The Bladder Stone of Cardinal Pietro Basadonna (1617-1684) in the Words of His Physician Romolo Spezioli (1642-1723)
Authors
Raffaella Santi
Section of Pathological Anatomy, Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, University of Florence, I
Annarita Franza
Section of Pathological Anatomy, Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, University of Florence, I
Gabriella Nesi
Section of Pathological Anatomy, Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, University of Florence, I
Keywords:
Historical report , Bladder stone , Romolo Spezioli
Abstract
At the death of Cardinal Pietro Basadonna in 1684, his personal physician Romolo Spezioli wrote a report describing the disease, circumstances of death and autopsy findings of the illustrious prelate. This document, kept in the Biblioteca Civica at Jesi, is a significant attestation of the medical terminology and diagnostic and therapeutic procedures of the time. Even with the constraints that interpretation of a clinical account dating back over 300 years inevitably imposes, perusal of this report suggests that Cardinal Basadonna’s demise could have been due to septic shock, consequent to a urinary infection caused by a bulky bladder stone.
