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Historical Background

  • Chapter
Manual of Liver Surgery

Part of the book series: Comprehensive Manuals of Surgical Specialties ((CMSS))

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Abstract

Man’s recognition of the importance of the liver in health and disease and his concern with its functions date back many centuries. In the dawn of medicine, about 3000 B.C., medical papyri from the period of Imhotep in Egypt refer to a variety of diseases, including jaundice, and to their treatment by drugs, magic, and religion. The liver was regarded as the central part of the body in the time of Hammurabi in Mesopotamia (circa 2000 B.C.), and the liver of a sacrificed animal was considered to be a source of prophecies and divinations. Accordingly, the Mesopotamians made remarkably precise clay models of sheep livers in order to train their priests to be specialists in the observation of this organ. A number of these models have been preserved [2].

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, 90024, USA

    William P. Longmire Jr. M.D. (Professor of Surgery and Former Chairman)

  2. UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, 90024, USA

    Ronald K. Tompkins M.D. (Professor of Surgery)

Authors
  1. William P. Longmire Jr. M.D.
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  2. Ronald K. Tompkins M.D.
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© 1981 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Longmire, W.P., Tompkins, R.K. (1981). Historical Background. In: Manual of Liver Surgery. Comprehensive Manuals of Surgical Specialties. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5835-3_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5835-3_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-5837-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-5835-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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