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Morgagni: His book, vision and views on hepatic coma
Author(s) -
CHEN THOMAS SN,
CHEN PETER SY
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.214
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1440-1746
pISSN - 0815-9319
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1746.1996.tb00037.x
Subject(s) - medicine , magnum opus , perspective (graphical) , pathological , pathological anatomy , the renaissance , culmination , psychoanalysis , anatomy , pathology , art history , literature , psychology , history , visual arts , art , physics , astronomy
The study of pathological anatomy reached a culmination in the magnum opus of Morgagni, The Seats and Causes of Diseases . It represented an innovative way of looking at the patient and his illness, a change that Foucault described as occurring in the 18th century. Physicians saw symptoms penetrating the body and converging upon an organ. We suggest that Morgagni and his fellow workers derived their vision from the practice of visual perspective discovered by Italian Renaissance artists. Perceiving in three dimensional terms, Morgagni added spatial depth to our understanding of disease. His acute vision was brilliantly displayed in his views of hepatic coma. He was among the first to provide the clinical‐pathological associations of acute liver failure. The limitations of gross morphology precluded a complete elucidation of the disorder.