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February 28, 2020  |  By Max Downham

EPI-WIN Update 12 on COVID-19

The International College Of Surgeons is a nongovernmental organization in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO). In that capacity, we have received and make available WHO’s latest release concerning COVID 19. Any questions concerning the information should be directed to WHO.

UPDATED: February 28, 2020

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About Us

The International College of Surgeons (ICS) is a global organization dedicated to bringing together surgeons and surgical specialists of all nations, races, and creeds to promote surgical excellence for the benefit of all of mankind and to foster fellowship worldwide.

 

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ABOUT US

The International College of Surgeons (ICS) is a global organization dedicated to bringing together surgeons and surgical specialists of all nations, races, and creeds to promote surgical excellence for the benefit of all of mankind and to foster fellowship worldwide.

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LATEST INSTAGRAM POSTS

IMSS has officially reopened! We are thrilled to w IMSS has officially reopened! We are thrilled to welcome you back to the Museum after our second period of closure due to COVID-19. We are open during normal operating hours, 9:30-5 on weekdays and 10-5 on weekends. We’ve missed you! 🎊💀
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Visit imss.org for more information about our COVID safety procedures and get in touch at info@imss.org with any questions.
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#IMSSChicago #Museum #MuseumReopening #Yay
This beautiful image of a seemingly sleeping Japan This beautiful image of a seemingly sleeping Japanese woman hangs in our museum. The painting shows her lying in peaceful repose; her arms down by her side, her face in a serene slumber and her black hair spilling over the cushion supporting her head and onto the floor beneath her. She wouldn’t be out of place in a fairytale. However, she is not simply sleeping. The woman in this painting is the wife of Hanaoka Seishū and she is under a general anesthetic...40 years before the so called ‘birth of anesthesia’ took place in the US and Europe.
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Using his training in the medicinal properties of herbs and plants, Hanaoka Seishū (1760-1835) sought to find a medicine that would render surgery painless. Initially, he tested his mixtures on animals until he created Tsusensan. Tsusensan was a mix of 7 plants, which notably included ‘Datura stramonium’ (which you may know as Devil’s trumpet), ‘Aconitum carmichaelli’ (also known as wolfsbane) and Angelica dahurica. These contained active ingredients which, in the right dosage, caused temporarily paralysis and general anesthesia in those who consumed it.
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Once he settled on his formula, he needed a human test subject. Whilst reports say that both his mother and his wife both volunteered and tested Tsusensan, it was his wife that underwent repeated experimentation. Unfortunately, she went blind as a result of this, probably due to anticholinergic poisoning. Hanaoka’s wife played an unbelievably important role in ensuring the success of Hanaoka’s anesthetic, which was first successfully used during a lumpectomy performed on Kan Aiya, a 60 year old woman with breast cancer. The life of Hanaoka’s wife has been fictionalized in Sawako Ariyoshi’s novel The Doctor’s Wife (1966) and a 1967 film called ‘The Wife of Seishū Hanaoka’ (1967). In both adaptations, she is known as Kae.
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Hanaoka’s anaesthetic made him an influential practitioner but due to Japan’s Sokoku policy (closed country policy) his work was not available outside of Japan until well after general anesthetic had been independently established in America and Europe.
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#IMSSChicago #HistMed #SeishuHanaoka #HanaokaSeishu #Anesthesia #Datura
IMSS is thrilled to announce the Spring 2021 Artis IMSS is thrilled to announce the Spring 2021 Artist-In-Residence, Kathleen Gallo (@kathleen_gallo_)!
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Kathleen Gallo’s work finds its home at the intersection of science and art. She creates post-mortem facial reconstructions, or the artistic approximation of the facial characteristics of an unidentified deceased person based upon the person’s unique skull structure. She will be creating 2D post-mortem facial reconstructions from the Museum’s unique collection of trephined skulls from ancient Peru. 💀
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“My body of work aspires to a seemingly impossible goal: bringing life to the dead. Centering around my affinity for examining the human condition, mortality, anthropology, and anatomy, my art culminates in the field of anatomical/forensic art, primarily in the creation of post-mortem facial reconstructions. Using the structure of the skull as directions, I reassemble the idiosyncrasies of the face to construct a recognizable person with distinct features, bringing to life a face forgotten by time.”
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Follow @kathleen_gallo_ to see more of her work!
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#IMSSChicago #ArtistResidency #KathleenGallo #ForensicReconstruction
We’ve put dozens of items on clearance! Visit im We’ve put dozens of items on clearance! Visit imss.ecwid.com to shop our New Year’s clearance sale ✨
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#IMSSChicago #MuseumSale #Clearance #ClearanceSale
