A Physical Cure for Tuberculosis: Carlo Forlanini and the Invention of Therapeutic Pneumothorax

Abstract

Carlo Forlanini (1847–1918), a medical doctor professor at the universities of Turin and Pavia, was the inventor of artificial pneumothorax, a method that allowed a first significant victory in the long war of medicine against pulmonary tuberculosis. The article outlines a portrait of this important clinician and focuses on the therapeutic innovation he introduced for the treatment of this infectious disease.

Tuberculosis, COVID-19 and hospital admission: Consensus on pros and cons based on a review of the evidence

“…Hospital admission data for COVID- 19 is not yet comprehensively and systematically reported by Member States to WHO. Following different sources of already existing data inputs, however, hospital stay duration can differ widely depending on numerous factors, including age and co-morbidities among others.…”

“…At the time of sanatoria and during the pre-antibiotic era 17,18 admission was used as an 'isolation' intervention to reduce Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission within the community and as support measure to ensure rest, optimal nutrition and eventually to perform pneumothorax after Carlo Forlanini's discovery in 1907. 19 In addition, in children severe extra-pulmonary TB and social circumstances likely contributed to hospitalization. 20 Over time, hospital admission was considered ideal to better monitor the initial phase of anti-TB treatment and eventually drug adverse events, and, in some countries, to ensure adequate adherence to the prescribed regimen.…”

Editorial on Special Issue “Tuberculosis Drug Discovery and Development 2019”

“…In their article, Lienhardt and Raviglione discuss the ambitious aim of the WHO to reduce TB incidence by 90% by the year 2030 [8], whereas Iacobino and co-authors review the increasing global challenge represented by drug-resistant TB [9]. An interesting paper by Mazzarello closes the initial section by presenting a historical perspective focused on Carlo Forlanini, who invented pneumothorax for TB treatment in 1882, in the same year when Robert Koch identified M. tuberculosis as the causative agent of human TB [10].…”