Paul Dudley White

Paul Dudley White (1886 – 1973) was an American cardiologist

A global pioneer in cardiology during the early 1900s

In 1930, White along with Louis Wolff and John Parkinson, described bundle-branch block associated with a short P-R period in healthy young people prone to paroxysmal tachycardia (the Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome)

In 1986 he was honored with a 3¢ Great Americans series postage stamp (September 15 1986)

Biography

Born 6 June 1886 Massachusetts
1913 – MD, Harvard Medical School
1914-1918 – WW1 initially serving for the British Force in France and then the American Expeditionary force and Red Cross in Greece
1919 onwards – Cardiologist and Professor of Medicine Massachusetts General Hospital
1931 – published his hugely popular monograph ‘Heart Diseases’
1954-1958 – President of International Society of Cardiology
1955 – cardiologist to President Dwight D. Eisenhower after his heart attack
Died 31 October 1973

Medical Eponyms

Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome (1930)

Major Publications

Wolff L, Parkinson J, White PD. Bundle-branch block with short P-R interval in healthy young people prone to paroxysmal tachycardia. 1930. Ann Noninvasive Electrocardiol. 2006 Oct;11(4):340-53. [PMID 17040283]
Lee RI, White PD. A clinical study of the coagulation time of blood. Am J Med Sci 1913; 145:495-503.
White PD. The Second World Congress of Cardiology. Circulation Research. 1954;2:189-190
White PD. Heart Disease. Macmillan. 1931
White PD. My life and medicine – An autobiographical memoir. Gambit. 1971

References

Tan SY, Kwock E. Paul Dudley White (1886–1973): Pioneer in modern cardiology. Singapore Med J. 2016 Apr; 57(4): 215–216. [PMC4853490]
Obituary: Dr. Paul Dudley White Is Dead at 87. NY Times 1 Nov 1973
Smith KS. Paul Dudley White. Br Heart J. 1974 Jun; 36(6): 608. [PMC458867]
Davies MK, Hollman A. Paul Dudley White (1886-1973). Heart. 1996 Aug; 76(2): 182. [PMC484471]
Spodick DH. Editorial: P.D.W.-the gentle titan Paul Dudley White, June 6, 1886–Oct 31, 1973. JAMA. 1973 Dec 17;226(12):1459. [PMID 4586426]
Portrait: Paul Dudley White. Alchetron 17.11.2017