Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with April 13.

Events

1953 — Lawrence B. Reagan, Kenneth R. Young, and James W. Nicholson successfully defibrillated ventricular fibrillation outside the operating room, resuscitating a patient who arrested while undergoing ECG recording in an emergency ward. An early demonstration that defibrillation could be used in general hospital settings.

2013 – The Lancet was the first to infer ‘you know nothing John Snow…‘. More than 150 years after publishing a a scathing editorial (1855) and dismissive obituary for John Snow (1813–1858), The Lancet reflected and acknowledged it had not recognised the epidemiological significance of Snow’s water-borne transmission theory…

The Lancet wishes to correct, after an unduly prolonged period of reflection, an impression that it may have given in its obituary of Dr John Snow on June 26, 1858. The obituary briefly stated:

“Dr John Snow: This well-known physician died at noon, on the 16th instant, at his house in Sackville Street, from an attack of apoplexy. His researches on chloroform and other anaesthetics were appreciated by the profession.”

The journal accepts that some readers may wrongly have inferred that The Lancet failed to recognise Dr Snow’s remarkable achievements in the field of epidemiology and, in particular, his visionary work in deducing the mode of transmission of epidemic cholera. The Editor would also like to add that comments such as “In riding his hobby very hard, he has fallen down through a gully-hole and has never since been able to get out again” and “Has he any facts to show in proof? No!”, published in an Editorial on Dr Snow’s theories in 1855, were perhaps somewhat overly negative in tone.

Lancet 2013

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Births

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

1794 – Jean-Pierre-Marie Flourens (1794-1867), French physiologist; a founder of the field theory of brain function

1855 – Ludwig Edinger (1855-1918), German neurologist; described Edinger–Westphal nucleus (1885)

1913 – Robert Andrew Hingson (1913-1996), American anesthesiologist. Developed of continuous caudal and epidural analgesia, the Hingson–Edwards malleable caudal needle (1943), Hingson Field Unit (1951), and Hingson Peace Gun for large-scale humanitarian vaccination programmes

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Deaths

1940 – Pierre Marie (1853-1940), French neurologist; described Marie–Foix Syndrome (1913), Marie–Foix–Alajouanine syndrome (1922), Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (1886), Bamberger–Marie syndrome (1889), Marie-Strümpell disease (1884), and was the first to coin the term “acromegaly” in 1886

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Further reading

• Reagan LB, Young KR, Nicholson JW. Ventricular defibrillation in a patient with probable acute coronary occlusion. Surgery. 1956 Mar;39(3):482-486. [First successful Defibrillation in hospital, not in operating room]
• Editorial. Dr Snow’s evidence. Lancet June 23, 1855; 65(1660): 634-637
• Obituary: Dr John Snow. Lancet June 26, 1858; 71(1817): 635
• Hempel S. John Snow. Lancet, 2013; 381(9874): 1269-1270