The surgeon and the smugglers
Richard Elkanah Hoyle was not a famous surgeon. He never invented a new operation, or contributed to a medical journal, […]
Prodigies and monsters
The woman with two wombs
This exceptional paper appeared in the Atlanta Medical and Surgical Journal, a relatively minor publication, in 1888. Thanks to its
The galley slave and the barrel hoop
This (almost) incredible case report was printed in The Medical and Physical Journal in 1812, but dates from almost forty
Unfortunate predicaments
Specific gravity
I came across this unusual case in a book published in 1876, A Dozen Cases: Clinical Surgery by William Tod
A gallon a day keeps the doctor away
Bloodletting is one of the oldest medical treatments of all, employed for centuries in cultures all over the world. It’s
Mysterious illnesses
An unusual route
It’s been a while! I haven’t managed to post on this blog in months, thanks to a work-in-progress, a true-crime
The bacon factory eyelid transplant
I haven’t had much time for blogging recently, since I’ve been working hard on a book which will be published
Mysterious illnesses
A mystery diagnosis
The unusual case histories posted on this blog often defy easy explanation. Indeed, I have an entire category of posts
The heart surgeon and the Nazis
The American Michael DeBakey was one of the giants of twentieth-century surgery. His extraordinary career spanned eight decades, beginning in
Remarkable recoveries
The boy with two skulls
My jaw hit the floor – in a metaphorical, not a literal, sense, although the latter circumstance would itself be