[The first Polish report on congenital diaphragmatic hernia and visceral malrotations]

The forgotten throughout the years the doctor dissertation from 1837 of the Polish physician Ludwik Przybyłko entitled De pravo organorum situ ("About malposition of the human organs") was presented. This paper, excessively modern in its epoch, contains the compendium of the contemporary medical science of the organs' dislocation and malrotation (including heart malposition and coexisting defects). First of all, however, it is the well-scientifically documented case report on the diaphragmatic hernia in the newborn. The summarized historical review of scientific report on diaphragmatic hernia places a special emphasis on the reports that had been published before the dissertation of Przybyłko and before the Bochdalek's historical report in 1848, since then the posterolateral defects of the diaphragm have been defined with that name. The extensive fragments of the dissertation translated from Latin into Polish have been cited. Ludwik Przybyłko presented not only the clinical report and details of precise anatomopathological description of the newborn with diaphragmatic hernia, but he also cited the relevant literature and discussed the issue with thorough knowledge. Numerous clinical and anatomopathological remarks of the author, based on his own experience and accordingly applied literature, have been current until today. The case report is completed with four engraved illustrations (woodcut) that document the autopsy examination. The work contains extremely interesting and revolutionary for that time considerations on the evolution (22 years prior to the famous work of Darwin) with an attempt to locate the etiology of congenital diaphragmatic hernia in the evolution. The authors of this paper suggest that the dissertation of Ludwik Przybyłko should be interesting for paediatric surgeons and, especially because of its unusual and original contents, ought to take constant place in the history of Polish and world's medicine.