The resuscitation greats. Cemil Topuzlu Pasha: one of the forgotten pioneers in the history of open chest cardiac massage.

One of the pioneers of open chest cardiac massage was Cemil Topuzlu Pasha, in Turkey. He presented his experience in open heart cardiac massage in several papers published in Ottoman and French and German. On 27 August 1903 one of his patients undergoing external urethrotomy under chloroform anaesthesia developed cardiac arrest and he performed open chest cardiac massage. He reported his approach to this event and discussed the literature regarding resuscitation available at the beginning of 20th century. Meanwhile he had defined "Do Not Resuscitate" code in cases involving serious heart disease and other diseases where life expectancy is very short. The Ottoman version of his report is translated in this paper.