An early approach to controlled hypotension: Felice Visalli and the "pneumoanemizator"

In this historical vignette, the authors describe the conception and realiz ation of the "pneumoanemizator,'' an ingenious pneumatic apparatus original ly designed in the 1940s for the purpose of controlled hypotension. The aut hors also give a biographical sketch of its inventor, the pioneering Italia n neurosurgeon Felice Visalli. The general working features of this nearly forgotten device and its performance in experimental and clinical trials ar e evoked in the light of a brief history of controlled hypotension.