François Rousset (c. 1525-1598): an innovative and forgotten obstetrician, master of caesarean section.

Abstract

Francois Rousset (c. 1525–1598) was born in Sens, a small commune in Burgundy in north-central France. In 1545, he was enroled in the Medical School of Montpellier and 1 year later he received his master degree. Initially, Rousset was attached as physician to the Duke of Savoy, but later on he was named personal physician of the queen of France, Catherine de Medicis (1519–1589). Living in Paris, Rousset gained experience in surgery and decided to specialize in the practise of caesarean section [1, 2]. Rousset decided to engage himself on the path of obstetrics simply because as he said, ‘‘no one who was more qualified stepped forward to do so’’ [3, 4]. Soon, he became an expert in the field and he was appointed as the head physician in the Parisian hospital ‘‘Hopital de Châtillon’’. At the end of the year 1561, Rousset was treating a female patient that she had been once submitted to a caesarean section 7 years before their meet and both she and her newborn survived the operation. Although Rousset’s surgical skills cannot be verified, we may assume that they were accurate as they were mentioned in the personal memoires of the eminent Professor of Medicine, Jean Astruc (1684–1766) [5]. Rousset, an innovative obstetrician, performed six consecutive caesarean sections to a multiparous woman in which she died during the seventh C-section, unlucky in his hands [1]. During the 16th century, caesarian section was used only as a measure of last resort and was commonly fatal for the mother. Noticing that in other cases, operations of the abdominal and uterine wall were successfully performed, Rousset proposed the procedure of laparotomy, uterine incision and suture of the abdominal wall for the parturient which could not give birth vaginally [6]. His leading work ‘‘Hysterotomotokia’’ (Greek: hystera = womb, tomo = intersection) (Fig. 1) was published twice in 1581 and 1590 [1, 4, 7, 8]. French had became the official administrative