Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: aortic regurgitation

  • The pediatric pioneer and his finger

    Ciara O’NeillDublin, Ireland One of the most intriguing statues in the Graves Hall of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in Dublin is that of Sir Henry Marsh (1790–1860). Alongside the three other memorials in the hall—to Robert Graves, William Stokes, and Dominic Corrigan—Marsh poses purposefully with his right arm stretched forward and index…

  • Did Macbeth have syphilis?

    Eleanor J. Molloy Dublin, Ireland Introduction Syphilis was endemic in Elizabethan England and it was estimated that nearly 20% of the population of London were infected.1 The signs and symptoms were commonly known to the average person and would be potentially recognizable to the audience in Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare mentions syphilis more times than any…

  • Dominic Corrigan (1802–1880)

    In the days when students were expected to have at least a smattering of medical history, they would have known that Corrigan’s sign and pulse were indicative of aortic regurgitation and would have guessed that Corrigan was Irish. Very few, if any, would have known about Corrigan’s cirrhosis, Corrigan’s button, or the maladie de Corrigan.1…

  • Austin Flint: Eminent American physician

    I need not say that to withhold drugs in the treatment of disease is as important an exercise of professional judgment as to employ them. Nothing is easier that to prescribe drugs. On the other hand, to refrain from their use may require not a little firmness and independence. An ignorant or weak practitioner therefore…