Turkish Neurosurgery
Two different approaches regarding hydrocephalus treatment in the Islamic World during the Middle Ages |
Ahmet Acıduman1, Özgür Kuş2, Deniz Belen 3 |
1Ankara University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of History of Medicine and Ethics, Ankara, 2University of Health Sciences, Gulhane Training and Research Hospital, Department of Eye Bank, Ankara, 3University of Health Sciences, Ankara City Hospital , Department of Neurosurgery, Ankara, |
DOI: 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.37323-21.2 |
Aim: This study aimed to present the sections allocated to hydrocephalus in the works of Ibn Hubal al-Baghdādī and Ibn al-Quff, to include them and determine their position in the history of medicine by discussing relevant literature.
Material and Methods: A printed copy and a manuscript in İstanbul Süleymaniye Manuscript Library, Fatih Collection, nr. 3632 of Ibn Hubals Kitāb al-Mukhtārāt fī al-Ṭibb, and a facsimile of a printed copy and a manuscript in Istanbul University Rare Works Library, Arabic Manuscripts, A 4749 of Ibn al-Quffs Kitāb al-ʿUmda fī Ṣināʿa al-Jirāḥa, were used. The chapters on hydrocephalus in both works have been translated to English and obtained knowledge was determined based on relevant literature.
Results: Hydrocephalus was discussed under the title On swellings and water occurring outside the skull and on the ʿuṭāsh of the child and on water collection in the skull in the third volume of Ibn Hubals work and The sixth chapter on the treatment of water which collects in the heads of children in the 19th article of Ibn al-Quffs work. Ibn Hubals and Ibn al-Quffs knowledge and approach to hydrocephalus match the knowledge and approaches of their predecessors. Compared with Ibn Hubal, Ibn al-Quff provided more systematic and detailed information on hydrocephalus.
Conclusions: Like other writers of the Islamic world in the medieval times, Ibn Hubal and Ibn al-Quff accept definitions and classifications of hydrocephalus by Greco-Roman writers.
|
Corresponding author : Ahmet Acıduman