Biomaterial Database

An autopathography of tic douloureux at the beginning of the nineteenth century. 2010

Enrico Granieri, and Vittorio Govoni, and Riccardo De Gennaro, and Patrik Fazio

Section of Neurology, Department of Medical Surgical Sciences of Communication and Behaviour, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy. enrico.granieri@unife.it

An Italian lawyer who suffered from tic douloureux wrote an autopathography of his disease documenting a 2-decade history of essential trigeminal neuralgia. The diary reveals a medical history from onset until 1823 when this man was admitted to the Arcispedale Sant'Anna in Ferrara. The documentation was recently discovered in the library of the hospital where it was probably placed when the patient died in 1824. Mr. Ruggiero Ragazzi was a man of notable culture who described the course of his disease and the most accredited treatments of that age. Famous Italian physicians examined and treated the patient. Prescriptions, suggestions, letters were attached to the manuscript as well as other notes on treatments for this type of chronic and recurrent pain. Autopsy excluded secondary neuralgias. Information on clinical and pathogenetic theories about trigeminal neuralgia and the state of diagnostics and therapies in the first years of the nineteenth century are reported.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007558	Italy	A country in southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia. The capital is Rome.	Sardinia
D008297	Male		Males
D009462	Neurology	A medical specialty concerned with the study of the structures, functions, and diseases of the nervous system.
D010602	Pharmacopoeias as Topic	Works about authoritative treatises on drugs and preparations, their description, formulation, analytic composition, physical constants, main chemical properties used in identification, standards for strength, purity, and dosage, chemical tests for determining identity and purity, etc.	Formulary, National,National Formulary,Formularies, National,National Formularies
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001325	Autobiographies as Topic	Works about self-described narratives of a person's life.	Autobiography as Topic,Autobiographies as Topics,as Topic, Autobiographies
D014277	Trigeminal Neuralgia	A syndrome characterized by recurrent episodes of excruciating pain lasting several seconds or longer in the sensory distribution of the TRIGEMINAL NERVE. Pain may be initiated by stimulation of trigger points on the face, lips, or gums or by movement of facial muscles or chewing. Associated conditions include MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, vascular anomalies, ANEURYSMS, and neoplasms. (Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p187)	Tic Doloureux,Tic Douloureux,Epileptiform Neuralgia,Fothergill Disease,Secondary Trigeminal Neuralgia,Trifacial Neuralgia,Trigeminal Neuralgia, Idiopathic,Trigeminal Neuralgia, Secondary,Disease, Fothergill,Epileptiform Neuralgias,Idiopathic Trigeminal Neuralgia,Idiopathic Trigeminal Neuralgias,Neuralgia, Epileptiform,Neuralgia, Idiopathic Trigeminal,Neuralgia, Secondary Trigeminal,Neuralgia, Trifacial,Neuralgia, Trigeminal,Secondary Trigeminal Neuralgias,Trifacial Neuralgias,Trigeminal Neuralgias
D049672	History, 19th Century	Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era.	19th Century History,19th Cent. History (Medicine),19th Cent. History of Medicine,19th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 19th Century,History of Medicine, 19th Cent.,History, Nineteenth Century,Medical History, 19th Cent.,Medicine, 19th Cent.,19th Cent. Histories (Medicine),19th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 19th (Medicine),Cent. History, 19th (Medicine),Century Histories, 19th,Century Histories, Nineteenth,Century History, 19th,Century History, Nineteenth,Histories, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 19th Century,Histories, Nineteenth Century,History, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Nineteenth Century Histories,Nineteenth Century History