Egas Moniz
Creator of Cerebral Angiography and pioneer of Psychosurgery
About
The cerebral angiography
- Moniz developed the cerebral angiography, a medical imaging technique that allows visualization of blood vessels in the brain. This innovation significantly advanced the field of neurology by providing a non-invasive way to study the blood supply to the brain and diagnose brain tumours that would't be diagnosible without the technique.
- Although controversial and now largely discredited, Moniz pioneered the development of prefrontal lobotomy as a treatment for certain mental illnesses. This procedure involved the surgical disconnection of the prefrontal cortex from the rest of the brain and was initially hailed as a breakthrough in psychiatry. However, it fell out of favour due to ethical concerns and the development of more effective and less invasive psychiatric treatments.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1949)
- Egas Moniz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1949, along with Walter Rudolf Hess, for his discovery of the therapeutic value of prefrontal leucotomy in certain psychoses. He was nominated five (5) times for Nobel Prize before he won the award.
Egas Moniz's contributions to neurology and medicine, particularly the development of cerebral angiography, have had a lasting impact on the understanding and treatment of neurological disorders. However, it's important to note that his work on prefrontal leucotomy (also known as lobotomy) is viewed with more controversy today due to ethical considerations and the evolution of psychiatric treatments.
Curiosities
The Sexual Life
This book was a huge success and had very restricted availability, and only with a medical receipt could it be bought due to the Catholic dictatorship that ruled the country at the time it was re-published. It was a book by Egas Moniz, made of two parts: his PhD thesis (Physiology) and his professorship thesis (Patology).
16/09/1901Decapitating corpses and the first angiography
Moniz decapitated corpses and transported them in the trunk of the car to be x-rayed on the other side of the city, due to the lack of bodies and infrastructure at the institute where he worked. On June 28, 1927, he obtained the very first angiography of the head of a human body.
28/06/1927Arrested for defending free thinking
Moniz was arrested more than once in order to defend the freedom of speech and ideas of his students during the tense years of the Salazar dictatorship (1933–1974). Moniz is regarded as a defensor of the horizontal relationship between professors and students, a view that was very criticised by the mainstream authorities and educators.
15/03/1932The attempt of murder
Egas Moniz was shot by a psychotic patient in his private-practice clinic. He received 8 shots; 5 of them had a light impact, and one entered very near the aorta artery. Moniz recovered and, months later, returned to his practice in the same place. Many authors who are not sympathetic to leucotomy, claim that Moniz was shot by a leucotomized patient, which is not true at all.
14/03/1939Influenced By
Sigmund Freud
Founder of Psychoanalysis
Moniz was deeply influenced by Freud's work, practicing psychoanalysis himself and organising many seminars on this topic as a university teacher.
Albert Pitres
Neurologist and professor
Like Freud, Pitres was a Charcot student in Paris. Moniz went to Bordeaux to study with him, considering him one of the main references in clinical neurology.
Emmanuel Régis
Psychiatrist and professor
Moniz studied with Régis, considering him one of the greatest specialists at the time in psychiatry and mental illness. Régis became known to be one of the most important semiologists in France in the early 20th century.
Almeida Lima
Neurosurgeon and Moniz co-worker
Although he was younger than Moniz and also his student, Lima had a great influence on his master, not only helping him to perform surgical procedures like angiography and prefrontal leucotomy (due to Moniz's arthritis), but also being his scientific partner and confident.
Video Doc
Bibliography
Antunes, J. L. (2011). Egas Moniz: uma biografia. Gradiva Publicações.
Curtis, J. B. (1951). Cerebral angiography. Journal of British Surgery, 38(151), 295-331.
De Almeida Lima, P. M. (1950). Cerebral angiography. Oxford University Press.
Lima, A. (1948). ORIGINALES: Angiografía cerebrla y leucotomia prefrontal. In Anales de medicina y cirugía (pp. 16-26).
Lowis, G. W., & Minagar, A. (2003). The neglected research of Egas Moniz of internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion. Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 12(3), 286-291.
Moniz, E. (1922). A vida sexual: fisiologia e patologia.
Moniz, E. (1931). Diagnostic des tumeurs cérébrales et épreuve de l'encéphalographie artérielle. In Diagnostic des tumeurs cérébrales et épreuve de l'encéphalographie artérielle (pp. 221-221).
Moniz, E. (1933). Cerebral angiography: Its application in clinical practice and physiology. The Lancet, 222(5751), 1144-1147.
Moniz, E. (1936). Tentatives opératoires dans le traitement de certaines psychoses. In Tentatives opératoires dans le traitement de certaines psychoses (pp. 248-248).
Moniz, E. (1937). Prefrontal leucotomy in the treatment of mental disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 93(6), 1379-1385.
Moniz, E. (1949). Confidências de um investigador científico. Edições Ática. Moniz, E., Lima, A., & de Lacerda, R. (1937). Hemiplegies par thrombose de la carotide interne. Presse méd, 45(June), 977-980.
