Ejner Oluf Sørensen Sylvest (1880 – 1972)

Ejner Oluf Sørensen Sylvest (1880-1972) was a Danish general practitioner.

Sylvest was a Danish physician whose name became permanently associated with Bornholm disease, an epidemic viral myalgia marked by acute, pleuritic chest or abdominal pain. While vacationing on the island of Bornholm in 1930, he documented an outbreak among local fishermen, detailing its presentation, contagiousness, and clinical course. His 1930 monograph, Den Bornholmske Syge. Myalgia epidemica, formalised the condition within Scandinavian medicine, and within a few years, the term “Bornholm disease” was adopted internationally.

Sylvest’s contribution was not the discovery of a new disease, but the clear epidemiological framing and clinical synthesis that enabled consistent recognition of a long-misunderstood entity. He traced historical precedents in Danish and Icelandic literature, incorporated first-hand case data, and advocated for a viral aetiology decades before virological confirmation.

Beyond Bornholm disease, Sylvest held a prominent role in Danish medical circles. He served as municipal physician, military doctor, public health organiser, and leader within Copenhagen’s medical societies. A writer on everything from acoustic aids for the blind to eel migration, Sylvest typified the intellectually curious physician-scholar. His meticulous observation and historical insight transformed a colloquial diagnosis into a global medical eponym.

Biographical Timeline
  • Born on November 11, 1880 in Hillerød, Frederiksborg County, Denmark, to Oluf Sørensen (1850–1935) and Bodil Kirstine Hansen (1854–1936)
  • 1899 – Graduated from Frederiksborg Gymnasium.
  • 1907 – Graduated MD from Københavns Universitet (University of Copenhagen)
  • 1909 – Began work as a general practitioner in Amager, Copenhagen
  • 1909-1911 – Published early papers on pneumonia and urinary bacteria
  • 1911–1913 – Served as army medical officer.
  • 1926 – Appointed municipal physician in Amager.
  • 1930 – Published his monograph on epidemic pleurodynia ‘En Bornholmsk Epidemi. Myositis epidemica’ based on 23 cases on Bornholm island
  • 1930 – While vacationing on Bornholm Island, observed and documented an outbreak of epidemic myalgia (now known as Bornholm disease) in 23 fishermen in Melsted and Gudhjem.
  • 1933 – Published Den Bornholmske Syge. Myalgia epidemica in Danish, drawing attention to the disease and its pattern in Denmark.
  • 1934 – At the invitation of Thorvald Madsen, defended his dissertation in English, consolidating global historical reports and describing the illness as epidemic pleurodynia; the term Bornholm disease gained international recognition.
  • 1937–1950 – Served as Social Democratic member of Copenhagen’s Citizens’ Representation; initiated municipal diphtheria vaccination in 1941.
  • 1939 – President, Det Medicinske Selskab i København [The Medical Society of Copenhagen]
  • 1941 – Co-editor of ‘Huslægen om Sundhed og Sygdom I–III (GP guide to health and disease)
  • Died on June 28, 1972 in Højdevang Parish, Copenhagen; buried in Sundby Cemetery.

It was an edu­cation to meet this serious-minded, intellectual gen­eral practitioner – just the sort of man, we all thought, we should ourselves like to have as our own family doctor – carrying his years lightly and striding through the town at a pace quite difficult for me to emulate.

Pickles 1954

Medical Eponyms
Bornholm disease (1930)

Acute, transient viral myositis associated with Coxsackie B. Viral myositis involving the intercostal and abdominal muscles characterized by fever and sharp, spasmodic pain in the chest wall or abdomen.

In 1930, Sylvest, whilst holidaying on Bornholm Island, Denmark witnessed and described the disease in 23 fisherman in Melsted and Gudhjem. As far as he was aware, the disease had been described in Norway by Daae…but had no Danish name. He therefore proposed the Danish denomination as ‘The Bornholm disease‘.

Many prior description of Epidemic pleurodynia/Myositis epidemica…but as with many eponyms, the original descriptions were published in local language journals which never made it mainstream until the eponymous affiliate popularized the disease/syndrome.

My first paper on the subject was entitled “Born­holm Disease,” and for this I was severely scolded by eminent members of the profession in that I was in­strumental in attaching the name of a beautiful is­land to a distressing malady and that another island, Malta, had suffered from a similar implication.

…I am afraid the original name has prevailed and that is why I think it is high time it received the name Sylvest’s disease, Sylvest having done more than any man since the disease was first described to promote the knowl­edge of it. This will do away with such speculative names as epidemic myalgia, epidemic pleurodynia and epidemic benign dry pleurisy, for which there seems to be little justification.

Pickles 1954

Major Publications

References

Biography

  • Danish biographical research and portrait: Ejner Sylvest. Flemming and Agnes Voss – Hørsholm, Denmark (Personal communication)
  • Snorrason ESH. Ejner Sylvest. Dansk Biografisk Leksikon on lex.dk.
  • Bibliography. Sylvest, Ejnar. WorldCat Identities

Eponymous term

Eponym

the person behind the name

Dr Olivia Cullen LITFL Author

MB BCh BAO,  Queen’s Belfast. Recently moved to Australia, interested in Emergency Medicine, Medical Education and Paediatrics. Keen baker & tea drinker!

BA MA (Oxon) MBChB (Edin) FACEM FFSEM. Emergency physician, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Passion for rugby; medical history; medical education; and asynchronous learning #FOAMed evangelist. Co-founder and CTO of Life in the Fast lane | On Call: Principles and Protocol 4e| Eponyms | Books |

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