When can a man be declared ‘really dead’? Being able to determine whether an individual’s life has ended or not implies two important considerations, whether we can resuscitate him and avoid premature burial, the fear of which is termed ‘taphophobia’. By the end of the 18th century, several scientists were involved in the study of apparent death and resuscitation. Pietro Manni was an obstetrician who, affected by his brother’s death and his inability to help him, devoted himself to the study of apparent death, which became his aim in life. His Practical handbook for the care of the apparently dead is a detailed essay on resuscitation with a precise arrangement of topics – ventilation, tracheostomy, electricity and asphyxia in newborns – organised into chapters and paragraphs that resemble current texts on resuscitation.
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The term ‘apparent death’ was considered synonymous with asphyxia in its etymological meaning: from the Greek ασϕυξία, ‘no pulse, no heartbeat’. Therefore, the ‘apparently dead’ was the patient in whom for different causes the simultaneous cessation of all functions occurred. The asphyxiated, according to Manni, is ‘at physical examination very similar to a dead person and can only be distinguished on the basis of criteria which are still largely unknown’.
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Born in Loreto 1756, Francesco Asdrubali studied medicine in Rome and early on showed an interest in obstetrics. At that time, the obstetric Academic Teaching in Rome was very poor, and it was not until the pontificate of Pius VI that it was decided to establish a Chair of Obstetrics independent from Surgery. On assignment from the Holy See, Asdrubali was sent to Paris, where, from 1784 to 1786, he worked under the tutoring of Alphonse Le-Roy and Jean-Louis Baudelocque. Returning to Rome, he obtained the Obstetric Chair in the ‘Archiginnasio della Sapienza’ established in 1786. He died in Rome on 7 July 1832.
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Appendix II. Papers relating to Carlo Lasinio’s involvment in the export of works of art in the Archivio della Soprintendenza Firenze, Documento 10, Fila LVI, p.I, ins.34, p.145. Also in Levi D. Carlo Lasinio, curator, collector and dealer. The Burlington Magazine (London) 1993;135:133–148.
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