Ernst Wertheim (1864-1920) was an Austrian gynecol Ernst Wertheim (1864-1920) was an Austrian gynecologist known for his pioneering procedures to treat cervical cancer. He received his doctorate from the University of Graz in 1888 and started his career in experimental pathology. While serving as the chief surgeon at a women’s hospital in Vienna, he performed his first hysterectomy. During that time, removing the diseased uterus was standard procedure, but the procedure had a mortality rate of 72%. Rather than solely remove the organ, Wertheim proposed cleaning up the surrounding tissue, including the upper portions of the vagina, and lymph glands to minimize the spread of cancerous cells within the abdominal cavity. He performed the first radical hysterectomy, known as the Wertheim surgery, in November 1898, maintaining a much lower mortality rate of 38%. This number later fell to just 10% with practice, saving the lives of countless women. He also conducted important research on female gonorrhea and uterine prolapse and developed a type of forcep specifically for hysterectomies known as Wertheim’s vaginal clamp. He published his successes in his 1911 book Die erweiterte abdominale Operation bei Carcinoma Colli Uteri. He died during the influenza pandemic of 1918-1920.
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#IMSSChicago #Gynecology #HistMed
During the 16th century, one of the most popular t During the 16th century, one of the most popular treatments for syphilis was made from mercury. While it did show some positive outcomes in curing syphilis, mercury had terrible side effects, including neuropathies, kidney failure, severe mouth ulcers and loss of teeth, and even death. Despite this, mercury was the preferred treatment for syphilis for over 200 years, which gave rise to the saying, “a night with Venus, and a lifetime with mercury”. In 1910, Salvarsan, the first effective treatment for syphilis, was invented. Salvarsan was an arsenic derivative first synthesized in 1907, but it was not until 1910 that Paul Ehrlich and his assistant Sahashiro Hata discovered its anti-syphilitic effects. Although adverse effects were reported, including rashes and liver damage, the drug was on the market within a year after its discovery and was quickly adopted as syphilis treatment until penicillin was introduced as a safer treatment option in the 1940s.⁠
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Image courtesy of the Wellcome Collection.⁠
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#IMSSChicago #HistMed #Syphilis
The best known STD throughout history is syphilis, The best known STD throughout history is syphilis, which first became widely recognized and reported in the late 1490s when an epidemic swept through Europe. The disease starts with genital ulcers, then progresses to a fever, general rash, and joint and muscle pains. Weeks or months later follow large, painful, and foul-smelling abscesses and sores, or pocks, all over the body. Muscles and bones become painful, especially at night.  The sores become ulcers that can eat into bones and destroy the nose, lips, and eyes. They often extend into the mouth and throat, sometimes causing early death. If left untreated, syphilis can also cause neurosyphilis, an infection of the nervous system affecting the brain and spinal cord. The loss or lack of a nose was often a tell-tale sign of syphilis, and people without noses were sometimes stigmatized as a result. In the novel Amelia, written by Henry Fielding in 1751, the reader is expected to assume she is suffering from syphilis since she has no nose. However, it is later revealed that she was in a carriage accident that caused the removal of her nose.⁠
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Image courtesy of the Wellcome Collection.⁠
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#IMSSChicago #Syphilis #HistMed
Dr. Francisco Graña (1879-1959) was a Peruvian ne Dr. Francisco Graña (1879-1959) was a Peruvian neurosurgeon known for his work with trephination, widely regarded as the oldest form of surgery. While serving as Chief of the Department of Surgery of the Hospital Obrero in Lima, Peru, he successfully removed a subdural hematoma, or pool of blood, from the brain of a 31-year-old cabinet maker using a 2000-year-old tools, including a saw of volcanic obsidian glass, a bronze chisel, and a silver-copper-iron alloy hammer, borrowed from Peru’s National Museum of Archaeology. He and his colleague Dr. Estaban Rocca studied hundreds of pre-hispanic trephined skulls from the Paracas, Huari, and Inca societies of ancient Peru, observing evidence of ancient surgical techniques and practicing on cadavers in Lima’s morgue. The 1953 procedure put years of research to the test and demonstrated the skill and precision of the same procedures performed thousands of years earlier. The accomplishment gained international media recognition and the doctors published their findings in “Cranial Trepanations in Peru During the Pre-Hispanic Era” the following year.⁠
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#IMSSChicago #HistMed #Trephination #Neurosurgery #FranciscoGrana
In 2018, IMSS hosted the exhibit David Allen: Mast In 2018, IMSS hosted the exhibit David Allen: Mastectomy Tattoos and Post-Surgery Healing, all about the remarkable work that tattoo artist @davidallen does with breast cancer survivors in order to help them reclaim their bodies post-surgery. His work will be featured in the upcoming documentary UnScarred: Reclaimed with Ink (@unscarredfilm). 
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"Your body is all you really truly possess. It is the physical space that houses your soul. If that gets taken away, it can completely reduce who you think you are, unless you can find a way to reclaim it. UnScarred will tell the story of people who have been physically scarred, through trauma or illness, losing something that was uniquely theirs and, through the art of tattoo, have become empowered and reclaimed their bodies."
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Learn more about the documentary at @unscarredfilm and help them reach their funding goal!
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#IMSSChicago #DavidAllen #Tattooing #Mastectomy #MastectomyTattoo
