Naslov
Joseph Francis Domin’s (1754-1819) first description of human resuscitation with electricity one hundred years before clinical defibrillation

Autori
Habek, Dubravko ; Čerkez Habek, Jasna ; Matijević Sokol, Mirjana ; Horbec, Ivana

Izvornik
Croatian medical journal (0353-9504) 62 (2021); 192-195

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
Joseph Francis Domin (1754-1819), human resuscitation, electricity, clinical defibrillation

Sažetak
Numerous iatrophysicists and iatrochemists were experimenting with the effects of external forces on morphological and physiological processes, including the influence of electricity on animal and human organisms. They specifically investigated the effects on muscular activity, circulation, and nervous system, and their works served as a basis for the subsequent use of electricity in diagnosis and treatment, as well as in cardiocirculatory resuscitation. Valuable historical review papers have been published on the use of electrotherapy in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, and sudden death. Noticeable scientific and professional work in medical electrotherapy was performed by Joseph Francis Domin (1754–1819). Domin was a scientist of Croatian origin, who lived in the Habsburg Monarchy in the period of Enlightenment and a rapid development of natural science. As a philosopher, theologist, and natural scientist, Domin was appointed professor of theoretical and experimental physics, mechanics, and chemistry at the Royal Academies in Győr and Pecs, as well as professor of physics at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Pest, where he also served as Dean. Domin wrote several works in Latin on the use of electricity in medical treatments based on his own experiences. In these works, he described the beneficial effects of electricity on the treatment of paresis, rheumatism, headache, epilepsy, podagra, febrile conditions in children and adults, hearing loss, neuralgia, and resuscitation after asphyxia. Here, we present our English translation of Domin’s description of simultaneous resuscitation procedure with static electricity and oxygenation. This was the first text on that topic in the scientific literature of that time. This text allows new insights into the treatment of cardiac arrest at the end of the 18th century – one century before the first proven use of electrotherapy in clinical human resuscitation.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Temeljne medicinske znanosti, Javno zdravstvo i zdravstvena zaštita, Interdisciplinarne biotehničke znanosti, Povijest

POVEZANOST RADA