TY - JOUR
T1 - Simon Bolivar's medical labyrinth
T2 - An infectious diseases conundrum
AU - Auwaerter, Paul G.
AU - Dove, John
AU - Mackowiak, Philip A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Received 7 July 2010; accepted 10 September 2010 Presented in part: Historical Clinicopathological Conferences sponsored by the Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Correspondence: Dr Philip A. Mackowiak, Medical Service-111, VA Medical Center, 10 N Greene Street, Baltimore, MD (philip.mackowiak@med.va.gov).
PY - 2011/1/1
Y1 - 2011/1/1
N2 - According to history books, tuberculosis was responsible for the death of Simon Bolivar at the age of 47 years in 1830. The results of an autopsy performed by Alexandre Prospère Révérend, the French physician who cared for him during the terminal phase of his illness, have long been regarded as proof of the diagnosis. On careful reanalysis of Bolivar's medical history and post mortem examination, we reach a different conclusion. On the basis of several critical clinical, epidemiological, and pathological features of his fatal disorder, we conclude that either paracoccidioidomycosis or bacterial bronchiectasis complicating chronic arsenic intoxication was more likely responsible for his death than was tuberculous "consumption."
AB - According to history books, tuberculosis was responsible for the death of Simon Bolivar at the age of 47 years in 1830. The results of an autopsy performed by Alexandre Prospère Révérend, the French physician who cared for him during the terminal phase of his illness, have long been regarded as proof of the diagnosis. On careful reanalysis of Bolivar's medical history and post mortem examination, we reach a different conclusion. On the basis of several critical clinical, epidemiological, and pathological features of his fatal disorder, we conclude that either paracoccidioidomycosis or bacterial bronchiectasis complicating chronic arsenic intoxication was more likely responsible for his death than was tuberculous "consumption."
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U2 - 10.1093/cid/ciq071
DO - 10.1093/cid/ciq071
M3 - Review article
C2 - 21148523
AN - SCOPUS:79951634018
SN - 1058-4838
VL - 52
SP - 78
EP - 85
JO - Clinical Infectious Diseases
JF - Clinical Infectious Diseases
IS - 1
ER -