The Legacy of Prof. Constantin Arseni. The Medical Architect Behind the Romanian School of Neurosurgery
D. Mohan, I. Luca Husti, H. Moisa, A.V. Ciurea, H.C. MultHistory of Medicine, no. 5, 2014
The personality of Prof. Dr. Constantin Arseni (1912-1994) iswithout any doubt a key point in any discussion regarding thehistory of the Romanian School of Neurosurgery. Now at twodecades since the regretted passing-away of Prof. Arseni theauthors present several pieces of data regarding the earlybeginnings of neurosurgery in Romania and how this disciplinehas evolved over time in our country. Driven by an incredibletenacity Professor Constantin Arseni managed not only tocreate the first completely independent clinic of neurosurgeryin Romania, but also to keep it continuously updated with thelatest bibliographic and technological resources available atthe time. Professor Arseni's masterpiece, the largest neurosurgicalhospital in Europe (at the time of its construction)was supposed to be a completely autonomous institutededicated to surgery on the human central nervous system. Asthe Iron Curtain fell and Europe was marked by continuousreforms, the idea of an institute dedicated to the brain wasabandoned by the authorities and a multidisciplinary hospitaldedicated to neurosurgical emergencies and trauma was born.
