Memories of an antituberculous sanatorium.

Abstract

A summary of the existence of the Hospital San Carlos in Bogotá as an antituberculous sanatorium is presented. Its origins, architectonic aspects of its building, the criteria with which it was equipped with state of the art scientific equipment and elements and the excellent facilities for attention of inpatients during their prolonged hospital stay are presented. The life of a sanatorium in the pre-antibiotic era, the changes in its routine brought upon by the introduction of effective anti-TB drugs as well as the evolution of treatments which eventually led to the disappearance of sanatoriums, with all its traumatic effects on the hospitals which had been specifically built for this purpose, are described. The contributions made by the hospital to the different medical and surgical aspects of TB management and to the introduction of effective short course ambulatory treatment regimens are also referred. Mention is also given to the rescue of this memory, an important part of the Health Sciences Museum which will shortly open in Bogotá.