History of Carotid Surgery: Present Status and Future

摘要: The charge to present a history of carotid surgery can be daunting, raising the specter pouring over dusty tomes in dark recesses libraries compile lists “firsts,” as is often done, and thereby establish one’s right claim erudition. To quote from recently published volume on vascular surgery, Thomas Willis first recognized significance totally occluded artery 1684 his postmortem examinations, which led him describe configuration cerebral vasculature anastomotic circle bearing name. recorded operations upon were done by Hebenstreit 1793 Abernathy 1798 for control hemorrhage, while Astley Cooper performed ligation aneurysm 1805.1 Such an approach admirably satisfies one Webster’s definitions history: “an account what has happened; narrative, story, tale.” But there another definition history, viz., “a recording, analyzing, coordinating explaining past events.” 2 Can such endeavor yield sufficient insight predict future events, guide course research accelerate acquiring understanding necessary gain mastery human affliction that probably had profound effect recent events any other? illustrate, three major participants at Yalta Conference 1945 suffered ischemic strokes or suspected having occlusive arterial disease,3 least other 20th Century American presidents also experienced bouts recognizable dysfunction characteristic stroke syndromes: Wilson, Eisenhower Johnson.