery, 1864. A report on the condition of the patient in 1869 is given in New Orleans J. Med.,1869, 22,464-69.

Lister evolved a carbolized catgut ligature, better than any previously produced. He was able to cut short the ends of his ligature, closing the wound tightly and eliminating the necessity for bringing the ends of ligatures out through the wound.

Includes Ballance’s scale of measurement of caliber of arteries.

First successful ligation of the left subclavian artery. This was the first “successful ligation of the first part of either subclavian artery and the first one of complete extirpation of such an aneurysm” (MacCallum). "Of his numerous publications on vascular surgery, Halsted's most scholarly and interesting." Wangensteen 263. This exhaustive monograph has a series of 8 photographs of the preoperative and postoperative appearance of a 29-year-old black man on whom Halsted operated.

Successful suture of femoral artery, 1896. This was one of the earliest end-to-end anastomoses of arteries ever performed.

Successful ligation of the hepatic artery.

Halsted introduced a metal band in place of a ligature for the occlusion of arteries.

First successful ligation of the abdominal aorta.

IN 1554 Saporta gave the earliest description of an aortic aneurysm. Many years after Saporta's death Henri Gras of Lyon discovered the manuscript of Saporta's book, and edited it for publication.
Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

In 1555 Vesalius was the first to diagnose an aneurysm of the thoracic and abdominal aorta in a living person. Vesalius wrote this consilium to Achilles Pirmin Gasser on July 18, 1557; it was not published until more than 100 years later. The consilium was in response to a notice from Gasser regarding the death of the Augsburg patrician, Leonard Welser, whom Vesalius had seen as a patient in 1555. Ever since a ride on horseback, Welser had suffered severe and constant pain. Upon examination Vesalius discovered a pulsating tumor in the region of the vertebrae, and immediatedly diagosed a fatal aneurysm of the aorta. After suffering with this disease for two years, Welser resorted to a quack, who, it was thought, contributed to his demise. Gasser's autopsy report confirmed Vesalius's original diagnosis. Regarding the consilium, in Andreas Vesalius of Brussels (1964) C.D. O'Malley translated Rumler's comments as follows: "When in 1557 that noble gentleman Leonard Welser finally died from an internal aneurism from which he had long suffered its various symptoms, on 25 June Adolph Occo, father and son, Ambrose Jung, and Lucas Stengel, physicians of Augsburg, dissected the body in order to find the cause of death, and Achilles Gasser, my maternal grandfather, sent their findings to Vesalius." Vesalius's consilium and much other material collected and preserved by Rumler seems to have been first published by Welsch, as part of a larger collection. O'Malley also translated Gasser's report to Vesalius on pp. 406-07, and translated Vesalius's consilium on pp. 395-96. Digital facsimile of the 1667 edition from Google Books at this link.

Lancisi noted the frequency of cardiac aneurysm and showed the importance of syphilis, asthma, palpitation, violent emotions, and excess as causes of aneurysms. He was the first to describe cardiovascular syphilis. Lancisi shares with Vieussens the honor of laying the foundation of the pathology of heart disease. Revision of 1745 edition of De aneurysmatibus, with translation and notes, by W. C. Wright, 1952.

First recorded case of arteriovenous aneurysm.

Scarpa distinguished true from false aneurysms. He introduced the concept of arteriosclerosis. English translations, Edinburgh, 1808 and 1819. Digital facsimile from Heidelberg University Library at this link.

Dupuytren was the first successfully to treat aneurysm by compression.

First attempt at operative treatment of aneurysm.

An important account of dissecting aneurysm. Peacock collected all previously published cases and added a few of his own to a total of 19.

Bellingham introduced the “Dublin method” of treating aneurysm by slow compression.

Moore and Murchison introduced the method of treating aneurysm by passing wire into the aneurysmal sac.

Tuberculous aneurysm of the lung (“Rasmussen’s aneurysm”). English translation in Edinb.med.J.,1868, 14,385-401, 486-503; 1869, 15,97-104, 228-36.

Quincke observed aneurysm of the hepatic artery in 1870.

Welch, an Army surgeon, supported the theory of a causal connexion between syphilis and aneurysm.

First aneurysmorrhaphy, April 6, 1888. See also Trans. Amer. surg.Ass.,1902, 20,396-434.

Döhle clearly defined a specific syphilitic lesion of the aorta as a prerequisite of aortic aneurysm.

Churton was the first to recognize this condition at necropsy.

Heller established the fact that syphilis is a cause of aortic aneurysm.

Babcock’s operation for thoracic aneurysm. See also Amer. J. Surg.,1932, 16,401-07.

Babcock’s operation for aortic aneurysm.

First successful surgical intervention in cardiac aneurysm.

First successful excision of arteriovenous aneurysm of the lung.

Resection of saccular aneurysm of thoracic aorta.

First successful resection of abdominal aortic aneurysm and insertion of a homologous graft. With M. Allary and N. Oeconomos.

Total excision and replacement by polyvinyl sponge (Ivalon) prosthesis. 

Brodie first operated for varicose veins in 1814.

Page 361 contains the first description of intermittent claudication in man. This was first reported (in the horse) by “Boullay” [?J. Bouley] in Arch. gén. Méd.,1831, 27, 425.  P. 186: Brodie's test for insufficiency of the valves in varicose veins, later associated with the name of Trendelenburg.

Paget-Schroetter syndrome, venous obstruction in the upper extremity.

“Trendelenburg’s operation” – ligation of the great saphenous vein for the treatment of varicose veins in the leg. Reprinted, with translation, in Med. Classics, 1940, 4,989-1023. The paper also describes his test for insuffiency of the valves, a procedure previously described by Brodie (No. 2995).

Moore’s operation of high resection of the saphenous vein for treatment of varicosities.

Schiassi combined operative and sclerosant methods in the treatment of varicose veins. Translation in Med. Press, 1909, 87,377.