Were Pneumothorax and Its Management Known in 15th-Century Anatolia?

Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard, a student of Rene Laennec's, first recognized pneumothorax in 1803, and Laennec himself described the full clinical picture of the condition in 1819. Treatment of pneumothorax was not begun as a standard procedure until World War II, but we think that Serefeddin Sabuncuoglu recognized the condition and applied treatment in the 15th century. Sabuncuoglu (1385–1470) was a surgeon who lived in Amasya (in Anatolia). In 1465, he completed Cerrahiyyetul Haniyye (Imperial Surgery), the 1st illustrated surgical textbook in the Turkish–Islamic medical literature. We describe the highlights of the book's recommendations concerning treatment of thoracic trauma, particularly of pneumothorax. We reproduce 2 of the colored miniature illustrations and add our comments regarding the advice of Sabuncuoglu. Most notably, he advocated “mihceme,” a cupping therapy, as a simple technique of thoracic aspiration.