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)
He was an advocate for healthy living in preventing cardiac disease, promoting physical exercise, sleep and a nutritious diet. “Death from a heart attack before the age of 80 is not God’s will, it is man’s will.”
Biography
- Born 6 June 1886 Massachusetts
- 1911 – MD, Harvard Medical School
- 1911-1913 – Fellowship in cardiovascular physiology, University College Hospital, London
- 1914-1918 – WW1 initially serving for the British Force in France and then the American Expeditionary force and Red Cross in Greece
- 1919 – 1949 Cardiologist and Professor of Medicine Massachusetts General Hospital
- 1922 – Founded the American Heart Association
- 1931 – Published his hugely popular monograph ‘Heart Disease’
- 1942 – President of American Heart Association
- 1948– President of International Society of Cardiology
- 1955 – Cardiologist to President Dwight D. Eisenhower after his heart attack
- Died 31 October 1973 at 87 years
Medical Eponyms
- Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome (1930) is a combination of the presence of a congenital accessory pathway and episodes of tachyarrhythmia. When recognised in 1930 during a case study of 11 patients, it was first described as:
Functional bundle-branch block and abnormally short P-R interval, occurring mostly in otherwise healthy young people with paroxysms of tachycardia or of auricular fibrillation.”
Wolff L, Parkinson J, White PD
- SI QIII TIII pattern on ECG (1935) representing right heart strain in an acute pulmonary embolism.
(1)The prominent S wave and low origin of the T wave in lead 1, the ST segment starting slightly below the baseline, (2) the gradual staircase ascent of the ST interval from the S wave to the T wave in lead 2, and especially (3) the Q wave and definite late inversion of the T wave in lead 3.
McGinn S and White PD
Major Publications
- Lee RI, White PD. A clinical study of the coagulation time of blood. Am J Med Sci 1913; 145:495-503.
- Wolff L, Parkinson J, White PD. Bundle-branch block with short P-R interval in healthy young people prone to paroxysmal tachycardia. American Heart Journal. 1930; 5: 685-704 [Reprint: Ann Noninvasive Electrocardiol. 2006 Oct;11(4):340-53]
- White PD. Heart Disease. Macmillan. 1931
- White PD. The Second World Congress of Cardiology. Circulation Research. 1954;2:189-190
- McGinn S and White PD. Acute Cor Pulmonale Resulting From Pulmonary Embolism. JAMA 1935;104(17):1473-1480 [S1Q3T3 pattern]
- 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.
- 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.
- Davies MK, Hollman A. Paul Dudley White (1886-1973). Heart. 1996 Aug; 76(2): 182.
- 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.
- Portrait: Paul Dudley White. Alchetron 17.11.2017
- Hurst JW. Paul Dudley White: The Father of American Cardiology. Clinical Cardiology. 1991; 14(7): 622-626.
- Cadogan M. History of the Electrocardiogram. LITFL
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