Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia with Emphasis on Embryology, Subtypes, and Molecular Genetics
Year: 2012
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: Historians, scientists, and researchers have been fascinated by the diaphragm for many centuries. Homer first described Trojan War battle wounds with reference to the diaphragm in the 9th century B.C. From 500-430 B.C., Empedocles of Agrigentum was one of the first people to study the physiology of respiration. In this early period of medical knowledge, however, the purpose of the diaphragm bewildered scientists. Hippocrates observed the diaphragm’s inherent fragility and thinness that caused it to throb at any instance of unexpected joy or sorrow. Plato hypothesized that the diaphragm was not involved with respiration but rather served as a boundary between parts of the soul. It was not until Galen in the 2nd century A.D. that the actions of the diaphragm were described as upward isovolume movements during the period of rib cage expansion in respiration(Skandalakis 2004).
Source: InTech eBooks
DOI: 10.5772/33388
Institutions: Emory University, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Language: English
Subfield: Surgery
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W1569016008