"When we think about the qualities or traits that "When we think about the qualities or traits that a surgeon needs to have to be successful, words such as intelligence, courageousness, ability to focus, adaptability, stamina, and analytical thinking come to mind. But no matter how intelligent, courageous, focused, adaptable, strong, or analytical a surgeon may be, they would be nothing without the proper use of their hands. Their hands are what allow them to apply everything that they know intellectually and intuitively to their trade. Their hands are the first tool that they use in every surgery they perform, and as such their fine motor skills/manual dexterity must be impeccable. Could you imagine a surgeon trying to do ophthalmic surgery, neurosurgery or a c-section without nimble fingers? The results could be catastrophic for the patient."⁠
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Read more in our newest blog post "The Hands Have It: The Importance of Manual Dexterity in Medicine" written by volunteer Sandy Bechtolsheim! Visit imss.org to find the Museum Blog. Image credit: Sandy Bechtolsheim.⁠
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#IMSSChicago #Surgery #ManualDexterity #MuseumBlog
FINAL DAY! Take 25% off our order in our online st FINAL DAY! Take 25% off our order in our online store with code HOLIDAYS20!⁠
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Discount does not apply to items under the category "Local Artists."⁠
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Shop at imss.ecwid.com!⁠
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#IMSSChicago #MuseumStore #MuseumSale #HolidaySale
The Museum’s doors are currently closed due to a The Museum’s doors are currently closed due to a state mandate, which means its time for the return of #MuseumsAfterDark! 💀⬛️
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#IMSSChicago #MuseumsInTheDark #MuseumFromHome
For the next week, take 25% off our order in our o For the next week, take 25% off our order in our online store with code HOLIDAYS20!⁠
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Discount does not apply to items under the category "Local Artists."⁠
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Shop at imss.ecwid.com!⁠
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#IMSSChicago #MuseumStore #MuseumSale #HolidaySale
For Day With(out) Art 2020, Visual AIDS presents T For Day With(out) Art 2020, Visual AIDS presents TRANSMISSIONS, a program of six new videos considering the impact of HIV and AIDS beyond the United States. The video program brings together artists working across the world: Jorge Bordello (Mexico), Gevi Dimitrakopoulou (Greece), Las Indetectables (Chile), George Stanley Nsamba (Uganda), Lucía Egaña Rojas (Chile/Spain), and Charan Singh (India/UK).⁠
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The program does not intend to give a comprehensive account of the global AIDS epidemic, but provides a platform for a diversity of voices from beyond the United States, offering insight into the divergent and overlapping experiences of people living with HIV around the world today. The six commissioned videos cover a broad range of subjects, such as the erasure of women living with HIV in South America, ineffective Western public health campaigns in India, and the realities of stigma and disclosure for young people in Uganda.⁠
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As the world continues to adapt to living with a new virus, COVID-19, these videos offer an opportunity to reflect on the resonances and differences between the two epidemics and their uneven distribution across geography, race, and gender.⁠
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To view the video program online, head to visualaids.org/transmissions.⁠
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#IMSSChicago #VisualAIDS #DayWithoutArt #DayWithoutArt2020⁠
Congratulations to Selva Aparicio (@selvaaparicio) Congratulations to Selva Aparicio (@selvaaparicio), whose work as IMSS Artist-In-Residence was featured in the @chicago_reader! Thank you to S. Nicole Lane (@verified_virgo) for writing this beautiful piece.⁠
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"Aparicio, whose work is closely tied to nature, combines the sterilization of the museum with objects found in the woods. In the IMSS’s Obstetrics and Gynecology gallery, her piece Velo de Luto, which translates into “mourning veil,” includes 17-year-old cicada wings and women’s hair. The artist drove from Chicago to Kansas to collect the cicada wings. “I waited for them to die. I wait for all of my materials to be discarded or dead before I use them,” she says. The work is in a uterine shape and sits behind museum glass, displayed as a fragile object.⁠
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The combination of the hair and the wings represent the decay of life, two materials that represent the end. When viewing the work, gentle and fragile, it’s easy to imagine this is a cathartic process for Aparicio, as each wing is stitched together to create a larger piece. She says, 'The fragility of this piece forces you to be aware of all of yourself, including the way you are breathing. Exhale too strongly and you would break the piece, walk by it too fast and it would fall on the ground.'"⁠
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Read the whole piece via the link in @selvaaparicio's bio. Photo credit: @robertchaseheishman.⁠
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#IMSSChicago #SelvaAparicio #ArtReview #ChicagoReader #Art #Hysteria #Hysterectomy #Gynecology #ChicagoArtist
During this new period of closure, your support me During this new period of closure, your support means more than ever! Help keep medical history alive by donating to our small museum 💀🖤⁠
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LINK IN BIO!⁠
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#IMSSChicago #GivingTuesday #WeNeedMuseums
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