Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 916

JOHN FOTHERGILL (1712-1780) Case of an Angina Pectoris. (In Medical observations and inquiries. Vol. 5, (1776), pp. 233-251.) 20.8 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 914

Two important papers on angina pectoris prepared by Fothergill appear in this volume of Medical observations and inquiries. The present paper was presented in 1774 just two years after William Heberden's (see No. 908 ff.) classic description of the complaint appeared in print. Fothergill was well aware of the irregular pulse of angina pectoris and recommended that careful attention be given the heart during autopsy. Perhaps as a result of his admonition, the surgeon performing the postmortem examination in this case did find "near the apex (of the heart), a small white spot, as big as a sixpence, resembling a cicatrix" (p. 240). This finding was undoubtedly the first myocardial infarction reported seen in a death resulting from arterial occlusion.

See Related Record(s): 908

Gift of John Martin, M.D.