Ancient paintings of foot grafting were 1,500 years ago

A group of Italian researchers discovered the earliest evidence of foot transplant surgery in a 14th-century painting, showing the doctors' ambitions more than 1,500 years ago.

Created by a painter named Matteo di Pacino, the work on display in Raleigh, USA, North Carolina Museum of Art, was born in the 14th century. The picture illustrates the story of a man in the 5th century who became ill. in the leg is treated by transplantation.

"Historical documents describe the incident in 474 as miracles , " Seeker quoted researcher Antonio Perciaccante as working in the internal department of Gorizia Hospital, Italy.

The 14th-century painting depicts a transplant transplant 1,500 years ago.(Photo: North Carolina Art Museum).

Historically, Saint Cosmas and Damian were two doctors who converted to Christianity, healing in the Roman province of Syria. They cut the patient's leg and replaced it with a healthy leg from a deceased Ethiopian man. After that, they put a dead leg into the coffin of an Ethiopian man.

Perciaccante and his colleagues carefully examined the painting and discovered the patient's leg had a strange disease . " The amputated leg seems swollen, tender and rotting with some skin lesions. Based on these characteristics, we speculate that the man with right leg necrosis due to infectious disease , " the authors conclude. Discussion in the study published in the journal Vascular Surgery.

According to an 18th-century book about the lives of the saints, the patient is most likely a custodian of the church, sponsored by the saints Cosmas and Damian.

Whether the treatment is successful or not, the story illustrated in the picture still shows that doctors at the time considered cutting off as the best treatment for necrosis and the concept of transplantation appeared in thought. their.

The team thinks that doctors in the 5th century might have tried transplantation for a dead leg. However, due to biological incompatibility, the implanted leg is excreted by the recipient's body and their efforts fail.