April 2 – On This Day in Medical History

Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with April 2.

Events

1928 – A young man was referred to Paul Dudley White (1886-1973) because his physician was perplexed by the occurrence of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in a healthy individual. White was preparing for visits to overseas and took the ECGs with him. In London, John Parkinson (1885-1976) was interested and found seven similar cases to add to what would be described as Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome (1930)


Births

1875Henry Edmund Gaskin Boyle (1875-1941), Barbadian/British anaesthetist; designed the Boyle Intratracheal ether apparatus (1912), Boyle machine (1919), and Boyle-Davis Gag (1922)

1922John (Jack) Handyside Barnes (1922-1985), Australian medical practitioner and toxinologist; described Carukia barnesi and the Irukandji Syndrome (1961)


Deaths

1742James Douglas (1675–1742), Scottish anatomist and obstetrician; described the Pouch of Douglas (1730), and Line of Douglas. Infamously involved in the Curious Case of Mary Toft

1926Carl Oscar Alexander von Kobyliński (1856-1926), Polish-Baltic German general practitioner; described first documented case of Noonan syndrome (1883)


Further reading

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 |