The skulls of Borgo Cerreto (Perugia): medical, surgical, and anatomical activity of Baronio Vincenzi (XVII century)

In the Sixties of the last century the vault of a 17th century private chapel was opened, revealing three isolated skulls with evidence of surgical and anatomical activity. The chapel was built by Baronio Vincenzi, who lived and practiced medicine in Borgo Cerreto, a village in the province of Perugia, between the 16th and the 17th century. The skull bc 01 belongs to an adult male, aged 25-35 years. It shows a hole on the left front-parietal region (30 x 31 mm), that can be identified as the result of a skull trepanation. The margins of the lesion are regularly smoothed and inclined internally and the diplopic tissues result almost completely obliterated by a cicatricial bone. A bone splinter (10 x 8 mm), completely reabsorbed, can be observed on the right side of the hole. These findings are the proof of a long survival of the subject. X-ray examination confirms a regular process of ossification, without infection. Trepanation was performed with a Hippocratic trypanon, largely used in cranial surgery of Modern Age. The specimen bc 02 is without skullcap and the right upper part of the face; it belongs to an adult male, 25-30 years aged. The cuts were produced by a bone saw with a thin blade. The choice of these regions suggests the willingness to study the basal skull, the right eye cavity and the paranasal sinuses. The skull bc 03 consists only in a skullcap of an adult individual, which shows the signs of a bone saw. In conclusion, the recovery of a trepanned skull, at present the first specimen of this type recovered so far in Umbria, together with two others skulls with the signs of postmortem examination, inside the Vincenzi family vault can be probably related to the professional activity of Baronio. He was an experienced surgeon and a skilled anatomist, who certainly experienced the empirical surgery of the nearby surgical School of Preci, famous throughout Europe for the treatment of urinary bladder stones, cataract as well as the ability in skull trepanation.