Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: chest pain

  • The death of King George II

    In November 1760, the King of Great Britain rose early as was his custom and drank his habitual cup of chocolate. He then went to use his commode on wheels, and minutes later was discovered slumped on the floor, dead. The next day his physician, Frank Nicholls, “opened the body” and found the king had…

  • An unseen border

    T.Y. Euliano Gainesville, Florida, United States   Eyes of the Master. Photo by Steve Robicsek, MD/PhD. 11/6/2004. Permission granted by the artist. “Please let me have the chest pain in 3,” I said. “I can’t take any more whiny kids today.” Clare raised an eyebrow. “You can have the next trauma.” “Two traumas,” she said.…

  • Cecil Rhodes: The man with a hole in his heart

    There must be few people in the world who can locate with confidence Northern or Southern Rhodesia on a map of Africa. Yet these countries still exist, only the names have changed. Nor would the man who founded them win a contemporary popularity contest. In fact, his statue at the University of Cape Town was…

  • Case of the authentic chest pain thought too good to be true

    Michael Daley Chicago, Illinois, United States    Free your mind of bias. Mr. Bob Stevenson was fifty-one and had a history of intravenous drug abuse. He was sent to our emergency department on a Friday afternoon from the local detention center, with a chief complaint of chest pain. He said he had been watching television…