Caleb Hillier Parry

Caleb Hillier Parry (1755 – 1822) was an English physician.

Parry is best remembered for his accurate description of the pathophysiology of ischaemic heart disease

He was the first to establish a relationship between angina and coronary heart disease, and that the functional efficiency of the coronary arteries was more indicative than their structural integrity

Described the concept that ischaemic heart disease resulted from energy demands of the myocardium, which the vascular system was unable to supply

1825: He was the first to write accounts of the condition now known as progressive hemifacial atrophy (Parry-Romberg syndrome – 1846); congenital idiopathic dilatation of the colon (Hirschprungs disease – 1886) and expopthalmic goitre (Graves disease – 1935)

The most dangerous state incidental to the human mind is a calm acquiescence in the accuracy and extent of its own attainments – Parry CH

Biography

Born 21 October 1755 Cirencester, England
Cirencester Grammar School with Edward Jenner
1771 – Dissenters’ Academy, Warrington (Not Church of England, so unable to have Oxbridge education)
1778 – Medical doctorate, Edinburgh University
1779 – General Practitioner; physician to the Puerperal Charity Hospital and Casualty Hospital, Bath
1816 – Suffered a stroke in 1816 which left him with aphasia and right hemiplegia. With the assistance of his daughter, Parry edited his notes, cases and observations using his left hand to annotate.
Died 9 March 1822

Key Medical Attributions:

Following the death of Caleb Hillier Parry aged 66, his son Charles posthumously published his fathers case notes and writings in 1825 including further illuminating insights.
Parry described 5 cases of exophthalmic goitre [Parry CH, 1825 pp110-128], predating the classical accounts which were subsequently published by Graves (1835) and Basedow (1840). Sir William Osler suggested the manifestations of hyperthyroidism, goitre and exophthalmos be named Parry’s disease [1898;836-837]
Parry described idiopathic dilatation of the colon preceeded Harald Hirschsprunng’s description at the Berlin Congress for Children’s Diseases in 1886. Parry’s description of ‘Hirschsprung’s disease‘ was in a male adult with chronic digestive disturbances. Autopsy revealed an enormously distended colon with no evidence of obstruction in the alimentary canal [Parry CH, 1825 pp380-386].

Medical Eponyms

Parry-Romberg syndrome
Parry Disease (according to Sir William Osler…)

Major Publications

Parry CH. An inquiry into the symptoms and causes of the syncope anginosa, commonly called angina pectoris : illustrated by dissections. 1799.
Parry CH. Cases of tetanus, and rabies contagiosa, or canine hydrophobia. London: Underwoods 1814
Parry CH. Elements of pathology and therapeutics. [Volume I]. London: Underwoods 1815 [ Incomplete Vol II posthumously presented 1825]
Parry CH. An experimental inquiry into the nature, cause, and varieties of the arterial pulse. London: Underwoods 1816
Parry CH. Collections from the unpublished medical writings of the late Caleb Hillier Parry. Volume I, Volume II London: Underwoods 1825.

References

Biography: Caleb Hillier Parry. Medical Classics, 1940;5:8-30.
Graves S. Congenital idiopathic dilatation of the colon or Hirschprung’s disease. Ann Surg. 1918 Jun; 67(6): 734–737. [PMC1426734]
Finney JMT. Congenital idiopathic dilatation of the colon. Surg., Gyn. and Obst., igo8, vi, 624.
Biography: Caleb Hillier Parry Munk’s Roll: Volume II
Cadogan M. Eponymythology: Diffuse Toxic Goitre. LITFL 2018
Hull G. Caleb Hillier Parry 1755-1822: a notable provincial physician. J R Soc Med. 1998 Jun; 91(6): 335–338. [PMC1296785]
Fye WB. Caleb Hillier Parry. Clin Cardiol. 1992 Aug;15(8):619-21. [PMID 1499192]
Rolls R. Caleb Hillier Parry (1755-1822). JLL Bulletin: Commentaries on the history of treatment evaluation. 2003
Larner AJ. Caleb Hillier Parry (1755-1822): clinician, scientist, friend of Edward Jenner (1749-1823). J Med Biogr. 2005 Nov;13(4):189-94. [PMID 16244710]