Pyogenic infective diseases of the brain and spinal cord: meningitis, abscess of brain, infective sinus thrombosis

Sir William Macewan (1848-1924) was among the earliest surgeons to attach otitis abscesses through the ear. He learned from his teacher, Joseph Lister, to discard those aesthetic handle instruments made of ivory, ebony, bone and tortoise because they could not withstand the high temperatures of sterilization. He designed his own tempered steel instruments. Prior to modern neurosurgery, he mastered the aseptic technique and achieved results with draining brain abscesses that compared favorable with those achieved with later antibiotic treatment. Early on, he diagnosed by localization neurological surgical lesions. Then he turned to the ear and identified the landmarks on the external surface of the temporal bone used by otologists today to enter the mastoid antrum, the so-called "Macewan's Triangle."

Chapter one of this book is an enrichment of temporal bone anatomy, and Macewan's triangle is described on page nine.

Macewen, William, Sir, 1848-1924

Glasgow : James MacLehose and Sons

1893

Brain Abscess
Spinal Cord Diseases
Meningitis
Sinus Thrombosis, Intracranial

Given by Dr. Dr. Dennis G. Pappas, Sr.; belongs to the Dennis G. Pappas, Sr. Otolaryngology Collection, Reynolds-Finley Historical Library, UAB Libraries, University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Book: xxiv, 354 p., [36] leaves of plates : ill. ; 24 cm.

English