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Letter from Virginia Apgar to F. W. Clement

 Digital Record
Identifier: ms0504-5-2-3-1

Dates

  • Creation: 1938-4-25

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Virginia Apgar Papers (LD 7082.18 Apgar)

Existence and Location of Originals

Series 2: Correspondence; Box 5; Folder 3

Physical Description

typescript

Dimensions

21.5 cm x 28 cm

General Note

ms0504-5-2-3-1-50400001.tif

General Note

Dr. Clement had asked Apgar's advice about a puzzling case in which spinal anesthesia seemed to cause paralysis long after the operation. In this letter, she encouraged him to publish an account of the case, which was the first of its kind in which pontocaine was the drug used. She suggested the possibility that underlying neurological disease might have caused such a response, as there were cases on record where this had happened with other spinal anesthetics. The exchange illustrates the clinical problems encountered by anesthesiologists in the inter-war years, as well as their efforts to build up the knowledge base in their new specialty.

Processing Information

object metadata from CONTENTdm migrated by Erin Fahy, 2012-04-26

Repository Details

Part of the Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections Repository

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