July 23 – On This Day in Medical History

Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with July 23.

Events

1887 – In an early precursor to modern ventilation, George Edward Fell (1849–1918) reported his first successful use of “forced respiration” (intermittent positive-pressure ventilation, IPPV) on an alcohol-intoxicated man with opium poisoning. He framed it bluntly as a way to take over breathing when the patient’s respiratory drive had been knocked out.

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Births

1770 – George Kellie (1770-1829), Scottish surgeon; described Monro-Kellie doctrine (1783)

1773 – Abraham Colles (1773-1843), Irish surgeon; described Colles fracture (1814), Colles fascia (1811), Colles space, Colles ligament, and Colles law (1837)

1828 – Sir Jonathan Hutchinson (1828-1913), English surgeon, dermatologist, ophthalmologist, pathologist and venereologist. Described Hutchinson teeth (1858), Hutchinson triad of congenital syphilis, Hutchinson angioma (1889) [Angioma serpiginosum (AS)]

1888 – Sir Ivan Whiteside Magill (1888-1986), Irish Anaesthetist; described Magill forceps (1920), Magill laryngoscope (1926), Magill anaesthetic apparatus (1927), Magill curve (1928), and Magill endotracheal tube (1920-1939)

1899 – Henrik Samuel Conrad Sjögren (1899–1986), Swedish ophthalmologist; described Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS), Sjögren syndrome and introduced 1% rose bengal staining (1933)

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Deaths

1812 – August Gottlieb Richter (1742-1812), German surgeon; described Richter’s Hernia (1778)

1878 – Karel Freiherr von Rokitansky (1804-1878), Czech pathologist, physician and politician. Responsible for multiple eponymous terms including Rokitansky disease; Rokitansky syndrome; Rokitansky–Aschoff sinuses; Rokitansky-Maude Abbott syndrome; Rokitansky-Cushing ulcer; Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster syndrome; and the Rokitansky-Duguid-Astrup hypothesis

1916– Adolf Weil (1848-1916), German physician; described Weil disease (1886)

2020 – Jacqueline Anne Noonan (1921-2020), American paediatric cardiologist; described Noonan syndrome (1968)

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Further reading

• Fell GE. Forced respiration in opium poisoning – its possibilities, and the apparatus best adapted to produce it. Buffalo medical and surgical journal. 1887; 27(4): 145-157